FRANZISKA NOTES January 2010

Franziska Notes No.7/1 January 2010

At the beginning of this year I deceded to sit with Mother Franziska in meditation to see what she thinks of our times. She was wondering what might happen to Europe if it no longer had Catholic rulers. I told her that we, today, choose our rulers by election and they can have any faith and belong to any religion or none at all. I told her that we have had presidents who were divorced and also had scandals while they were living in the presidential residence. But what horrified her to the point of absolute disbelief was the fact that abortion at any time and for any reason was legal and protected by law.
She who cared so much for poor servant girls who were exposed to abuse in large cities as her society experienced the rapid changes of industrialization gasped in horror. What a terrible insult to women and tragedy for lives of innocent children lost. She asked me to imagine how Mary felt in exile in Egypt when she heard what Herod had done to the little boy babies of Bethlehem simply to kill her little child. How she must have clutched her divine baby to her heart as the tears for the mothers and children fell from her cheeks.
Mother Franziska then got very agitated. “What are you doing about it?”, she asked. I told her that many people have become discouraged because it was so difficult for leaders in favor of life to be elected. Energetically she told me that this evil is so great and so damaging to our society and to the souls of our people that we must never rest. Everyone must have the courage to speak in favor of life in whatever milieu they find themselves—in public forums, in private coffee meetings, to the young, the old. This is so serious that we must be strong enough to be countercultural. She warned me that it would be the end of human dignity and civil liberty for all. I felt I had really met her and felt her spirit.

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Franziska Notes September 2009

If we think about the life of Mother Franziska we can imagine the beautiful Bavarian countryside of her childhood. Every kitchen garden in the village of Edling included besides herbs and vegetables, also flowers to brighten the homes and to add color and beauty to the celebrations in the little village church. Prominent among these flowers was the beautiful sunflower. Most children love to watch these giants as they quickly grow far over their heads in a season. All summer long their massive heads follow the sun in its travel across the bright sky. Surely Christian parents pointed out the symbolism of this flower as a parable for the Christian who wants to remain faithful to the Lord in all of the events of daily life. As the heads matured both children and birds enjoyed snacking on the nutritious seeds.
There is another lesson we can learn from this wonderful flower. One can plant the seeds from one packet and come forward with many different results. If the seed was planted in good soil in full sun and received adequate water, a giant emerged, sometimes with a two-inch diameter stem. On the other hand, seeds from the very same package that found themselves in poor, shallow soil, or shade, or which did not receive enough rain, produce a tiny, though recognizable flower hardly more than a daisy.
Did Mother Franziska notice these things in her mother’s garden? Did this contribute to her ideas of education and motivate her to provide healthy Christian environments for those in her care? In her day it was almost unheard of for a woman from the lower and middle classes of society to receive a higher education. This was not an impediment to her dreams. Education was all around, ready to be “picked” by anyone open enough to understand. We are responsible for what enters our minds and hearts, for that is what we will pass on to those whom we meet. Will they flourish or shrivel because of their encounter with us?

Franziska Notes April 2009

Franziska Notes
No.6/4 April 2009
Jesus promised to be with us all days. How comforting to know that He has found a way to accompany those who believe in Him and love Him in every situation of their lives. This has given courage to His disciples to risk life, reputation and fortunes to the glory of His name and help to His brothers and sisters in need.
It was this assurance that allowed Mother Franziska to take huge risks, going to foreign countries and different cultures to begin foundations. Her only cause for concern was that the venture truly be the will of God. How often she signed contracts when she did not even have the money to offer the other signing party a coach ride home.
This same kind of trust in God’s providence remained in the sisters of her Congregation. A sister in Austria who lived through the terrible years of the German and Russian rule said, “God took care of us. We always had something to eat even if on one day it was watery broth with a few potatoes and the next day a few potatoes with a ‘gravy’ of watery broth.” All those who have come to love the Daughters of Divine Charity have experienced the fruits of this faith in the structures, built with so much risk and daring but which benefited God’s children and youth, the needy and the aged on three continents for over one hundred years.
How can we participate in this kind of relationship with God? To get to know someone, we must know their language. Sacred Scripture is the language of God. Those who want to experience God’s presence in their daily lives must spend a few moments daily with His Holy Word. There are today many plans for daily scripture reading, in print and on the Internet. We must find one that suits our personality and be faithful to it. Soon we will see that Jesus keeps His promise to be with us and our lives open in personal joy and fruitful service to others.

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Franziska Notes 6/3 March 2009

Franziska Notes

No.6/3 March 2009

The word for Lent comes from an old Germanic term for Spring. So our holy season of Lent can be seen as a time of joyous renewal instead of painful privation. Mother Franziska was very suspicious of extreme forms of penance. She wanted her sisters to live the life of ordinary good Christians. At the same time she often called for sacrifice for good purposes. The sisters could not afford luxuries and sometimes even had to do without what seemed to be necessities because of the poverty of the young congregation and the urgent desire to use its limited resources for the good of those in their care. In one of her Lenten circulars she tells her sisters to “fast with the tongue”. At first reading I understood this to mean that the sisters must make renewed efforts to keep the silences that promoted prayer, recollection and useful work, and I am sure these were concerns of the early little communities.

The Lenten circular of our Holy Father, Benedict XVI gives a beautiful new emphasis to the concept of fasting. “Jesus brings to light the profound motive for fasting,…True fasting, as the divine Master repeats elsewhere, is rather to do the will of the Heavenly Father, who “sees in secret, and will reward you” (Mt 6,18). Today when so many people must limit themselves to the barest necessities or even suffer want, it is appropriate that we also limit our material wants to share with those in need. Following Mother Franziska’s words in the light of the positive slant in our Holy Father’s letter, we have, in addition, a beautiful program for Lent. We can “fast with our tongue” by making a positive effort to spread beautiful and kind words with a smile to strangers and our dear ones everywhere. We will be like angels leaving a trail of blessings which sooner or later will bring ourselves and many others to the joy and love of the Resurrected Lord.

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Franziska Notes No. 6/2 February 2009

Franziska Notes No.6/2 February 2009

In the dark midwinter days in the northern hemisphere and the dull after Christmas – before Carnival in the South, we want to catch a little enthusiasm from one of Mother Franziska’s sayings. We don’t know exactly where or when she said these words that turned out to be a concise description of the work she envisioned for her Congregation…. to do good, give joy, make happy and lead to heaven…. She did not limit the ministry of the Daughters of Divine Charity to one social group or one kind of suffering to be alleviated. Her vision of the future was suited to all times and places, wherever God and the Church chose to use her sisters, and by extension those who are inspired by them..
To do good is the first step in ministry. We enter peoples lives by doing good to and for them. It might be a smile, a friendly word, a little gift or service to fulfill a need. It establishes a solidarity and trust. The second is to give joy. This is the Sisters’ motivation and it is on a spiritual level. The person ministering must be grounded in the unshakeable joy that comes from a loving union with God, nourished by prayer and the Eucharist. This is a contagious joy that wins others to Christ and His service. The third aspect of the ministry is to make happy. The sister must be free enough to use the simple things of life in the proper way. This brings happiness, especially when it is tied to gratitude to God. Some of the happiest people in the world are those living in the simplest of circumstances. In a village without electricity people can delight in the stars in their purest form. In a place where food is truly taken almost unprocessed from nature and eaten for basic life, there is happiness in each different taste and texture. The sister tries to live simply so that she can share this genuine happiness with those she serves. Finally, all true ministry must always have the final destiny of each child of God in view… to lead to heaven. This goal is the criteria for all of life and all service.

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