To Mary Through Jesus

Today I had lunch with a couple of guys I knew during college who were involved in some of the other Christian ministries on campus. Naturally, the conversation came around to women and dating. One guy is engaged and the other is in a semi-serious relationship. Then they asked about me, "So are you dating anyone?"

Off the cuff, I immediately replied, "Yeah, her name's Mary."

"Cool." Then I started smilin' because I know he doesn't know what I really mean, so he says, "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, completely serious," still smiling.

"How'd you meet her?" I never thought about how I would answer that question, but my instinctive answer was perfect:

"Through Jesus."

Which got me to thinking... Catholics are known for that cliched term, "To Jesus Through Mary," but my walk with God has been more like, "To Mary Through Jesus."

For one, I was raised in a Christian household and have always been a Christian, so I was already "to Jesus." Mary, however, began to mystify me around the time I was learning to study the Bible during my InterVarsity years. All these great Old Testament men... Abraham, Moses, King David, Jonah... they fought futilely against God's insistent tapping on their shoulder... they ran from Him... and they sinned greviously.

Mary simply submitted. She asked one simple, practical question of Gabriel and submitted. Luke notes that she treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart when the shepherds visited the Nativity scene and after finding Jesus in his Father's house, Luke again mentions she treasured all these things in her heart. Simeon prophesied to her that a sword will pierce your own soul too. And her last recorded words in Scripture, Do whatever he tells you, even in defiance to our Lord's wishes, brought about the first miracle by Jesus and the manifestation of his glory. And then there's that woman clothed with the sun in Revelation 12.

These Scriptures hint at something deeper and more mysterious than a simple mother-son relationship. Nothing within the Protestant traditions seemed to satisfy the deeper mystery behind Mary, but the true joy and love I felt among Catholics and the simple sense of peace and fulfillment I experienced at Mass piqued my curiousity. It took four or five years, but Jesus patiently lead me to His mother through His Word... and she brought me to the foot of the cross, where I've recently found myself transfixed in meditation upon the crucifix and what it means to follow Christ and love God sacrificially.

That's why Archbishop Fulton Sheen's quote above hits home right now. After all, it was while kneeling at the foot of the cross that St. Francis of Assisi heard Jesus' command, "Go, rebuild my Church!"

And so this leads me to tonight and the reason I'm staying up way too late to write this blog post. I don't care if anyone reads it because I primarily need this to create a virtual memorial. Earlier tonight at a Mass celebrated in preparation for this Ignite Your Torch youth conference coming up this summer, and the priest's invited us to consecrate our lives to Mary so that she can place us at the foot of the cross. During the Offertory, I offered myself to Mary. The idea sounds easy, but when you actually try and pray those words you run smack into your own Pride. This is, after all, a complete abandonment. In doing this, I believe that Mary knows better about what will bring me joy that I do. After three tries, I finally made it past the opening, "Mary." And after sealing the deal, I felt at peace, excited, joyful, and scared all at the same time. But all of that is better than being bored with life, refusing to discover the purpose for which God created you.

Not to say that I won't resist God's tapping on my shoulder in the future -- I definitely will, if only because I know God is calling me to the one mission for which He created me. Part of me wants to live pointlessly for a little while, but there's no joy in that. At the risk of presumptuousness, it's very likely that consecrating my will to Mary's means I'm becoming a priest. And like my soon-to-be-married college acquaintance, it's both the scariest and most exciting feeling I've known.

Luminous Mysteries

One of the ways St. Francis challenges me is the way he literally and passionately followed Christ. Before his conversion, he once had a vision that he was the lord of a court filled with shields and trophies gained through military victories. A few years later, when he heard Jesus' command, "Go, rebuild my church, which you can see has fallen into ruins," Francis literally starting rebuilding the chapel of San Damiano, brick-by-brick. While he eventually learned that God was calling him to win spiritual victories and rebuild the faith of apathetic Christians, there was one calling that St. Francis took literally right from the beginning and from which he never wavered:

"And preach as you go, saying, 'The kingdom of God is at hand.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without pay, give without pay. Take no gold, nor silver, nor copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor a staff; for the laborer deserves his food."

-Matthew 10:7-10

Hearing Christ's command, Francis shed the last of his few belongings, put on the rough brown tunic that has become the Franciscan habit, and began cleansing lepers and preaching repentance to anyone (or any animal) that would listen. This Gospel formed the simple beginnings of the Franciscan order. Even as they grew in numbers, he demanded that his friars remain faithful to Lady Poverty, committing not even a hint of adultery.

I was reminded of St. Francis' passionate obedience to Jesus' instructions while praying the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary a few days ago because each of the mysteries focuses on words that leave no room for metaphorical interpretation.

First Luminous Mystery - Baptism of Jesus: The Holy Spirit descends upon Christ like a dove while a voice from Heaven says, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

Second Luminous Mystery - Wedding at Cana: After Jesus tells his mother that his time has not yet come, Mary instructs the servants, "Do whatever He tells you."

Third Luminous Mystery - Proclaiming the Kingdom: Wouldn't you know, this happens to be same passage I already quoted above that inspired St. Francis to cast away all belongings, cleanse lepers, and preach repentance.

Fourth Luminous Mystery - Transfiguration: This one relates to the first two mysteries; once again there is a voice from Heaven announcing, "This is my Son," and we are instructed like Mary told the wedding servants, "Listen to Him!"

Fifth Luminous Mystery - Institution of the Eucharist: "This is My body, which is given for you. ... This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood."

Most of our Protestant brothers and sisters would dispute the literal interpretation of that last one. Sadly, in our disputing over theology, we probably disregard our duty to proclaim the Kingdom of God. And while it's easy for Christians to cast aside theology as academic stuff that gets in the way of spreading the Gospel, I can't help but think that the gift of Christ's flesh and blood in the Eucharist is what enabled the most radical proclaimers of the Kingdom, like St. Francis and Mother Theresa, to serve the way they did.

St. Francis knew that Christ was present in the Eucharist and it wasn't just academic knowledge; he drew strength and love from the Eucharist. If you read much about Mother Theresa outside of Time magazine, you'll learn very quickly that she considered Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament central to the lives of nuns in her order.

After procrastinating for some time, I am personally excited about finally scheduling an hour every Thursday morning to pray before Christ at a local Adoration chapel on my way into work. I'm sure a lot of people think that praying in the presence of a Communion wafer is clearly a waste of time. I could be out there sharing Christ's love with my friends, serving the needy, and other good works that bear fruit in our lives through faith.

Yet all these good works are nothing without making God our first priority. I'm not going to the Adoration chapel in hopes of becoming a holier person. I already have Christ and the hope of eternal life, so what do I have to gain? Rather, I'm doing it because I know that God will use that one hour a week to sanctify the rest of my week, make me a more faithful servant, and draw the people I know closer to Christ. Whatever good comes from it will not be my own doing, but merely through my submission to God.

Praying to Mary Should be More Than Just a "Hail Mary"

I've been on a blogging hiatus for the last month or two, although apparently my blog is only halfway down the Christian Bloggers blogroll, so there must be a bunch of other folks who are even lazier than I am :) So, us Catholics and the Orthodox and a few other scattered Christian folk have this prayer to Mary thing goin' on, which makes most Baptists almost as uncomfortable as going to a bar and seeing another Baptist there (ha ha... nothing like crackin' on them Baptists).

Anyway, this friend of mine was talking about how she talks to her mom about whatever's going on with her life (one of those girl things, I'm sure :) and to draw an analogy she remarked that "you guys pray to Mary" (I guess "you guys" must be referring to the Catholics, huh?). Well, I realized that pretty much the only prayer I say to Mary is a Hail Mary or the Rosary, which is fine except that it's like only praying the Our Father to God. Why not break out of the mold a little bit and just be honest with our spiritual mother? After all, she surely experienced all the emotions we have... uncertainty, fear, heartache, the loss of her son's death, anger, and of course the joy and happiness of raising Jesus and the witnessing his resurrection. I've always wondered what was on her mind when Amos prophesied that "a sword shall pierce your heart." We hardly pause while reading those words today, but to Mary it must've been disconcerting at the least. I imagine she wasn't even sure if the words were literal or metaphorical, not mention what exactly would happen to her? And she waited 33 years before Amos' prophesy was fulfilled.

Anyway, I guess the point I'm making is that Jesus along with Mary and all the saints are real people alive in Heaven who take joy in hearing our prayers and praying to God for us in return. We don't always have to use the standard prayers because we can talk to them like anyone else. In all likelihood, you won't get the verbal response that you get from a face-to-face conversation. Still, I think our prayers are often answered through those conversations with friends or relatives... and the more people you got prayin' for ya, the more likely the Cubs are to finally break that curse -- I mean, um, you get the idea.

To Jesus Through Mary

I hardly ever read The Onion, but I felt like checking it out this morning (mostly just want to make sure I haven't become one of those easily offended Christian lame-o's) when I found this piece of filth!

Man Just Using Virgin Mary to Get To Jesus

Disgusting!* I'll never read The Onion again, and I encourage everybody who reads this blog to join my in an Onion boycott!** I'd rather chew into a whole onion and eat it than read this Internet scum!***

* Just kidding.
** Yes, all three of you.
*** Just kidding, again.

Who is the Richest Man in Assisi?

[Editors note: There was originally a post before this, but in the wisdom of time did not find that one to be all that important or engaging. This was the second post, so I promoted it become the first post since it just makes sense that way. I left a note where the original content of this post begins, which I wanted to save since it I wrote it shortly after first learning about St. Francis' story.]
 
Who is the richest man in Assisi? My blog title is partly an allusion to a parable on financial wisdom by George S. Clason: "The Richest Man in Babylon." I read it years ago in high school, at a time when I devoured just about anything related to personal finance and investing, and even free-lanced a series of articles on the book. Babylon is one of the world's earliest civilizations. They pioneered beer brewing, which I consider as good a benchmark of civilized activity as any. The simple Babylonian economy allows the author to use simple concepts that a layperson can use to better understand today's more complex financial world.

Which brings us to St. Francis, growing up in 12th Century Italy, when international trade, corporate structures, and a rising middle-class were forming the earliest budding seeds of today's modern economy. Francis' father, Pietro Bernadone, was a garment merchant and regarded as the wealthiest man in Assisi. Probably no Medici, to be sure, but up there on the food chain regardless. And since Francis would inherit his father's business and fortune, I call him the "richest man in Assisi."

Of course, not just for that reason -- for if anyone wrestled with God, Francis wrestled. And eventually things came to a head as Francis fell in love with Lady Poverty, coming to view the family business and wealth as pesky mistresses he wanted nothing to do with. In renouncing his natural father's inheritance, he declared, "From now on, I shall only say 'Our Father, who art in heaven,'" embracing his bishop without a stitch of clothes on (imagine that happening today! Assisi apparently didn't have any lawyers :) Thus, Francis exchanged an earthly inheritance for an eternal one, and dying some years later on a cold dirt floor -- naked again, save for a blanket -- it is not Pietro we remember 800 years later, but this man whom thousands of Franciscans emulate around the world, who is often regarded as the most Christ-like of saints, who personally loved his neighbor, whether he find him to be a sickly leper or the Sultan of Egypt.

Many of the issues Francis faced are still relevant today. He is one of the most famous saints, yet one of least known. I regard him as my patron saint, as Francis of Assisi is the Confirmation name I chose on April 15, 2006. And this blog is essentially my thoughts on faith and modern life in light of my esteem for St. Francis.

[Below is the original content of this post, sharing my brief version of Francis' biography when I just learned about him.]

Speaking of books, one of the Franciscans who lives at St. Anthony's gave me a book titled Francis: The Journey and the Dream by Murray Bodo. I guess you'd describe it as a creative account of St. Francis' life. Instead of just telling the facts about his life, it speculates more about his struggles discerning God's will in the face of rejection by relatives and friends. It should make for good meditation.

Having everything he could care for, Francis reveled in the pleasures of life and tended not to be very studious at school. Even those he exhibited sharp business skills, making him the natural candidate to inherit the family business and surely surpass his father in wealth, his dream was to be a knight. He enthusiastically enrolled with an army fighting for Pope Innocent III and was two days into the journey to battle, but God...

A voice in the night instructed Francis to return home and ponder a little more the vision God had given him. No doubt this was frustrating. At some time or another, we have all felt confident of God's will for our lives only to learn that wasn't it at all. But this vision was mysterious if it didn't mean fighting as a knight. In Murray Bodo's description of this vision, Francis "was led into the great hall of a dazzling Palace, where a radiant Princess-Bride held court. The walls were covered with shields and trophies of battles won. And when he asked aloud who the Lord of the castle was, a voice sang out: 'It's the high court of Francis Bernardone and his followers.'" God instructed Francis to abandon the military and return home, where he would be told what to do.

While Francis continued to party with his old friends, God had drawn his heart to a higher calling. While riding on horseback one day, he suddenly came upon a repulsive leper. At first, he retreated in disgust, but he couldn't pass him by. Instead, he dismounted the house and embraced the leper, then gave him all his money. Surely, failing to embrace this poor leper would have been a failure to embrace Christ himself. Indeed, it was in the crumbling chapel of St. Damien that Francis heard Christ speak from the cross, commanding him, "Go, rebuild my church, which you can see has fallen into ruins."

In his saintly zeal, Francis started the work of rebuilding this chapel. It was literally falling apart, after all. He immediately went and sold some of his father's inventory of cloth and one of his horses to raise money for the church. Naturally, his father was angry, and Francis escaped to a cave for a month to avoid him. Upon returning to the city, a crowd pelted Francis with mud and stones, mocking him as a madman. Pietro forced him home, beat him, and locked him bounded in a dark closet.

While the gold was recovered since the priest at St. Damien refused to accept it, Pietro also wanted Francis to forgoe his inheritence. Brought before the bishop, Francis -- who was once destined in the world's eyes to inherit all the wealth Assisi could offer -- stripped himself of his clothes and handed them to this father, declaring, "I have called you my father on earth. From now on, I desire to say only 'Our Father, who art in heaven."

Francis continued working on the restoration of St. Damien's and two abandoned chapels near Assisi, begging for stones and personally putting them in place, while also caring for the lepers. Apparently he didn't leave much room for interpretation when God's Word seemed to speak directly to him. After hearing the Gospel message of Jesus instructing the disciples to carry no gold or silver, shoes, nor a staff for the journey, but to go out preaching repentance and announcing the Kingdom of God, Francis rid himself of what little he still owned. Now he wore merely a coarse, brown tunic tied around him with a knotted rope -- the clothing of the poorest peasants. Out in the countryside, he preached penance, brotherly love, and peace. Francis soon began attracting followers who shed everything they owned to take up a life of service and preaching the Gospel.

This movement, eventually developing into the Franciscan Order, did rebuild the Church -- not so much physically, but spiritually. In the midst of widespread corruption within the Church hierarchy, God used Francis to inspire Christians to lives of sacrificial love for God and neighbor. And that mysterious vision of shields and trophies wasn't for earthly battles won as a knight, but for the thousands of souls delivered from darkness by Francis and his followers.

In addition to the ordes, he was an active missionary travelling even as far as personally visiting the Sultan of Egypt during the midst of the Crusades. Francis also started the tradition of building Nativity scenes and was the first person to receive the stigmata. He died naked on the bare ground of a hut, covered only by a borrowed cloth, but had gained the favor of God and even the same citizens of Assisi who once stoned him as a madman. Therefore, I call him the richest man in Assisi.