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.

FRANZISKA NOTES December 2010

There was a rare snowfall in Rome. A Sister from South Brazil was enchanted at the sight. Looking at the trees in the garden carrying their white load she exclaimed, “Now I know why we always put cotton on our Christmas tree!” It is a sign of the internationality of the Congregation founded by Franziska Lechner that a sister from one part of the world could experience a revelation from a place far from her own birthplace. We have heard many times that we must “think global”. Franzi the little girl from a village in Bavaria would have loved that expression because that is the story of her life. She saw opportunities for good in the widespread major empire of her day and sent her sisters to express, in concrete form, the love of God. She wrote of the stop she and her sisters made in an inn in Bosnia. They sat on the cushions around the small table and drank the strong coffee offered in cups that were “sanitized” by the proprietor with his saliva and apron. They realized that love of God demanded acceptance of the practice without negative reaction. If we want to live as true followers of Jesus who revealed the love of God to us, especially in the poor manger at Bethlehem, we must be open to differences and always see the stranger as a child of God and our own brother or sister. The media today can so easily brain wash us to generalizations. We must let the Holy Spirit enter our minds and hearts with light and love. Everywhere there are good people and they need to find us also to be “good people”. This may be on a bus, in a supermarket, a doctor’s office or in a distant land. Wherever our legitimate life’s work takes us we are meant to be ambassadors of God’s love. The evil forces in the world today want to separate us with hatred and suspicion. Jesus calls us to even love our enemies….. how does that contrast with making enemies of people we don’t even know yet? Paraphrasing Franziska Lechner, let us “do good, give joy, make happy… and so … lead to heaven”.

The Mustar Seed, another parable

Wearily the old man slogged along the seemingly endless road toward the sunset. He knew it was the end of his long life and he dreaded his meeting with the one who had given him that great gift.

When he stood before the Lord in the heavenly throne room and felt Jesus' hands hold his own he burst into tears. "Lord" he said, "You have been so good to me my whole life long and have given me countless friends, a wonderful family and many material and spiritual gifts... I am afraid I have nothing to show for my life."

Jesus smiled and asked the man to look behind him. There, to his surprise was a beautiful field filled with yellow flowers dancing in the sun. Jesus said, " Since you were walking with me, your faith was scattering all along your way like little mustard seeds clinging to your clothing. You didn't notice but many people have been enriched by the beautiful flowers sprung from those tiny seeds that are now delighting eyes and hearts and enriching the soil in which they have taken root. Come with me to your eternal reward!

Franziska Notes 2010 October 2010

Franziska Notes
No.7/10 October 2010

If Mother Franziska were given a theme for her life there would be a difficult choice between joy and gratitude. There is no contradiction however in these two qualities. The surest way to be joyful in all circumstances is to be grateful. Sometimes we associate joy with the infrequent events described as “luck”. How happy we would be if we won a large lottery prize, or if we found an unexpected bargain for an item that we have long desired. Real and lasting joy comes, however, with the first moment of awakening when we realize that we have been gifted with another day. We have twenty-four hours more to enjoy the many gifts showered upon us every day of our lives. A superficial glance at the obituaries in the daily paper tells us that many people have fewer days of life than we. How often do we notice the beauty in clouds. Millions of varied forms are displayed throughout a single day in one place. Even dark storm clouds can be fascinating.
A habit of gratitude is a direct way of “praying always”. All the good, true and beautiful things in our daily lives are gifts of a loving God. As we rejoice in them and thank God we come into natural, spontaneous contact with this loving Father. We are never alone or bored because we are surrounded by love. Mother Franziska knew this and it gave her the courage to overcome obstacles, personal fear, attacks of enemies and momentary failurextensive travels. She learned that she had a gift to give to others, a smile and a cheerful word. We know from her writings that she managed to smile at others even while her own heart was breaking from a personal sorrow. Gratitude helps us be joyful because we live in the “big picture”. Based on the promises of Christ we know, in the words of Julian of Norwich, that “all will be well”.
e. She was able to be a source of joy to those she met during the day and in her .

http://www.godslovefdc.org/

Franziska Notes September 2010

We see them marching off to school with brand new clothes and backpacks. They are the children going off to another academic year. They are full of enthusiasm to meet old and new friends and subconsciously perhaps looking forward to advancing in the acquisition of civilization’s store of accumulated knowledge.
When we were small we were often told to “grow up”. We also wanted to be older because of the imagined advantages and liberties. When there was something that frightened us, however, we were so happy to run to a parent or trusted friend for shelter and comfort., We found it easy to believe in the good and the beautiful and we rejoiced with each new discovery.
Mother Franziska learned in very early childhood to love the “Himmi .Vater” her heavenly father. She learned with her parents beside her that this great and good father is to be thanked, trusted and pleased by our actions.
This attitude toward God never left her. It was the melody of her entire life. She encouraged her sisters to see God as their good father and to thank him constantly for all his gifts. In difficult times she found comfort in his perfect understanding. When she took risks to advance the mission of her congregation, she trusted that he would be faithful.
We are living in a dangerous and threatening world. There are financial problems and possible physical harm from enemies. We know the limits of medicines and therapies. Our heavenly Father wants us to become his children again. He wants our joyful gratitude throughout the day. He wants us to trust in his very real and practical help. This gratitude and trust becomes a habit when we become more and more acquainted with his Son, Jesus and his holy Word in prayer each day. Soon we find that the joy and confidence of our childhood has returned

FRANZISKA NOTES April 2010

The first day of this month falls on Holy Thursday so our reflections on the spirituality of Mother Franziska Lechner occur in the atmosphere of the Paschal Mystery. Some of her sisters, in the southern hemisphere experience Easter at the threshold of winter. Even where preachers are locating the feast in the new light and life of springtime there are at least some hours of darkness before we light the new fire of the Easter night. Jesus gave us the great gift of the Eucharist before He and His disciples ventured out into the foreboding darkness of Gethsemane. We are armed in the best possible way for the darkness both physical and spiritual. We hear Jesus’ promise in our hearts, “Fear not, it is I,” and “I am with you all days even to the end of the world.” It was not too long ago that the church in the center of the village or on every few streets of the cities were open for a visit. In the recent past we were afraid the enemies of the Church would close the doors to our beloved sanctuary. Now we have ourselves taken the preemptive action of keeping them locked. This makes it more difficult but not impossible to be a Eucharistic people. There are wonderful stories of the Eucharist being celebrated in prisons and concentration camps. As the trials of our life increasingly weigh us down we become more and more thirsty for the tangible presence of the Lord who victoriously walked through the darkness for us. Mother Franziska made sure that there was a chapel in each of the houses she founded and she was often there pouring out her fears and sorrows. Perhaps there are religious houses among us where we would be allowed to come and worship the Lord treasured in their chapels, but neither we, nor the Lord are really limited by locks. While Mother Franziska traveled through Europe she noted the many church steeples dotting the countryside and she made a point of sending toward each one a greeting to the Eucharistic Lord housed within. Our thoughts, too, can fly to our parish church in greeting and we can find peace in our fear and trouble.