Dear Family,
On Monday, October 4th, at 6:00 p.m. we will bless the animals. It’s the feast of St. Francis of Assisi. It’s something we can do outside, and we’ll get some pizza to eat after we’ve drenched all the pets with holy water. (I’ll avoid the cats.) Ask the Lord for some good weather. I’m looking forward to that little glimmer of normality.
Thanks to Msgr. Mike Hippee who helped with a couple of the weekday Masses while I recovered from an unfortunate accident that I had... with my power chair. Last Sunday I hit a curb in the little lot behind the chapel which someone had built overnight. OK, it was always there. Somehow the chair flipped and there I am on my whatever, kind of stunned and wondering what had just happened. Fortunately, Jose Gomez and his daughter Lina were just coming in, and Jose managed to leverage me off the lot. The power chair was no worse for wear, but your humble servant got a few scratches and dents. Jose alerted the bandage brigade and Lina carefully shepherded me into the Church.
At the end of Mass, we discovered more bandaging was needed because I did a pretty good job of blooding up the alb. Annie took it home and worked some magic with hydrogen peroxide. It’s nice to know that I can learn something new after all this time. Didn’t know about blood and hydrogen peroxide.
Why am I telling you all this? Well, for one thing, I came to the keyboard with nothing else to say. I had already written about our St. Francis observance but that was all.
I had some residual aches and pains, but more than a few times, as I was about to have another “poor me” session with myself, I glanced at the crucifix and just started laughing. I’d also think about some people I know who are going through some really difficult challenges. That helped restore a little perspective.
The incident helped me remember, once again, the evolution of that personal Creed, where the “I” switched from me to God.
“I am loved unconditionally” became “I love you unconditionally.
“I am forgiven completely” became “I forgive you completely.”
“I am never alone” became “I will never leave you alone.”
For me, it’s only when I let the Lord come into “I” that anything good can happen for anyone else, and the self-preoccupations can take a little vacation – at least for a while.
I don’t think it’s too much of a mind-bender to try and put what I have been saying in the context of today’s gospel. Once again, we hear Jesus talking about his coming Passion. The solution Jesus proposes for curing self-preoccupation is drastic: “cut off the hands, cut off the feet, pluck out the eyes.” In other words, what does it take to really become a person for others? Radical self-examination that creates room for Jesus to move in.
Here’s a couple of friends that Annie and I had. Patty Taylor painted Bubba. They died within a year of each other, both near the feast of St. Francis. Thank you, Lord.
In Jesus,
