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catholicnewsherald.com | October 22, 2021 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD
St. John of Capistrano: Military hero Feast day: Oct. 23 Pope Francis
Freedom comes from serving others
P
ope Francis had a special guest help him illustrate the meaning of Christian freedom: a young boy wandered onto the stage during the pope’s general audience and made himself at home. At his audience Oct. 20, the pope was continuing his series of talks on St. Paul’s Letter to the Galatians and planned to reflect on the freedom that comes from serving and loving others. As the Scripture was being read, 10-yearold Paolo walked onto the stage and right up to Pope Francis, who shook his hand. A papal aide offered Paolo a seat next to the pope, which elicited applause from the crowd, and from the little boy. But he did not stay seated long; after clasping the pope’s hands again, Paolo pointed with amazement at the pope’s zucchetto. Moments later, the young boy could be seen happily bounding down the steps, returning to his mother wearing a brand new zucchetto on his head. Departing from his prepared remarks, Pope Francis said the boy’s courage reminded him of “what Christ says about the spontaneity and the freedom of children.” “Jesus tells us, ‘If you do not become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of God.’ It is the courage to be close to the Lord, to be open to the Lord, to not be afraid of the Lord. I thank this child for giving this lesson to all of us.” “There is no freedom without love,” he said. “The selfish freedom of doing what I want is not freedom because it comes back to yourself, it isn’t fruitful.” The freedom St. Paul writes about does not imply “a libertine way of living, according to the flesh or following instinct, individual desires or one’s own selfish impulses,” he said. Rather, the apostle speaks of a freedom that is “fully expressed in love.” “It is the love that shines out in gratuitous service, modeled on that of Jesus, who washes the feet of His disciples and says, ‘I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you;’ to serve one another.” St. Paul also warns about viewing freedom as “doing what you want and what you like” which only leads to the realization “that we are left with a great emptiness inside and that we have used badly the treasure of our freedom.” Christians need to “rediscover the communitarian, not individualistic, dimension of freedom,” especially in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. “The pandemic has taught us that we need each other, but it is not enough to know this,” he said. “We need to choose it in a tangible way every day. Let us say and believe that others are not an obstacle to my freedom, but rather the possibility to fully realize it because our freedom is born from God’s love and grows in charity.”
On Oct. 23, the Church celebrates the life of St. John of Capistrano, a Franciscan priest whose life included a political career, extensive missionary journeys, efforts to reunite separated Eastern Christians with Rome and a historically important turn at military leadership. Invoked as a patron of military chaplains, St. John of Capistrano was praised by St. John Paul II in a 2002 general audience for his “glorious evangelical witness,” as a priest who “gave himself with great generosity for the salvation of souls.” Born in Italy during 1385, John lost his father – a French or possibly German knight who had settled in Capistrano – at a young age. John’s mother took care to have him educated, and after learning Latin he went to study both civil law and Church law in Perugia. An outstanding student, he soon became a prominent public figure and was appointed governor of the city at age 26. John showed high standards of integrity in his civic career, and in 1416 he labored to end a war that had erupted between Perugia and the prominent House of Malatesta. But when the nobles had John imprisoned, he began to question his life’s direction. Encountering St. Francis of Assisi in a dream, he resolved to embrace poverty, chastity and obedience with the Franciscans. Abandoning his possessions and social status, John joined the religious order in October 1416. He found a mentor in St. Bernardine of Siena, known for his bold preaching and his method of prayer focused on the invocation of the name of Jesus. Taking after his teacher in these respects, John began preaching as a deacon in 1420, and was ordained a priest in 1425. John successfully defended his mentor from a charge of heresy made against his way of devotion, though he found less success in his efforts to resolve internal controversy among the followers of St. Francis. A succession of popes entrusted important matters to John, including the effort to reunite Eastern and Western Christendom at the Ecumenical Council of Florence. Drawing immense crowds in his missionary travels throughout Italy, John also found success as a preacher in Central Europe, where he opposed the Hussites’ error regarding the nature and administration of the Eucharist. After Constantinople fell to Turkish invaders in 1453, Pope Nicholas V sent John on a mission to rally other European leaders in defense of their lands. Nicholas’ successor Pope Callixtus III was even more eager to see the Christian world defend itself against the invading forces. When the Sultan Mehmet II sought to extend his territorial gains into Serbia and Hungary, John joined the celebrated general Janos Hunyadi in his defense of Belgrade. The priest personally led a section “St. John of Capistrano” by Nicola Grassi, on display at San Francesco della Vigna Church in of the army in its historic victory on Aug. 6, 1456. Venice, Italy. Neither John nor the general, however, would survive long past the battle. Weakened by the campaign against the Turks, Hunyadi extraordinary life came to an end after a painful illness, on Oct. 23, became sick and died soon after the victory at Belgrade. John 1456. St. John of Capistrano was canonized in 1724. survived to preach Janos Hunyadi’s funeral sermon; but his own — Catholic News Agency
Daily Scripture readings OCT. 24-30
Sunday: Jeremiah 31:7-9, Hebrews 5:1-6, Mark 10:46-52; Monday: Romans 8:12-17, Luke 13:10-17; Tuesday: Romans 8:18-25, Luke 13:18-21; Wednesday: Romans 8:2630, Luke 13:22-30; Thursday (Sts. Simon and Jude): Ephesians 2:19-22, Luke 6:12-16; Friday: Romans 9:1-5, Luke 14:1-6; Saturday: Romans 11:1-2a, 11-12, 25-29, Luke 14:1, 7-11
OCT. 31-NOV. 6
Sunday: Deuteronomy 6:2-6, Hebrews 7:23-28, Mark 12:28b-34; Monday (All Saints): Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14, 1 John 3:1-3, Matthew 5:1-12a; Tuesday (All Souls’ Day): Wisdom 3:1-9, Romans 5:5-11, John 6:3740; Wednesday (St. Martin de Porres): Romans 13:8-10, Luke 14:25-33; Thursday (St. Charles Borromeo): Romans 14:7-12, Luke 15:1-10; Friday: Romans 15:14-21, Luke 16:1-8; Saturday: Romans 16:3-9, 16, 22-27, Luke 16:9-15
NOV. 7-13
Sunday: 1 Kings 17:10-16, Hebrews 9:2428, Mark 12:38-44; Monday: Wisdom 1:1-7, Luke 17:1-6; Tuesday (The Dedication of the Lateran Basilica): Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12, 1 Corinthians 3:9c-11, 16-17, John 2:13-22; Wednesday (St. Leo the Great): Wisdom 6:1-11, Luke 17:11-19; Thursday (St. Martin of Tours): Wisdom 7:22b-8:1, Luke 17:20-25; Friday (St. Josaphat): Wisdom 13:1-9, Luke 17:26-37; Saturday (St. Frances Xavier Cabrini): Wisdom 18:14-16, 19:6-9, Luke 18:1-8;
