All of March this year is dedicated to the season of Lent. Our times and our experience of this season of penance and conversion is much different from the time of Mother Franziska. The sins of which we are conscious and the penance we must do are also different. Her society by and large supported the faith into which most people were baptized. Expected behavior was clear and those who were different were on the fringes. The news was black and white in more than paper and ink.
We are bombarded by many versions of “right and wrong”. Many different types of behavior are tolerated and judgment of others’ behavior is frowned upon. In many ways this is a Christian stance for God our Father loves all people and makes the sun and rain benefit the “good” and the “bad”. Jesus tells us we must not judge so that we too will not be judged.
We cannot live in a moral vacuum. We have the voice of the Church to guide us as we make decisions. Sometimes a prominent person takes great risk in articulating his or her Catholic faith. Soon they are ridiculed and their words shredded and mocked in the media. In some circles it has become “cool” and even sophisticated to criticize the Bishops or our priests. Our children may very seldom hear the great achievements of our martyrs, scientists, workers of charity of all types. They may hear us apologize for our faith and those who profess it. So we are obliged to study our faith and to rejoice in the many benefits of nature and grace that have come to us with our Baptism. We have the Eucharist, the consolation of the sacraments, the example of the saints and heroes who shared these graces. We must courageously speak of what is good and holy in what we believe, even if it is mocked. We see courageous Catholic public figures who stay true to what the Church teaches even though they risk losing the esteem or office they strive for. We ask the intercession of Mother Franziska, Servant of God, to live joyously and courageously in our time as she did in hers and as the sisters who followed her did in subsequent times of poverty and persecution.
