How to be Like Christ

How to be Like Christ

Reflection on Isaiah 42: 1-7

An Associate of the Daughters of Divine Charity is called to live in their own circumstances, making God’s love visible, as the sisters strive to do in their convents and ministry.

Isaiah, looking forward, described the Servant Lord, Son of God. We can take from his words some ideas for our own living of this charism.

The Servant would not be crying out not shouting….
We can strive to accept irritations gracefully, responding to circumstances with gentle, kind words.

The Servant will not break a bruised reed…
We can be gracious, refrain from “preaching” when someone expresses regret.

The Servant will open the eyes of the blind…
We can politely and courageously speak out when we hear an expression of error or evil in our social circle.

The Servant will release prisoners from a dark dungeon…
We can give a gracious, forgiving response to a hurt, injury or an apology.

We live in a violent and brusque society, where gentleness and courtesy are in rare supply. A kind word, a gentle answer, a calm response can cool a tense situation and help bring peace. The ripples will go on and on. The kindness on a neighborhood street in our country will add to the balance of peace in our large, sad and suffering world. Not everyone has the leisure provided by the structures of religious life for prayer and contemplation, but everyone can spend a few moments with the Gospels and allow themselves to be formed by the image of Jesus presented there.

Franziska Notes January 2011

As a New Year begins with the birthday of Mother Franziska on January 1, 1833, we look again at her life and gift to the world. Those acquainted or associated with the sisters of the Congregation she founded, the Daughters of Divine Charity ask themselves, “How is our world related to hers? What can her charism bring to our situation?”
We are confronted by change. She was facing great political and social changes and the simple religious faith of her childhood was challenged by the voices of the enlightenment and the consequences of the industrial revolution. What she experienced in these areas was almost nothing compared to the current bombardment of ideas, often conflicting and threatening, by the mass media and the internet. What would she counsel us today?
I believe she would raise her copy of the diocesan newspaper and the devotional pamphlet that were subscribed to by all her convents. “Listen to the Church”, she would say, “Read and pray about what your Bishop is writing for the Catholics in his care. Be familiar with the documents coming from the Holy Father”.
We must be very careful that we are not receiving the teaching of the Church filtered through the mass media or even exclusively one preacher. We must have the patience to really educate ourselves so as not to be persuaded totally by the political right or left. The moral compass of today cannot be a superficial one. Reality TV is very often anything but. The love of God is our reality and it is not a quick fix. As we prayerfully read the Gospels we see that God’s plan takes time and requires sacrifice. The people who are truly devoted to the loving will of God often, like Jesus, lose their friends and even their lives. It is only in communion with God that we learn His will for us, not for the masses, but for us. That is often painful and lonely, but it is right and leads to peace.