Why a Life of Penance? Why do People Do It?

[JReducation]

Is there a medical explanation for stigmata?

There is none. That’s why it’s a miracle. There is no natural explanation. By natural law, the person should die. He can catch an infection through the wounds. He can bleed so much that he becomes anemic. He can develop any kind of blood disease and none of this happened to Padre Pio. He died of very natural causes.

Francis had nails in his stigmata, which Padre Pio did no thave. They hurt very much. He could not walk, becaues the nails going through hs feet. They examiners said that they were like dead skin (like your finger nails) that formed nails that went through his wrists and feet and they curled up on the other side. This was what the Romans did when they nailed their victims. They would bang the nail on the other side to create a hook so that you did not fall forward.

Francis did not die as a result of the stigmata. Though it came at a very bad time in his life. He had bone TB, and stomach cancer. He was also blind. This is how it ties in with penance. He suffered through it all with great joy, repeating what St. Paul had written, “I glory in the cross of Christ.” The stigmata was given to him because he asked for it. He prayed “Lord, grant that I may suffer as much as you suffered on the cross, so that I may love as much as you love, obey as perfectly as you obey, and share in your poverty.”

Thanks for the info, Bro JR. Since you are more knowledgeable about the life of St. Francis, do you know if he was also attacked by the demons, like Padre Pio?

And I am aware that Padre Pio’s stigmata and miracles during his life do not count toward sainthood. I read this in another article before. And I think this is the reason why it took till 2002 (?) for him to get canonized.

There are no reports of St. Francis ever being attacked by demons. St. Bonaventure wrote that the reason was that St. Francis was chosen from birth to be the Icon of Christ. While he was tempted, he was never physically attacked or hurt in any way like Padre Pio was hurt.

Francis was born at a time in Church history when things were three times worse than today. There were more scandals, more heresy, more corruption, less education, and rampant clericalism. The laity was totally out of control. They were at war with each other over lands and resources. The only opinion of the Church that mattered to them was the opinion that supported their political agenda. The Muslims were attacking from the East and they had already taken over Spain. Though, it is said that the Spanish Muslims were very noble people, whereas the Turks were very cruel. The Spanish Muslims came from Morrocco, not Turkey. They are not the same people.

In the middle of this mess, God raised up Francis of Assisi and Dominic Guzman to save the Church from collapse. Pope Innocent had visions of the two friars holding up the Church. He also had a revelation that at the end of time, Francis would be seated in the place of honor next to the BVM and that the Franciscans would multiply as had the children of Israel. Today, 800 years later, there are more than 100 Franciscan brnaches and more than one million Franciscans. This is our low time in vocations.

When you put all of this together, the suffering from the stigmata, the work done for the reformation of the medieval Church, the contribution of a religious family that has spanned more than 150 countries, eight centuries, and has always had more than one million members, it is understantable why Francis would be viewed as the Mirror of Perfection. The only other man to have more followers was Jesus.

What attracted people to Francis were his personality. He was charming, with a sense of humor, laughed at the Chruch and the world around it. He thought that everyone’s panic was unnecessary. God would provide more Franciscans to keep the Church going. He was not a stickler for details. If they worked, he kept them and if they did not work he let them go.

His other attractive quality was his simple faith. If you obeyed the Gospel and became as poor as Christ commands, then you can achieve perfection. What people did not realize is that poverty is a real penance. It’s not easy.

Finally, people loved his spirit of obedience. He commanded that you never disobey, even when authority is in error, unless authority commands you to sin, because God is not looking for us to be right. He is looking for us to be as faithful and as submissive as Christ and Mary were. Monarchs, bishops and othe authority figures found that he and his brothers were very non confrontational. They did what they were told and they kept their opinions to themselves until the person in authority gave them permission to express these opinions. Francis was always the most gracious person to have around, because he never contradicted you. He converted you by his example and charm.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[TrueLight]

I found this book, Spiritual Theology, written by Jordan Aumann.

Mortification is necessary for all, especially for beginners until they succeed in dominating their passions. In addition to serving as reparation for past sins, bodily mortifications have two other beneficial uses: immolation of self in imitation of Christ and a positive contribution to the Mystical Body by means of the apostolate of suffering. These two functions of suffering pertain to the saints as much as or more than to imperfect souls, for no one is excused from practicing bodily mortification in one form or another. St. Vincent de Paul says: “He who has little regard for bodily mortification, under the pretext that interior mortifications are much more perfect, demonstrates very clearly that he is not mortified either interiorly or exteriorly.”(4)

However, one should proceed prudently and slowly, increasing the exercises of penance as the powers of the soul increase and as the interior invitations of grace urge one on more and more. Especially at the beginning, one should avoid any kind of severe bodily penance. It must never be harmful to one’s health or make one incapable of fulfilling the duties of state, which are more important than the voluntary practice of mortification. And the soul should take care not to make an end or goal of that which is only a means, believing that sanctity consists in punishing the body.

If the Holy Spirit wishes to lead a soul by way of extraordinary penances, he will inspire the soul to that effect and will give the strength necessary to carry it out. Meanwhile, the majority of souls should practice ordinary bodily mortification by accepting the little crosses of daily life with a spirit of faith and perseverance. This last point is very important. It is better to accept and carry faithfully the little crosses of daily life than to give oneself to occasional periods of great penance, alternated with other periods of relaxation.

I found this part interesting:

Meanwhile, the majority of souls should practice ordinary bodily mortification by accepting the little crosses of daily life with a spirit of faith and perseverance

I know that I complain about my job every week, and right after I complain I say “But I’m thankful to have a job”, almost superstitiously. I have to learn to accept where God has placed me without murmuring because when it comes time for move on, God will open doors.

Carrying these little crosses is nothing compared to what our Lord went through.

 

[JReducation]

Father Jordan was one of my professors in Spiritual Theology. I took his introduction course. He was absolutely awesome, RIP.

I found this book, Spiritual Theology, written by Jordan Aumann.

I found this part interesting:

I know that I complain about my job every week, and right after I complain I say “But I’m thankful to have a job”, almost superstitiously. I have to learn to accept where God has placed me without murmuring because when it comes time for move on, God will open doors.

Carrying these little crosses is nothing compared to what our Lord went through.

Father makes two very important points in this portion of his writing.

1. Mortification of the body is a means to an end, not an end. We don’t make it our goal in life to torture ourselves.

Some people actually believe that if you do not practice severe bodily mortifications, you missed something. That’s not true. This leads to Father’s second point.

1. Most of the time the little mortifications of daily life are enough to keep us holy and humble, if we accept them and deal with them with great love.

Women like St. Therese and Mother Teresa always talked about doing little things with great love. The little thing can be a fast, an abstinence or it can be getting out of bed early to pray before going to work Sometimes, it’s just putting up with a difficult person in our lives, such as a colleague or that uncle that drives us crazy, but doesn’t really do any harm.

You build from there. You don’t start with chains and hairshirts. Like any other form of discipline, you begin with the simple and that which is related to your daily existence. For some people, mortifications can be healthy, such as quiting smoking or eating less. You offer these things in union with Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[TrueLight]

Father Jordan was one of my professors in Spiritual Theology. I took his introduction course. He was absolutely awesome, RIP.

That’s amazing. I wasn’t sure if he was a priest or not.

Father makes two very important points in this portion of his writing.

1. Mortification of the body is a means to an end, not an end. We don’t make it our goal in life to torture ourselves.

Some people actually believe that if you do not practice severe bodily mortifications, you missed something. That’s not true. This leads to Father’s second point.

1. Most of the time the little mortifications of daily life are enough to keep us holy and humble, if we accept them and deal with them with great love.

Women like St. Therese and Mother Teresa always talked about doing little things with great love. The little thing can be a fast, an abstinence or it can be getting out of bed early to pray before going to work Sometimes, it’s just putting up with a difficult person in our lives, such as a colleague or that uncle that drives us crazy, but doesn’t really do any harm.

You build from there. You don’t start with chains and hairshirts. Like any other form of discipline, you begin with the simple and that which is related to your daily existence. For some people, mortifications can be healthy, such as quiting smoking or eating less. You offer these things in union with Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[Edward_H]

Another angle or aspect of a life of penance, spirit of penance, is that it should promote a conversation with God, more union (the proper by product of detachment) with God.

E.g., Fasting, Abstinence should be done “with Jesus”…we can use our natural reflexes in our body to remind us to talk to Jesus. Never fast alone.

 

[Edward_H]

This is what I keep getting told. I remember listening to a podcast on the joy of being Catholic. It was an hour and twenty minutes on suffering, being tortured, starving yourself ect.

Then I read one on feasting in the Christian tradition. It was almost totally devoted to self denial, fasting to the point of starvation ect. I contact the printer they assured me feasting was NOT a typo.

There is more to self-donating than empty suffering. When we give with abandonment (say to our children, our wife, our employees - generously, without even looking for reciprocal giving) a quiet joy and serenity can often accompany this self-less act. Not always, but quite often.

Our outlook should never be for this feeling of joy - that would self-seeking - instead it’s a life long struggle to detach from these feelings and to learn to give with great trust - like a child of God - all we have.

This interior life is a struggle…and it’s been referred to as an inclined plane…one of beginning and beginning again each day.

Again…more than empty suffering…suffering for the love of God is the only way to view the struggles of life…the big and little annoyances and efforts.

In this way our suffering becomes joined with the suffering of Christ whose suffering is ever-present to the Father. Our suffering gets sanctified and is given supernatural meaning.

 

[TrueLight]

There is more to self-donating than empty suffering. When we give with abandonment (say to our children, our wife, our employees - generously, without even looking for reciprocal giving) a quiet joy and serenity can often accompany this self-less act. Not always, but quite often.

Our outlook should never be for this feeling of joy - that would self-seeking - instead it’s a life long struggle to detach from these feelings and to learn to give with great trust - like a child of God - all we have.

This interior life is a struggle…and it’s been referred to as an inclined plane…one of beginning and beginning again each day.

Again…more than empty suffering…suffering for the love of God is the only way to view the struggles of life…the big and little annoyances and efforts.

In this way our suffering becomes joined with the suffering of Christ whose suffering is ever-present to the Father. Our suffering gets sanctified and is given supernatural meaning.

Love this quote from St John of the Cross

That thou mayest have pleasure in everything

Seek pleasure in nothing.

That thou mayest know everything

Seek to know nothing.

That thou mayest possess all things,

Seek to possess nothing.

That thou mayest be everything,

Seek to be nothing.

Of course this has to be taken with a grain of salt. We can’t walk around as sour faces with no goals in life.

 

[JReducation]

This is why I always keep referring people to the Catholic Master of Theology of Penance, St. Francis of Assisi. No single spiritual master has captured and taught penance, through life and work, as well as Francis of Assisi. All the spiritual giants look to him for teaching on penance, as they look to Benedict for teaching on obedience.

If we look very carefully at Francis of Assisi, let’s pay attention to how he begins his journey. He was not a sinful man by any means. He was not a rogue, a non-believer, or a cruel person. On the contrary, he was a very good Catholic, charitable, honest, kind and faithful young man. This makes him a wonderful teacher of penance; because here is a man who is not carrying a heavy burden of previous sins. To the person who has converted the Catholciism from a life of sin or some other strange existence, Francis does not speak well. Such a person tends to be more demanding. While Francis’ penitential way is demanding, it is not rigid at all. Francis would stop a fast and an abstinence in the Middle of Good Friday if he had to do so in order to eat with a hungry man, so that the man would not eat alone.

You see . . . sometimes, many men and women enter into these programs of penance driven by their previous sins. This is not a bad thing. Everyone should atone for their sins, either here or in the next life. While it is true that God forgives the repentant thief, it is also true that justice must be done. Even the good thief atoned. He suffered a crucifixion. So, many men and women, such as Margaret of Cortona and Mary of the Desert entered into penitential programs to atone, here on earth, for those sins that they had already regretted and confessed.

Now take the ordinary Catholic man, like Francis of Assisi, who does not have this baggage. We ask ourselves, for what big sins does he have to atone? Why would such a person enter into program of penance? The answer is simple. He didn’t. That’s what made him the Master of Penance.

Francis teaches us that penance is journey along which we follow a program. The program outside the journey is useless. It’s just self abuse. Francis arrives at a point in his life where he realizes that God is the Primary Source. This is key, if one is going to embark on a penitential life. One must do it for a person, not for a thing.

God is the Primary source. He is the Father of all and the Father to whom all creation is to return. The only way to return to the Father is through the man who said, “I am the way. . . No one comes to the Father but through me.”

Francis begins to look at the scriptures very carefully. He wants to get back to the Primary Source, the Father. However, he cannot get to the Father but through The Way. He must become familiar with him. He has to go beyond that which most ordinary Catholics know and do. When he opens the scripture, the first words that he reads are, “if you want to be my disciple, give what you have to the poor and come follow me.” Then he opens the scripture again and he reads, "Take nothing for your journey.” Once more, he opens the scripture and reads again, “It is easier for the camel to pass through the Eye of the Needle, than for the rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”

This was it. This was the way of penance. These three passages sum it all up. To reach the Father, one must follow the Son. Yet, the Son demands that one let go of material things, people and places. Francis reads the scriptures again and reads “The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you” and the Spirit would show him what to do. The Church would confirm if he was properly understanding the Spirit.

Penance is suddenly very Trinitarian. We want to return to the Father. We can only get to the Father through the son. In order to follow the son, we must detach from many things. The call to detachment seems almost unreasonable. For centuries, many men and women had glossed over the words of Christ and interpreted them. “The eye of the needle is a hole in the city wall. It’s not really a sewing needle.” or “Jesus is speaking about a spirit of poverty” or “Jesus doesn’t literally mean that we give up what we own or our families, he means that we pay more attention to him” and so forth.

Francis discovers what had been passed over by many. Jesus means what he says and says what he means, but to do it, one can’t just write a program of penance for oneself or a plan. One must put oneself in the hands of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will teach us how to follow Jesus. The Holy Spirit will teach us how to detach, when to detach, how much to detach from in order to follow Jesus back to the Primary Source of all things, which is the Father. The Spirit will speak through the authority of the Church.

Therefore, Francis begins his life journey of penance with a very simple program that has three parts: prayer, work and charity. It’s very important to pay attention to the fine details here. He spends several years praying alone, before he is joined by his first brothers, later by Clare and her sisters and finally by the secular men and women who would one day become the Secular Franciscan Order or as he called them, the Brothers and Sisters of Penance.

During this time, he asked God, “What do you want of me?” This prayer is not a demand. He does not demand that God give him a map to heaven. On the contrary, this prayer is an offering. It does not translate well from primitive French to modern English. It translates better into Italian and Spanish. In our English it would be, “Tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”

 

[JReducation]

To this end, Francis begins a practice of fasting and abstinence on Fridays and Wednesdays. On Fridays, in honor of the passion and on Wednesdays in keeping with an ancient Jewish tradition that had been almost lost in the Catholic Church, but maintained in the East and by the Muslims. Francis was very impressed by them, not by their theology, but by their fidelity.

Easterners, Christians, Jews and Muslims alike are tough people. When they believe something they don’t give up to quickly. Europeans and their descendants are more wimpy, especially in matters of faith. That’s why Francis looks to the East to observe. Of course, Christianity and Revelation begin in the East. It all makes sense.

Francis brings back what many centuries before the Benedictines had learned from Basil and the Eastern monks and what the Carmelites had learned from the Palestinians and would later bring back to Europe, about a decade or so after Francis began his journey to the Father.

He began a life of prayer of oblation. He would ask the Holy Spirit to show him what to do, to show him what he wanted of him. In order to empty himself of all distractions and to offer a gift of love in return for the love that he was requesting, he begins his days of fasting and abstinence. This was part of the beginning.

The other part was work. Francis had always worked. His father was a businessman and he was his apprentice, as the oldest of seven children and the heir to the Bernadone fortune. Now, he takes on work, not for his gain and wealth. He takes on work for the benefit of others, especially the Church and the poor. We don’t have to leave Microsoft and go off to Calcutta to work for the Church and the poor. There was the great American Franciscan saint, Katherine Drexel, who had millions that she put at the disposal of the Church and the poor. She took her inheritance and invested it. She used the returns to support the Church and to provide for the poor. She learned this from Francis. To open yourself, so that that the Spirit can fill you, you must make room in your life. Christ had said, “Give to the poor and follow me”. When we work for the poor and the Church, the Spirit will fill the void left by the things that we give up and will teach us how to follow Jesus to the Father.

Finally, there was charity. Francis would be very uncomfortable on CAF. That’s probably why you see very few Franciscans here. That’s another story for another day. Charity began with the recognition that one is nothing. If one is nothing, then one has nothing to argue about. If one is nothing, then one has nothing defend. If one is nothing, then one is the servant of all. He became the teacher of all, not as a master teaches his subordinates, but as a tutor or a governess. He understood these concepts, because they were very common in his society.

They had the great Benedictine monks who were master teachers. He did not want to go there. That was not the way that he was to practice charity. There was Dominic who was founding an order of preaching priests. Francis looked that way and said that was not what Christ was talking about either. The teaching done by Benedictines and Dominicans was for an elite group. He looked at the scriptures and he understood that there were disciples and apostles among the disciples. The apostles were the elite group. He saw the Benedictines and Dominicans as part of that group. Whereas, Jesus’ speeches on detachment and poverty included all the disciples, not just the apostles.

Francis embarks on teaching as charity. His teaching and preaching was very different from that of Dominicans and Benedictines. That’s why I say that he would be very uncomfortable here. He had one thing very clear in mind, he was just an instrument who knew nothing and whose only duty was to encourage others to discover God. It was not his mission to convert anyone, nor to correct anyone, nor to repair heresies, or to chide those in error. God forbid. His charity was to take the form of simple sharing of what the Holy Spirit shared with him. He spoke to anyone who would listen about the things that God put into his mind and heart. He spoke about the Love of God, peace between people, obedience to the Church, attention to the Gospels, confession of sins, charity toward neighbor, love of the Eucharist, devotion to the Mother of God, and most of all, he spoke about joy. He never finished a single teaching without a message of joy. He had a very beautiful understanding of sin.

The devil and sin serve God, albeit reluctantly. If it were not for the devil and sin, we would not experience the mercy of God. If there is no sin, there is no need for forgiveness and mercy. Even in sin, there was joy to be found, if one found God’s mercy and implored his forgiveness.

In conclusion, penance begins with the recognition that we are called to return to the Father. Only Jesus can lead us back to the Father. The Holy Spirit will teach us how to follow Jesus. Penance is Trinitarian. The penitential journey begins with a program that will change as we progress on the journey. The three legs of this program are: prayer, work and charity. We pray for the grace to see how to follow Jesus. We put the fruit of our work at the disposal of the Church and the poor, and we practice charity toward all, starting with tutoring or sharing what the Holy Spirit teaches us through the Church, scripture, the spiritual masters and other sources. None of these things are easy. They are just the beginning of a wonderful journey for those who take the time to learn from the Master Teacher on Theology of Penance.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[TrueLight]

This is why I always keep referring people to the Catholic Master of Theology of Penance, St. Francis of Assisi. No single spiritual master has captured and taught penance, through life and work, as well as Francis of Assisi. All the spiritual giants look to him for teaching on penance, as they look to Benedict for teaching on obedience

Is there a book you would recommend?

 

[TrueLight]

. The three legs of this program are: prayer, work and charity. We pray for the grace to see how to follow Jesus. We put the fruit of our work at the disposal of the Church and the poor, and we practice charity toward all, starting with tutoring or sharing what the Holy Spirit teaches us through the Church, scripture, the spiritual masters and other sources. None of these things are easy. They are just the beginning of a wonderful journey for those who take the time to learn from the Master Teacher on Theology of Penance.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

Amen, Brother.

 

[JReducation]

Is there a book you would recommend?

Besides the actual writing of the Holy Father Francis, there is his life story. In fact, the writings are hard to understand, if we don’t see how he practiced them.

A good beginning is The Perfect Joy of Saint Franics by Felix Timmermans.

There is another work that analyzes what goes through Francis’ mind. It’s fascinating. Brother Francis by Ignacio Larañaga.

St. Bonaventure spent that last years of his life doing nothing but meditating on St. Francis, literally. He was a cardinal and he resigned to go back to the mountain to meditate on the life of St. Francis. He was also the Superior General of the Franciscans at the time. He was working with Aquinas on the Summa and he told Aquinas that the Summa, without the witness was incomplete. They agreed. Thomas would write the theology and Bonaventure would write about the man who lived it to perfection. Thomas Aquinas said of Bonaventure, “Leave the saint to his saint.”

St. Bonaventure wrote three books about Francis.

St. Francis of Assisi

The Itinerarium In English "The Journey of the Mind into God

The Disciple and the Master

The first is a pretty straightforward biography. In the Itinerarium Bonaventure uses Francis’ journey to God to teach how the soul reaches God. Centuries later, another Franciscan, Francisco de Osuna, would write a book called The Third Spiritual Alphabet in which he expounds on the mind’s journey to God. This theology triggered Teresa of Avila to reform the Carmelties and to return to the life of penance and prayer.

The last book, "The Disciple . . . " is a collection of sermons that Bonaeventure preached about Francis of Assisi. They’re important, because he proofs, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that Francis of Assisi lived the Gospel literally. Four popes would later comment on this: Leon XII, Pius X, Pius XII and Benedict XVI. Pope Benedict actually include St. Francis in his first book Jesus of Nazareth to show how one is to undertand the Beatitudes.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[TrueLight]

Besides the actual writing of the Holy Father Francis, there is his life story. In fact, the writings are hard to understand, if we don’t see how he practiced them.

A good beginning is The Perfect Joy of Saint Franics by Felix Timmermans.

There is another work that analyzes what goes through Francis’ mind. It’s fascinating. Brother Francis by Ignacio Larañaga.

St. Bonaventure spent that last years of his life doing nothing but meditating on St. Francis, literally. He was a cardinal and he resigned to go back to the mountain to meditate on the life of St. Francis. He was also the Superior General of the Franciscans at the time. He was working with Aquinas on the Summa and he told Aquinas that the Summa, without the witness was incomplete. They agreed. Thomas would write the theology and Bonaventure would write about the man who lived it to perfection. Thomas Aquinas said of Bonaventure, “Leave the saint to his saint.”

St. Bonaventure wrote three books about Francis.

St. Francis of Assisi

The Itinerarium In English "The Journey of the Mind into God

The Disciple and the Master

The first is a pretty straightforward biography. In the Itinerarium Bonaventure uses Francis’ journey to God to teach how the soul reaches God. Centuries later, another Franciscan, Francisco de Osuna, would write a book called The Third Spiritual Alphabet in which he expounds on the mind’s journey to God. This theology triggered Teresa of Avila to reform the Carmelties and to return to the life of penance and prayer.

The last book, "The Disciple . . . " is a collection of sermons that Bonaeventure preached about Francis of Assisi. They’re important, because he proofs, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that Francis of Assisi lived the Gospel literally. Four popes would later comment on this: Leon XII, Pius X, Pius XII and Benedict XVI. Pope Benedict actually include St. Francis in his first book Jesus of Nazareth to show how one is to undertand the Beatitudes.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

Great! I’ll start with the Perfect Joy of Saint Francis.

 

[Edward_H]

Love this quote from St John of the Cross

Of course this has to be taken with a grain of salt. We can’t walk around as sour faces with no goals in life.

I love that quote.

We seek nothing for our own temporal purposes; we only seek what God seeks, unity with Him.

Make no mistake. God didn’t give us a brain, a will, the ability to strengthen our virtues, our memory, imagination, our sense of humor, our sexuality, etc to sit around seeking nothing, but to seek the Glory of God in all things, big and little, especially the little.

A modern day saint, I think it was St Josemaria, reminded us, I’m badly paraphrasing here, that the “salt” of every day life (the annoyances, struggles, sufferings) brings out the true flavor and value of things.

I like that way of thinking about salt…doesn’t give flavor, but brings out the flavor and value of things.

 

[JReducation]

Great! I’ll start with the Perfect Joy of Saint Francis.

This book brought me into Christianity over 40 years ago. I read it and fell in love with Francis. I began to read more about him. The more that I read about him, the more that I learned about Jesus and Christianity. What did it for me was that he was not a stuffy Catholic. All the Catholics I knew fell into certain categories and I thought there were no others. I now think back on it an laugh. They were:

Stuffy – lived by rules and propriety

Ignorant – didn’t have a clue about Judeo-Christian Tradition, but did what they were told.

Babblers – could recite the Baltimore Catechism from cover to cover, but could not tell you where these things came from. If you asked them to explain the theological principle and the philosophy behind it, they babbled. OK, I confess. I still have low tolerance for someone who can’t give me a theological and philosophical answer, instead he babbles rather than say, “I don’t know.”

Separatists – wanted nothing to do with anyone who was not Catholic. Therefore, you never knew what they were thinking, because you never shared with them.

It was the Capuchin Franciscan Friars and this book that did it for me. I read it and realized that there were other kinds of Catholics. I just had not met them. For Jews and Muslims, Francis of Assisi makes much more sense than Aquinas. The Middle Eastern mind grasps the transcendent through actions, observable holiness, gestures of kindness, and empathy. Once they see that in a person, they form a bond of trust and their curiosity is awakened. From there, they begin to listen to the rest of the message. Now you can bring in Aquinas. Men like Francis of Assisi and women like Mother Teresa, made many converts without anyone noticing. They attracted people like me. We were the people who were happy being Jewish or Muslim. We were not looking for anything.

When I read The Perfect Joy of St. Francis, my original thought was, “This is the perfect Jew.” He fulfilled all of the Mitzvahs given to us by Moses, the prohets, the rabbis and the great teachers of the faith. I was fascinated to find the perfect Jew. The more that I read, the better I understood what drove him. I wanted that drive too. That’s how I became Catholic and later a friar.

This is a very special book in my life.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[TheRealJuliane]

As I understand, desiring to do penance is a gift. Some people are called to to it to a greater degree and that indeed takes them closer to God. Penance can be done for the reparation of one’s own sin, or for others. (For example, the children in Fatima did penance by not easing discomfort and sometimes even seeking it. ) At the same time one should not do it out of self-hatred and desire self-destruction. Penance is done out of love for God and so wanting to suffer with Him it brings us closer to Him.

Personally, I’m the sort of person who likes to avoid pain and discomfort if possible, but lately I’ve been feeling the nudge to introduce a bit of penance in my life. So for example, I had a nasty headache recently and instead of immediately taking painkillers, I offered that pain up for the reparation of my sin. I did not seek that suffering but I accepted it and directed it towards a specific goal and with a certain frame of mind.

Maybe next time, offer it for the souls in Purgatory?

 

[JReducation]

I love that quote.

We seek nothing for our own temporal purposes; we only seek what God seeks, unity with Him.

Make no mistake. God didn’t give us a brain, a will, the ability to strengthen our virtues, our memory, imagination, our sense of humor, our sexuality, etc to sit around seeking nothing, but to seek the Glory of God in all things, big and little, especially the little.

A modern day saint, I think it was St Josemaria, reminded us, I’m badly paraphrasing here, that the “salt” of every day life (the annoyances, struggles, sufferings) brings out the true flavor and value of things.

I like that way of thinking about salt…doesn’t give flavor, but brings out the flavor and value of things.

John of the Cross and José María Escrivá understood this concept of which I spoke before, God is the Primary Source. Everything is done for him and everything is done in unity with him, even what may appear as the most mundane. If it’s done for him, with him and in search of him, it will give flavor to our existence as salt flavors our food.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[TheRealJuliane]

You’ve used the example of whipping a couple of times. Would that be classified under penance or mortification?

Technically, I believe it would be mortification, which I think of as physical penance that usually generates discomfort or pain.

But i have to admit I don’t know what the defining lines are.

 

[Edward_H]

John of the Cross and José María Escrivá understood this concept of which I spoke before, God is the Primary Source. Everything is done for him and everything is done in unity with him, even what may appear as the most mundane. If it’s done for him, with him and in search of him, it will give flavor to our existence as salt flavors our food.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

So well said. Thank you.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

Thank you to Brother JR as always, you have greatly edified me and made me want to learn more about St. Francis!