Those of you who are familiar with the Franziska Notes may be surprised by the change in title. It does not neglect Mother Franziska but is the result of a long reflection on recent events in the world and in my life. The meditative conversation took place as she might have wished before the Blessed Sacrament in the convent chapel that was my anchor at the very beginning of my vocation.
It started with Sandy, the infamous storm that destroyed some of the more beautiful locations of my childhood. Then the resignation of a very holy and humble Pope who reminded us that it is the Holy Spirit who rules the world and no "indispensible" human person. Listening to the new Holy Father who calls himself simply "Francis" and enjoying his common sense attitude toward protocol, one has to rethink many of the "essentials".
A fortnight in the hospital was dominated by repeated accounts of the terrible bombing in Boston and the collapse of a factory in Bengladesh, because of greed and corruption.
I think Mother Franziska told me the following: You have spent your whole religious life on a search for my spirit and the Lord has blessed your path: You were in Germany, spent time in my home village, made your final profession in the church I was privilaged to build and then related all your actions to mine. Now I ask you to be what you have become. Do not try to adapt the events of your time to those of mine.... just follow my lead ".... to do good, give joy, make happy and lead to heaven" It is joy that your world needs because all the forces of politics and nature seem to be allied to stamp out both joy and hope. If joy is "the infallible sign of the presence of God" we can see where this is leading.... Go and be joyful, point out the good, the true, the beautiful and the loving wherever you find it. Then you are my daughter in the Third Millenium.
