Mabe the whole point is that the flesh isn’t what matters in the whole big picture of things. If the saints (or anyone for that matter) didn’t think beyond the limitations of the flesh then would anyone be willing to risk giving aid and comfort to those suffering from contagious and terminal illnesses, such as has been the case with leprosy in times gone by.
Isn’t it a great act of charity to physically help those that the world feared helping because they might become infected?
Maybe that is the whole point. Charity should have no limits.
That is the point. Bl. John Paul II said it best, “Sometimes, love hurts.” He didn’t mean danger; though that can also be part of the picture. Usually, hurt means that love can be demanding.
I was thinking about some of these stories. I am remembering something from post-grad school theology. When I was doing post-grad work, my area was Ascetical and Mystical Theology, which today is called Spiritual Theology, same difference, just shorter.
I remember that we read many of the Masters. Often, you had to read their bios to understand their theology. One of the things that our professors always cautioned against was myth. There is a great deal of myth out there around the saints. It seems that the more popular the saint, the more drama that people add to their stories. People can get carried away, just out of love. They don’t intend to do harm. They get so passionate about a particular person that they exaggerate the events.
Franciscans live with this every day with two of our 20th century saints, St. Pio and St. Maximilian. Those of us who are younger and never met either one of them rely on what we read. However, when we speak to the older friars who knew them personally, it’s interesting to find out how much of what we read either never happened or is blown out of proportion.
From reading, one would think that St. Max did nothing else but contemplate the mysteries of surrounding the Blessed Mother. I had the great pleasure of meeting one of his nieces. During the conversation, she shared many of the stories that her father had shared with them. Max was not as intense as his hagiographers would paint him. He had a wonderful sense of humor. He was very practical. One of his greatest spiritual concerns was fidelity to Francis’ vision of poverty. It bothered him that the 20th century Conventual Franciscans had become so clerical that they lived like diocesan priests, with many comforts that the Observant and Capuchin Franciscans did not have. We’re rarely told about that part of his spiritual life. He was a physicist and mathematician. He wrote on evolution, geocentrism and even commented on some of Einstein’s theories. This was a man who had many interests and many talents. He did not spend his days and nights saying rosaries, though he did shape the Mariology of the 20th century Church and some of his writings and thoughts on Mary are part of the CCC.
The same holds true for St. Pio. To hear some people talk, the Church and the Capuchin Franciscans made his life miserable and the devil beat him up every night of the week and twice on Sundays. The story changes when you speak to the old Capuchin Franciscan Friars who knew him.
He did have confrontations with the devil and the devil did beat him up several times, but it was not his bread and butter. God did not allow him to be tortured in such a way that he had no respite.
The General Minister did have serious concerns about his story regarding the stigmata and had him examined by many doctors, psychologists and theologians. He did command him not to celebrate mass for the laity.
However, he was never punished and while he loved the lay faithful, he lived in a house that had a novitiate. He loved the novices. While he was in seclusion from the world, he enjoyed his time with the novices, celebrated mass for them, played practical jokes on them. Apparently he could dish it out, but did not take it back too well. He had a temper that he struggled to control.
He also spent a great deal of time caring for sick children whom he loved. He was behind the construction of one of the best children’s hospitals in Italy. He made a daily trip to the hospital. Someone, innocently purchased a car for him, not knowing that a friar cannot own a car. The community may own a car, but not the individual. Since he was a special character, the Guardian allowed him to use the car for his daily ride over to the hospital. He got a kick out of his car ride, because he never went too far from the friary. Therefore, he rarely rode in a car.
There are other details that made these men very holy and very palatable, but are rarely mentioned such as Maximilian’s love for the created world and the world of knowledge, Pio’s love for the young, be they novices or children and his compassion for the sick. They were simple men living in the 20th century. Yet, neither learned to drive. Both avoided the telephone, because they felt ill at ease talking to a disembodied voice as Pio once said. Neither of them ever saw a TV. Max loved radio. He loved writing and published a magazine with a circulation second only to the NYT. They lived this life all for the love of God.
We have to focus on how these folks lived and take the strange stories with a grain of salt. There is some truth to them, but there is often a lot of myth, because these people became giants among those who knew them.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
Tthough I do have a birthday on Tue, Sep 6, so I’m catching up to the early Christians, at least in age.
