Sometimes we are tempted to be that kind of Christian who keeps the Lord’s wounds at arm’s length. Yet Jesus wants us to touch human misery, to touch the suffering flesh of others. He hopes that we will stop looking for those personal or communal niches which shelter us from the maelstrom of human misfortune and instead enter into the reality of other people’s lives and know the power of tenderness. Whenever we do so, our lives become wonderfully complicated and we experience intensely what it is to be a people, to be part of a people.

It is true that in our dealings with the world, we are told to give reasons for our hope, but not as an enemy who critiques and condemns. We are told quite clearly: “do so with gentleness and reverence.” We are also told to overcome “evil with good” and to “work for the good of all.” Far from trying to appear better than others, we should “in humility count others better than ourselves.” The Lord’s apostles themselves enjoyed “favor with all the people.”

“Jesus is the model of evangelization… How good it is for us to contemplate the closeness which he shows to everyone! If he speaks to someone, he looks into their eyes with deep love and concern: ‘Jesus, looking upon him, loved him.’

We see how accessible he is as he draws near the blind man and eats and drinks with sinners without worrying about being thought a glutton anda drunkard himself. We see his sensitivity in allowing a sinful woman to anoint his feet and in receiving Nicodemus at night. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is nothing else than the culmination of the way he lived his entire life. Moved by his example, we want to enter fully into the fabric of society, sharing the lives of all, listening to their concerns, helping them materially and spiritually in their needs, rejoicing with those who rejoice, weeping with those who weep; arm in arm with others, we are committed to building a new world. But we do so not from a sense of obligation…but as a result of a personal decision which brings us joy and gives meaning to our lives.”

Fourteen men were recently received into the Franciscan Interprovincial Novitiate in Santa Barbara, California. Among them is Loren Moreno, a parishioner of St. Francis of Assisi (third from the left in the top row.)

Let us join together in prayer that he and his fellow novices will have a novitiate year filled with God’s love in the spirit of St. Francis.

Thousands are fed on a few barley loaves and a couple of fish in today’s Gospel. What an outpouring of compassion and love upon the huge crowd of people that was following Jesus and this wasn’t the only great sign of his concern for the crowd. Earlier, he and his disciples had been taking care of the sick who were following him and the crowd kept growing. It is remarkable how several of the apostles joined with Jesus in taking care of a crisis that was about to happen because of the lack of food. It is also remarkable that after all had eaten, there were 12 baskets of fragments left over. Jesus couldn’t be outdone in his generosity and deep concern for thousands of hungry people. The apostles with him were a great help in turning this situation from a crisis to an experience of how God takes care of us.

Speaking of food and the feeding of a large crowd, our Filipino Community is holding their annual Festival of Food and Culture this weekend. It takes the work and dedication of many people to organize the event: those who cook, decorate, serve, entertain, and clean up to make this not only a success but a memorable day for all who attend. Many thanks to all who worked so hard to make this day possible. This is part of our Filipino Commuity’s 35th Anniversary of being here at St. Francis. Congratulations!

This Thursday, August 2, we Franciscans celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of the Angels of the Porziuncula. This small chapel is our Mother Church in Assisi and it meant so much to St. Francis and continues to be a place of blessing for all who visit it. A Blessed Feastday!

-Fr. Andrew Reitz, O.F.M

“The word of God also invites us to recognize that we are a people: ‘Once you were no people but now you are God’s people.’To be evangelizers of souls, we need to develop a spiritual taste for being close to people’s lives and to discover that this is itself a source of greater joy. Mission is at once a passion for Jesus and a passion for his people. When we stand before Jesus crucified, we see the depth of his love which exalts and sustains us, but at the same time, unless we are blind, we begin to realize that Jesus’ gaze, burning with love, expands to embrace all his people. We realize once more that he wants to make use of us to draw closer to his beloved people.

He takes us from the midst of his people and he sends us to his people; without this sense of belonging we cannot understand our deepest identity.”

“In union with Jesus, we seek what he seeks and we love what he loves. In the end, what we are seeking is the glory of the Father; we love and act ‘for the praise of his glorious grace.’

The word of God also invites us to recognize that we are a people. ‘Once you were no people, but now you are God’s people.’To be evangelizers of souls, we need to develop a spiritual taste for being close to people’s lives and to discover that this is itself a source of greater joy. Mission is at once a passion for Jesus and a passion for his people.

When we stand before Jesus crucified, we see the depth of his love which exalts and sustains us, but at the same time, unless we are blind, we begin to realize that Jesus’ gaze, burning with love, expands to embrace all his people. We realize once more that he wants to make use of us to draw closer to his beloved people. He takes us from the midst of his people and he sends us to his people; without this sense of belonging we cannot understand our deepest identity.”