As we all
know we have been facing a time of degenerating values and morality in our
country: a culture of entitlement, redefinition of marriage, family breakdown,
politically correct speech, contempt for chastity, a record low birth rate, and
destruction of infants.
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The once subtle and hidden spiteful stabs at
the Church for Her unfailing adherence to the Gospel of Our Lord have become
vicious and open persecution by our society and our own Government. With the disappointment of the recent elections
the dimly lit light of hope most of us had has given way to the darkness of the
catacombs and the hateful jeering sounds of the crowd in the coliseum. The Lions are hungry. We are preparing for battle. We know what lies ahead for all of those who
live the Gospel life in times like this.
It is with this in
mind that I wish to turn us to reflect for a moment on the story of
Esther. We’ve all heard her story. Perhaps we remember it from our youth,
encountered it in the office of readings, or perhaps we’ve meditated upon it
during our daily Holy Hour. Or like me,
seen the Veggie Tale version. The story of Esther has the makings of a
Hallmark Classic Movie. Beautiful young
woman is orphaned and taken in by her Uncle Mordecai a Jew in the Kings court. As luck would have it the King has to choose
a new bride and Mordecai uses his influence to get Esther selected. Esther
becomes favored by the King who would refuse her nothing. Esther has gone from rags to riches and is
able to help her Uncle Mordecai if needed.
Enter our villain Haman the Prime Minister who hates all Jews
especially Mordecai. Haman congers up a
plots to kill all the Jews and Mordecai finds out. Of course he sends word to his niece Esther
who quickly sends word back to her uncle letting him know that she cannot
intercede with the King. Why? Because anyone who enters the King’s court
without being summoned would suffer the automatic penalty of death and she has
not been summoned by the King for thirty days.
For Esther the cost was too high.
She did not stand to just loose her material possessions or her status
as Queen, she would lose her life.
Upon hearing of
Esther’s resistance Mordecai answers her reminding her of God’s Providence in
her life. “Do not imagine that because
you are in the king’s palace, you alone of all the Jews will escape. Even if you now remain silent, relief and
deliverance will come to the Jews from another source: but you and your father’s house will
perish. Who knows but that it was for a
time like this that you obtained the royal dignity?” Esther has a choice to make. God’s Providence has brought her to this
point. But God now asks her through the
request of Mordecai to risk everything to give her all in the Present Moment
which she does. And because Esther gives
up her will in-spite of the cost, her people are saved, and Evil Old Haman gets
his just reward. A happy ending!
My friends whether
it is God’s permitting Will or His Ordaining Will the reality facing us in this present moment is God’s Will for us and the Church! We need to let go of what
was in the past... what could have been and what will be in the future. What we have is now. Here in this present moment. It is what we do with this present moment
that will make the difference. God would
never allow anything that would not in the end be for our own Good and this can
be applied to any part of our life.
Holiness is conforming your will to God’s Will. So give up your will. Why would we ask for any other reality than
that which God has given us especially in this present moment? Think of how miserable we can make ourselves
if we focus on the way we wish things would be rather than the way things
are. This is the opportunity that God
has given us to grow in holiness. Why
is the impending persecution or any undesirable thing that happens in our lives
a cause for distress? Why should we let
it destroy our peace?
Saint Maximillian
Kolbe had peace even in the face of being arrested. He tells the Friars with him:
“Courage, my sons, Don't you see that we are leaving on a mission?
They pay our fare in the bargain. What a piece of good luck! The thing to do
now is to pray well in order to win as many souls as possible. Let us, then,
tell the Blessed Virgin that we are content, and that she can do with us
anything she wishes.”
Each day as we renew
our consecration to Our Lady we place our Fraternity and ourselves in her
Immaculate Heart. Remember the words she
spoke to Juan Diego:
"Hear and let it
penetrate into your heart, my dear little son; let nothing discourage you,
nothing depress you. Let nothing alter your heart or your countenance. Also, do
not fear any illness or vexation, anxiety or pain. Am I not here who am your
Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not your fountain of
life? Are you not in the crossing of my arms? Is there anything else that you
need?"
We have no reason to
fear or to lose our peace. Holy Father Francis said
“The true peacemakers are those who preserve peace of mind and body for love of
our Lord Jesus Christ, despite what they suffer in the world.” So we face a time of peril:
It is times such as
this that we are forced out of our complacency.
In times such as this that we can no longer drink from the cup of
mediocrity. It is in times such as this
that we are called to perfect heroic virtue.
It is times such as this……that the Holy Spirit raises great Saints in
the Church. It is in times such as this
that we face not a martyrdom of blood but a white martyrdom that comes when the
desire for human respect dies and true humility remains. And we should praise God for the
opportunity. Praise God for the
opportunity to die to ourselves. Praise God for the opportunity to hide in the
Catacombs. Praise God for the
opportunity to face the Lions. True Joy
comes from accepting the Will of God in this Present Moment.
I once read that
once all the blood drains from a body that the body then begins to drain
water. He shed every drop of blood for
you. Look at the wound in His precious
side. How could you deny Him anything?
Like Esther the cost
is high. Like Esther, we will not escape
the persecution that lies ahead, we must stand firm and remember who we are and
why we are here. Like Esther we have a
choice to sit passively or stand and fight.
Father Strietenberger said, “The Lord today wants our complete selves….our
will and our all. He wants us to give it
to him generously and recklessly. It is
Christ himself who teaches us to give our all as he died on the Cross for us
and gave us his life in the Eucharist.”
Remember Brothers
and Sisters, We are the soldiers of Church Militant armed with the Charism
handed to us by our Seraphic Father. In
our own fraternity we are prepared for battle in living the Particular
Constitutions given to us by our Spiritual Director Fr. Streitenberger. We have our Total Consecration to Our Lady as
our breastplate. It is in times such as
this that We must stand in defense of the Gospel, we must stand in defense of
Holy Mother Church, and we must do so
with the intention of bringing many souls to Christ.
In each moment of
Salvation History the Lord raises in the Church exactly what she needs just as
The Lord raised Saint Francis in 1208 to repair his Church. As the
impending persecution looms over our heads, as we watch as the moral fiber of
society decay, as we find ourselves surrounded by indifference to the Gospel,
and the new religion of relativism…. We must ask ourselves could it be for a
time such as this that God has brought us to the Secular Franciscan Order?
Saint Michael the Archangel defend us in battle!
Maggie Wright, OFS
(talk given November 2012)
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