Gospel Reading for October Fourth 2017
The Feast of St. Francis
A reading of the holy Gospel of Luke Chapter nine verses 57-62
As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding on their journey, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” And to another he said, “Follow me.” But he answered him, “Lord let me first go and bury my father.” But he answered him, “Let the dead bury the dead. But you go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.” And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” Jesus answered him, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God.”
This has been a Proclamation of the Gospel of the Lord.
My fellow sisters and brothers who suffer with Mental illness I’d like to take this time to preach.
On the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Jesus’ message was no different than on any other day and no people who excluded on account of a disability. Rather Jesus’ message was delivered to all for all time. “Follow me,” proclaims the Lord Jesus Christ. However, my kindred spirits, those living in recovery with a mental illness, what makes us different has an ultimate benefit. Kindred folk, please do bear with me through a couple of sentences. We see that in the world at large, we get blamed for mass shootings. This only adds to the stigma and the “scapegoating”. Now, my fellow brothers and sisters, living in recovery with a mental illness, let me tell you about Jesus. Jesus takes sides. Generally speaking, Jesus is on the side of the poor. If we look further to the oppressed and persecuted and those who are routinely stigmatized and misunderstood-Jesus is on our sides my Kindred folk. Ours, is the Kingdom of Heaven my kin-folk. That is why so much of our salvation depends on our survival. Which is very difficult, I know. Now kindred, when we delve deeper, we to must heed the Christ’s message, “Follow me.”
As a general rule of thumb, “follow me,” means do the next right thing. This could mean taking your next dosage of medication. And that seriously counts and is righteous. When we begin the day or the moment with quiet and prayer and ask the God the Father to send us the Holly Spirit, the Holy Spirit will prompt our actions toward following Christ. If ethics are at issue, pray to God or the Blessed Mother or your favorite saint for the grace to understand the ethical point of view. Continue to pray about it and if you are still not sure, wait till you see your counsellor or Confessor, and, for that time, let that person be your ethicist.
The Gospel is what gives us instructions on how to follow Christ. Father Wenceslaus Church O.F.M., a Franciscan priest told me that St. Francis always kept a copy of the Gospel with him. Our materially and spiritually impoverished Saint of Northern Italy, gave us the spirit of the Gospel. In other words, St. Francis came the closest to imitating Christ. Saint Francis proved to humankind that the Gospel can be lived and Christ can be followed till our last breath.
Now Saint Francis was given enormous amounts of grace. Most, if not all, of us, will never be given such grace. God freely gave the grace to Francis. Including the grace Francis begged for on his own. But, Francis had no input on the amount of grace he received. All we can do my brothers and sisters living in recovery with a mental illness,is cooperate with the grace we are given. If we do this, we will have eternal life and live as Saint among the Saints in Heaven.