The Peacemaker
St. Francesco Knight. Assisi. Umbria.
2 | September 2015
ST FRANCIS:
FROM PARTY BOY TO RADICAL CHRIST-FOLLOWER PAGE 4 Marilyn Rodrigues EDITOR
CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM RELATIONS
FIVE WAYS TO EDUCATE YOUR CHILDREN Fr Patrick McInerney SSC PAGE 14 GUEST AUTHOR
SEASONAL NOTES
FEATURING HALLOWEEN PAGE 26
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Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi at sunset, Assisi, Umbria, Italy
FROM THE EDITOR... He’s one of our most famous and loved saints, and there’s so much to say about St Francis of Assisi that it’s not easy to sum up his life! In honour of his feast day this month we celebrate some of the highlights and some lesser known facts about the rich young man who fell in love with God and left potential fame and certain fortune for a life of a poverty, simplicity and service. 4 | September 2015
One way of understanding St Francis’ unique charism was as a peacemaker between polar opposites, who imaged himself on Christ, the ultimate reconciler. During his life Francis lived both as a good rich man and a good poor one, he inspired both men and women to answer God’s call, he sought to heal division between Catholics and Christians
THIS MONTH Sep 2015 Thu 1
St Therese of the Child Jesus
Fri 2
Holy Guardian Angels
Sun 4
St Francis of Assisi
Tue 6
St Bruno
Wed 7
Our Lady of the Rosary
Fri 9
Sts Bishop Denis and companions, St John Leonardi
Sun 11 St Pope John XXIII Wed 14 St Pope Callistus I Thu 15 St Teresa of Avila Fri 16
St Hedwig, St Margaret Mary Alacoque
Sat 17 St Ignatius of Antioch Sun 18 St Luke the evangelist Mon 19 Sts John of BrĂŠbeuf and Isaac Jogues, and their companions, St Paul of the Cross Thu 22 St Pope John Paul II Fri 23
St John of Capistrano
Sat 24 St Antony Claret Sun 25 Ordinary Time 30 Wed 28 Sts Simon and Jude, apostles
by preaching the truth, he was deeply connected to nature, he cherished people whom everyone else feared and hated, he prayed and his work was a living prayer. Work for Christian unity and interfaith dialogue was close to St Francis’ heart, and we look at what we can do today to carry on this legacy. 5 | September 2015
In a world which is turbulent and polarised in many ways how refreshing for us is the simple witness of this joyful and peacefilled man! And what a wonderful example of Christian life he is to give our children.St Francis of Assisi, pray for us! Marilyn Rodrigues
2015 September | 5
Dreamed of a military career during the Crusades... captured and imprisoned after a skirmish with a neighbouring city
6 | September 2015
St Francis (born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone) was the popular son of a silk merchant who dreamed of a military career during the Crusades. He was generous and popular and lived a luxurious lifestyle. In his early 20s he was captured and imprisoned after a skirmish with a neighbouring city and later nearly died of an illness. These two long periods of inactivity gave him time to reflect. He began to turn to prayer, spending long hours praying alone and meditating on Christ’s life. He increasingly desired to be like Jesus, to the point where one day he did something that he later explained would have normally disgusted and frightened him: he ran to embrace and kiss a person suffering from leprosy whom he had seen on the road. As he got back on his horse, he was filled with peace and joy. That was the tipping point into sanctity for Francis. From that moment, he sought out the suffering and sick and gave them whatever he could; money, clothing, and tender affection, with no regard for the damage it was doing to his reputation! And he continued to be drawn into periods of deep prayer and conversations with Jesus. 2015 September | 7
Rebuilding the Ch He wanted to be poor in imitation of Jesus. He refused to own anything, even giving the clothes off his back when he thought someone else needed them. While praying in the poor abandoned field chapel of San Daniamo he heard the Lord say from the crucifix, “Francis, go and rebuild my church which has fallen into ruin”.
He took this literally, taking some of his family’s cloth and selling it to fund the chapel’s restoration. This incensed his father, who was already anxious about his son’s strange behaviour and endless giving to the poor. He had Francis arrested and demanded that he be officially disinherited. Francis said that since he served God now, he would only obey the bishop, not a judge. Before the bishop he took off his clothes, gave them to his father said that, “Hitherto I have called you my father on earth; henceforth I desire to say only ‘Our Father who art in Heaven.’” He became a beggar himself and continued working on the chapel, but soon attracted other young men who realised he was not a religious lunatic but a deeply loving and inspiring follower of Christ. A radical new movement grew around him. Francis decided they would be missionaries living on Gospel-inspired complete reliance on God and sought formal recognition by the Church for his Order of Friars Minor. He also prompted the brave young noblewoman Chiara Offreduccio (St Clare, foundress of the Poor Clares) to renounce all for Christ as well. Rather than building new physical churches, St Francis’ work built a new way of being the Church for the times in which he lived. 8 | September 2015
hurch
“Francis, go and rebuild my church which has fallen into ruin�.
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Christian unity and interfaith dialogue The Pope valued Francis for his loyalty to the Church at a time when its unity was threatened by various reforms. He and his followers converted thousands to Catholicism in a time when Christians were fighting against followers of Islam in the Crusades, and were also fiercely divided among themselves about what they believed. His efforts towards Christian unity and dialogue with Islam were completely radical and new. The fact that he managed to cross enemy lines to meet with Sultan Malek Al-Kamil of Egypt during the 5th Crusade and return unharmed, was a crucial first step in the history of Christian-Muslim dialogue. It’s said that the Sultan was impressed by the poor and passionate friar, and converted to Christianity on his deathbed. Meanwhile, St Francis amended his order’s rule to permit his friars to live peacefully among Muslims if they felt called to do so. For the fascinating story of their encounter, see the book The Saint and the Sultan by Paul Moses. Inspired by St Francis’ example, Pope John Paul II invited 160 different religious leaders of different Christian denominations and other faiths to the first World Day of Prayer for Peace in Assisi in October 1986.
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St Francis amended his order’s rule to permit his friars to live peacefully among Muslims
Devotion to the Eucharist
While St Francis himself wore a rough, patched-up habit, he was concerned that altar cloths and liturgical vessels be very beautiful. He asked friars to take silver vessels for the Masses of priests who couldn’t afford them. “The Eucharist and poverty for St He never became a priest himself Francis are two parts of the same thing,” but was ordained as a deacon. says Dominican Fr Augustine Thompson At the heart of his spirituality is OP, author of Francis of Assisi: A New radical living of the Gospel life, Biography. with the Eucharist being the ultimate expression of it. St Francis saw as the perfect example of poverty the fact that the second person of the Blessed Trinity became a human being, offered himself on the cross, and offers his body to us in the Eucharist.
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Creation mirrors God St Francis recognised creation as a manifestation of God’s beauty, goodness, and benevolence. He had a deep affinity with animals and nature, he preached to the birds, befriended wolves, and composed a hymn reflecting his love of creation. Inspired by the poverty of Jesus’s birth to a family welcomed only by humble farm animals and signs in the heavens, he created the first Christmas crib. No wonder
he’s best known as the patron of ecology and animals, but he is also the patron of merchants and Italy.
Suffering, the Stigmata, and death Born in Assisi in 1181 or 1182 St Francis was only 44 or 45 when he died in Assisi in 1226. He did great physical penance, including fasting, and would later apologise to his “Brother Body”. After a vision of an angel around the Feast of the Exhaltation of the Holy Cross two years before he died he received the stigmata, the mysterious wounds of Christ’s passion, in his side and on his hands and feet. His is the first recorded case of the stigmata. At the end of his life he was almost completely blind and in ill-health. After a brutal but unsuccessful operation for restoring his sight he retired to a tiny hut provided by St Clare at her monastery where, in his deeply joyful way, he composed the glorious Canticle of the Sun. When dying, he asked his friar brothers for permission to lie naked on the ground, allowing himself to be covered only by a simple borrowed cloth. By Marilyn Rodrigues
Sources: 1. ‘Who was St Francis of Assisi? 12 things to know and share’, http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/whowas-st.-francis-of-assisi-12-things-to-know-and-share 2. ‘St Francis of Assisi’, http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint. php?saint_id=50 3. ‘St Francis’ poverty often misunderstood’, priest explains’,http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/ st-francis-poverty-often-misunderstood-priest-explains/ 4. ‘St Francis of Assisi’, http://www.americancatholic.org/ Features/Saints/Saint.aspx?id=1158
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14 | September 2015
WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR PEACE Pope John Paul II organised the first World Day of Prayer for Peace in Assisi, Italy, in October 1986. In all there were 160 religious leaders including 32 Christian religious organisations and 11 other world religions. The Pope closed the meeting with the call to continue spreading the message of peace and to “live the spirit of Assisi”. Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have continued to work for interreligious solidarity and friendship.
In 2014 Pope Francis was the first Pope to invite leaders from other faith traditions, Rabbi Abraham Skorka and Sheik Omar Abboud to join an official papal delegation, when he visited the Holy Land in 2014. He’s also expressed a desire to settle a common date for the celebration of Easter with the Orthodox churches of the East.
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WHY DID CARDINAL
Jorge Bergoglio
choose to be
Pope Francis?
16 | September 2015
When elected pope in March 2013 Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, chose Francis as his papal name in honour of St Francis of Assisi. He is the first ever Pope Francis.
He later told journalists,
Pope Francis explained that he had done so in solidarity with the world’s poor. He explained that, as soon as it became clear that the cardinals had chosen him, his friend, the Brazilian Cardinal Cláudio Hummes had embraced him and whispered, “Don’t forget the poor”.
“that struck me…the poor…. Immediately I thought of St Francis of Assisi. Francis was a man of peace, a man of poverty, a man who loved and protected creation…. How I would love a Church that is poor and for the poor.”
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- St Francis of Assisi
18 | September 2015
We must have respect for each other, and for religious freedom
“Past experience teaches us that, unfortunately, relations between Christians and Muslims have not always been marked by mutual respect and understanding….The lessons of the past must help us to avoid repeating the same mistakes. We must seek paths of reconciliation and learn to live with respect for each other’s identity. The defence of religious freedom, in this sense, is a permanent imperative, and respect for minorities is a clear sign of true civilisation.” - Pope Benedict XVI, Cologne, 20 August 2005
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“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace� 20 | September 2015
t
CHRISTIAN MUSLIM RELATIONS Fr Patrick McInerney SSC gives us five ways to educate our children while sowing harmony with our Muslim neighbours.
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ways to educate your children in peace Islamic mosque pattern
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The famous prayer attributed to St Francis as it expresses his spirit so perfectly begins with the words, “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace”. Recently two great Christian world leaders, Pope Francis and the Patriarch Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
called upon Muslims and Christians everywhere “to work together for the sake of justice, peace and respect for the dignity and rights of every person”. I of Constantinople,
What better place to begin this work of peace begun by St Francis during the Crusades than at home with our families?
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Try peace-building table talk The image conveyed on the TV, newspapers and in social media of Islam and Muslims is often sensationalised news of violent criminal acts committed overseas. Families have opportunities to break down negative stereotypes about Islam and Muslims in their conversations around the dinner table. Remember the Muslim family living next door or down the street, Muslim shoppers at your local supermarket, fellow school students, work colleagues, or players in your favourite sports team. Discuss the TV news or current affairs programs and challenge any stereotypes presented there. You could even research facts to discuss over dinner – don’t just rely on Google, but seek reliable information from scholarly sources, and as far as possible from wellinformed Muslims. You may be surprised to find how much we have in common!
bonus? This helps to form children’s critical thinking processes and research skills.
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Put the kettle on (or the bbq) If there are Muslims in your neighbourhood, find appropriate occasions to invite them into your home to socialise together, so that your child or children see this interfaith interaction as simply a part of life, not just an esoteric moment. Muslims are an integral part of our society, regular Aussies just like anybody else. In fact the Australian Bureau of Statistic tells us that 40 per cent of all Muslims are Australian-born (the figure would be much higher for young Australian Muslims). In counter to the awful slogan, “Go back to where you came from!”, the reality is that Muslims mainly come from Bankstown, Auburn, Lakemba, and our own neighbourhoods. In civic terms, as citizens of Australia, they are a part of us, and we are a part of them.
bonus?
You’ll all make new friends.
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2015 September | 27
Take a family excursion with a difference Visit a local mosque together. Muslims know they must play a role in building relations with the wider Australian society, so on occasions they open the doors of the mosque and invite others into their sacred space. They are practised in giving guided tours and explaining their beliefs and practices. Visiting their place of worship is a good, practical way of entering into their world. When visiting the mosque, seeing Muslims at prayer, and hearing Muslims talk about their faith you will be surprised at the many things we hold in common, though of course there are differences which remain. While remaining true to our own faith, we can and must respect the faiths of others, work together on the commonalities, and respect the differences.
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bonus?
What a great opportunity to deepen children’s understanding of their Catholic identity!
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Wish someone a “happy Eid” Send greetings to Muslims in your classroom or your neighbourhood on their feast days. When people wish us “happy birthday” or “happy Christmas”, we feel acknowledged, accepted and affirmed. So on the two major Muslim feast days - Eid al-Fitr at the end of Ramadan and Eid al-Adha about two months later - give greetings to Muslims you encounter and they will also feel acknowledged, accepted and affirmed. You could even share an iftar meal together. During the month of Ramadan Muslims fast from dawn till dusk - no eating, no drinking, no sexual activity, no bad behaviour. In the evening families and friends gather and share a meal to break the fast, called an iftar meal (it literally means ‘breaking’ the fast). More and more Muslims are inviting people of other faiths to join them for the iftar meal. They are hosted by Muslims, by civic groups, the premier, the parliament, even sometimes by the bishop! Look out for an invitation in your local newspaper, parish bulletin, or Catholic media. It is an ordinary, everyday activity, and by doing it together we witness our shared faith in God and our shared humanity.
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bonus?
Affirming the universal and spiritually-rich rituals of fasting and feasting.
Ramadan Lanterns also called “Fanous” translates to “the light of the world.”
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Pray for Muslims
Make them a regular part of your prayers of intercession. For example, especially during the month of Ramadan I pray, “for our Muslim brothers and sisters, that by the physical discipline of fasting and the spiritual devotion of their hearts, they will find grace and favour in God’s eyes�. If we did this in our families, homes, and in our parishes on Sundays, it would remind Christians that there are other believers in our society who are following God according to the light given to them, that the family of God is much greater than our own traditions, and that there are others practising their faith with whom we share the pilgrim journey of life.
bonus?
Being inspired to pray for peace and solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters is a gift from God the Father of all!
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A great resource To learn more about interreligious dialogue, and to get some great, reliable resources
visit the Columban website dedicated to the topic at www.columbanird.org.
About the author
Fr Patrick McInerney SSC A Columban missionary priest, theologian, university lecturer and the Director of the Columban Mission Institute in North Sydney, NSW, the Coordinator of its Centre for Christian-Muslim Relations and a staff member of its Centre for Mission Studies. He ministered in Pakistan for 20 years, including in Christian-Muslim relations. He is a member of the Australian Catholic Council for Ecumenism and Interreligious Relations, a board member of the Australian Catholic University’s Centre for Inter-religious Dialogue, and is on the Executive of the NSW branch of Religions for Peace.
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SEASONAL NOTES
October
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FEATURING HALLOWEEN. CRAFT
Reclaiming Halloween
In an attempt to reclaim Halloween, some Christian families have embraced the event with the view of redeeming it.
CRAFT
Night of light scripture cards
Why not hand out these little scripture cards with a glow stick or savory snack?
PRAYER
Saintly Trifecta
Christ-O-Lantern: Rather than the traditional Jack-O-Lantern, make a ‘Christ-O-Lantern’ by carving Christian symbols from a pumpkin or watermelon.
PRAYER
Prayer for the Synod on the Family
Pope Francis has called all people to pray for him and the Synod on the Family.
36 | September 2015
FEATURING ST FRANCIS CRAFT
Peace Tree
When Jesus promises peace, it is truly a great gift. No matter what challenges life brings us, we can pay for the peace of Christ to fill our hearts.desk. CRAFT
Paper Chain of Peace
For this activity, each family member can make a crane and transfer the words of one line from the Peace Prayer of St Francis PINTEREST
See our dedicated pinboard
for gorgeous images of Assisi and art dedicated to St Francis, quotes and prayer cards, and ideas for celebrating his feast with little ones.
THE PRAYER OF SAINT FRANCIS St Francis is well known for his commitment to poverty, simplicity and peace.
For more ideas and inspiration visit www.CathFamily.org 2015 September | 37