First Sunday of Advent Year - C 2015

May the peace of Christ Reign in our hearts.

Connecticut is a beautiful state.
In the morning you can hike at sleeping Giant State Park in Hamden and on a summer afternoon you can relax and put your feet in the warm water of the Long Island sound.

I try to hike  on my day off every Friday.
A walk in the woods or up a hill always clears my head and gets my heart pumping.

The last summer when I hiked with my nephew he was amazed at how I could walk up those hills..

Since September things have been pretty busy and so I haven't hiked as much.

The day after Thanksgiving the day after we gorged ourselves
Matt wanted to go hiking again.

I decided to hike up Talcott Mountain in Simsbury.
Usually I can make up without breaking a sweat.

But this time it was really hard for and I even had to stop once on my way up.

When we got to the top Matt (ever the tactful one) looked back at me and said wow Uncle Rob what happened to you, you’re really sucking wind.

I was amazed at how much I have gotten out so shape in just a few weeks. My struggle up that hill was an eye opener.

In today’s gospel Jesus warns us about becoming spiritually complacent or better yet, spiritually out of shape.

He reminds us that unless we are vigilant,
unless we concentrate on being good, holy, generous, people all the time our hearts can become drowsy and spiritually lazy.

Just like I learned that it doesn't take long time to get out of shape physically, it doesn't take long to fall out of shape spiritually either.

When we don’t make it a habit of giving God time it becomes harder and harder to turn our lives around.

When we don't make it a habit of going to confessions it becomes harder and harder to come back to the grace of the sacrament.

Some of you haven’t gone to confession in years and you know you should but the longer you are away the harder it is to get back.

Being honest sometimes I think to myself gee living in Berlin must be like living in Heaven.

One would think there are no sins her by the number of people who go to confessions.

When we don’t place other’s needs before our own it becomes easier and easier to to become self absorbed and even narcissistic.

Many people have simply grown used to seeing other people in need or suffering and feel absolutely no urgency to do anything about it.

And because of all of these things it is so easy to drift away from others and drift away from God.

It is so easy for us to fool ourselves into thinking that we have lots of time.

We reason there's time for holiness, there’s time for God it’s just not now.
I’ll get to it someday when I am old or whatever… just not now.

Because our Church understands our human condition.
she gives us Advent in the hope that even with all the confusion that the Christmas brings we will make an extra effort to stay wake,
and enter deeply into the mystery of God’s love for us.

I don’t know about you but this is my 60th Advent.
Let’s say Advents 1-18 don’t count because I was still growing up.

That means I’ve had 42 advents to amend my life and grow closer to God.
I know I could have done better.

I know that there have been periods of spiritual drowsiness or hyper busyness even in my life as a priest.

We all can do better
This year on this first Sunday of Advent
Let us commit to one concrete thing which will help us to be holier and more generous men and women.

We need to be Men and women willing to to imitate our loving God who chose to be humbly born in a manger because there was not room in the inn.  Amen

The Solemnity of Christ the King - Year B - 2015

Today on the last Sunday of the liturgical year we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King

I found this on the internet and I offer it to you to ponder.

-Kings are usually born in a palace, places of privilege, but our King was born in a stable.

-While most kings spent all of their time building up wealth, Jesus our King owned nothing at all. 

-Kings are usually surrounded by servants;

-Jesus chose to be a servant. 

-Instead of riding into town on a big white horse surrounded by soldiers, Jesus our King rode into town on the back of a donkey.

-Kings usually surround themselves with powerful and influential friends 
-Jesus was the friend of regular people, working class people, fishermen and carpenters.

-He is the friend of the lowly, the poor and sinners.

-Our King’s crown was not gold or silver.
It was not a symbol of power studded with precious jewels.

-Instead they crowned Him with thorns.

His crown was a sign of his willingness to suffer for love.

-Instead of robes and jewels he wore a cloak and tunic

-To some Jesus seemed powerless but he was indeed powerful,

-Jesus our King’s throne was not an ornate symbol of his power instead he ruled from the cross paying the price for our sins.

-Like many good Kings, Jesus gave his life for his people;

unlike any other king death had no power over him and he rose from the dead.

Jesus was a king in a completely different way than other kings so it follows that we his followers should be entirely different from other people

What does Jesus our King ask from us?

How should a disciple of Christ the King supposed to live live?

Here are just a few examples…

-Love your enemy do good to those who persecute you,

-If someone wants your shirt give him your coat as well.

-Do not store up for yourself treasure on earth rather.Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick, visit prisoners and store your treasure in heaven.

-Whatsoever you do for the least of my brothers you did to me.

-Forgive not 7 times but rather 70x70 times.

-Lend to those who cannot pay you back.

-Take this all of you and eat.
-Do this in memory of me.

Put so simply Christian discipleship sounds so radical.

It is indeed a radical choice to follow Christ the King and it takes courage.

Are we willing to really follow him ?

Amen

33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time - Year B - 2015

The Egyptians built a great civilization but after time much of what they built was covered up by the blowing sands of the Sahara Desert.

The Romans also created a great civilization. During the Roman Empire there were incredible accomplishments in art, engineering, music and architecture. But in 476 the western part of the empire just imploded and Rome was sacked. It must have seemed like the end of the world to the Romans but it wasn’t.

In our own time in 1917 the Russian Revolution led to the creation of the Soviet Union. As amazing as it seems communism and the Soviet Union only lasted around 74 years. It was a mere blip on the radar screen of history. Yet, when I was growing up the Soviet Union seemed so strong and fearful. Here today gone tomorrow.

In the passage from Gospel of Mark which we heard today,Jesus is no longer preaching to crowds.

He is not walking along the dusty roads of Galilee with his disciples.

He is not healing the sick.
He is already in Jerusalem and he is spending his time with his closest disciples.

You see he knows that his time on earth draws to an end.

He knows how much His death on the cross will frighten and dissolution his followers so he is trying to warn them and prepare them.

Remember when he speaks to his disciples Jesus is also speaking to everyone of us.

He doesn’t hide the cross from his followers.
He doesn’t say to us follow me and you’ll never have any troubles.

He knows that, our lives, and the lives of every human being there will be transitions and difficult moments, very difficult moments.

He knows that some will be tempted to lose hope and lose faith.
He knows and wants us to be ready for the trials we will face.
All of our lives will be filled with transitions blessings and challenges.
Sometimes there will even be circumstances which will seem to push us to our limits.

Brothers and Sisters Today’s Gospel challenges us to ultimately place our faith and our hope in God
God’s love alone is constant everything else changes and passes away.

And so when we face sickness or when our job is in doubt
or when our children or grandchildren have problems
or when the shadow of hate seems so strong like it did in Paris last Friday,
let’s hold on to our faith and move forward with hope

Let us trust him and
let us all hold on to hope.
hope for a better tomorrow
hope for a better world
let us hope even when the clouds are dark and the wind is cold
let us hope even in the shadow of the cross.

That’s what Jesus wanted for his disciples as he walked toward the cross and that’s what Jesus wants us to do as we face life challenges. 

For God’s love us is stronger than death itself
Amem

32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time Year - B - 2015

This week's readings tell the stories of two women.

Both of them are widows. Both of them are very poor and very powerless.

You see in both in the Old and New Testament women had no legal rights.
They could not own property.
They could not work outside of the home.
They could not even speak for themselves in court.

They were completely dependent on men and when no man was willing to represent their interests or provide for them and their children they were in dire straits indeed.

Only when we understand this context can we understand the significance of their actions.
The woman in the first reading was indeed in dire straits.

A famine was sweeping the land.

People were less inclined to be generous with their food and more inclined to look out for themselves and their own.

The widow understood that her means were nearly exhausted. She knew that when her oil was gone and her flour exhausted there was a good chance that both she and her son would simply die of hunger.

When Elijah the prophet asked her for a little bread he was in a sense asking her to make the ultimate sacrifice for a complete stranger.

Her generous nature and trust in God enabled her to say yes and because of her generosity “the jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry” and she and her son survived

In the Gospel we have a similar story as the pilgrims entered the temple the were required to make an offering.

Many of the rich would make a big show of what they were giving and some of them did indeed gave huge amounts.

However more than not their gift was from their excess, or what they really didn’t need.

The little widow had no means and was not able to large donation.

But Jesus points out that her very small gift was the most generous of all because she gave all that she had.

What did these two women have in common?

When the moment of truth came or the moment of decision came what enabled them to make the right choice?

First of all they were able to be detached from lure of worldly possessions.

Maybe it was because they were poor and never had much to begin with.

Maybe their life of poverty enabled them to share the little that they had, whatever the case.

Their ability to open their hands and let go of what they possessed enabled them to be generous.

The second thing they shared was an absolute trust in God’s providence.

Even though they didn’t have much in the world they knew that God loved them.

Neither of them said why me.
Neither of them expressed any resentment to God about their circumstancese.

Both of them just trusted.

You know many of us have been coming to church for years, we never or rarely miss.

Yet, we sense in our hearts that we are not making the progress in our relationship with with God that we should.

Many feel and I have always felt somehow my life, or my discipleship could be sould be more fruitful should be more generous.

Sometimes we might think to ourselves after all this effort shouldn’t I be in a better place shouldn’t I be a better person.

I would propose to myself and to you to our parish as a whole and our country as a whole that if we want to be more faithful servants we should ponder and imitate the example of these two women.

We should ask ourselves do we see the goods of the world for what they are a means to an end,or do we view them as an end in themselves to be coveted and acquired at any cost.

How much of our lives our energy have we spend acquiring things and holding on to them for dear life?

This is really an important question

How can we expect to grow in holiness if we place our trust in things rather than God and God’s loving providence.

Don’t get me wrong material things are not bad in and of themselves.

Having material things is not bad in and of itself.

Rather that manner we hold on to them,

the way we covet them, desire them, some would say even lust for material possessions. is where the problem lies.

When it comes to our possessions is our hand closed or is it open and generous.

This is especially cause for concern when we have a super abundance and there are those who go without even the minimal.

When John D. Rockefeller and incredibly wealthy man was asked “how much would be enough?” he answered “just a little bit more.” When he said this he was at the height of his financial success personally accounted for almost 2% of total US GDP!

The readings today challenge us to look at ourselves as individuals as a church and as a country and ask ourselves when is enough enough.

The example of these to women challenge us to ask ourselves where do we place our hope.

In a society where the gulf between those who have and those who do not grows wider and wider these reading should cause us pause.

This week let’s meditate on the example of these two holy women and ask ourselves openly what would we have done or what will we do when a complete stranger comes to us in need ?
Would our hand be open or closed ?
Amen

The Feast of All Saints 2015

Today is the Feast of All Saints and the Church calls us to reflect on two simple facts.
The first is this, our destiny, our ultimate happiness, and our joy is to be united with God.

If you are in this Church right now, I hope you find great consolation from knowing that God longs to be with you forever in heaven.

The second point is just as important.
The Feast of All Saints teaches us that there are many roads home.
When it comes to holiness One size does not fit all.

You know when Fr. Raymond and I go to New Britain General he always takes Arch Street and I take Farmington Ave and bear right by that fountain but we both get there and that’s what’s important.

On the Feast of All Saints the Church gives us the Beatitudes to mediate on true happiness.
At first glance the Beatitudes seem contradictory.


How can someone who mourns be happy ?
How can someone who is persecuted be happy?
How can someone who is poor be happy?

Poverty allows us to see God as our greatest treasure.

Poverty allows us to empty ourselves of all that distracts us and concentrate on God and our brothers and sisters.

When we hunger and thrist for God and the knowledge of God, God will always show us how to live good and holy lives.

Being filled with sorrow especially for our sins and weaknesses or experiencing “Catholic Guilt” is often the first step to repentance and a joyful freedom from sin. Sorrow and Catholic Guilt isn’t always bad.

Every age, every generation, has presented us with new saints. who show us the way home.

St. Maximilian gave his life in a concentration camp to save a father of a family.

St. Francis of Assisi gave away everything he had because he knew that all it did was get in the way.

More recently Saint Katharine Drexel of Philadelphia did the same.

Her family’s wealth in current dollars was around $400 million.

She gave it all away and established a religious order and schools for the poorest of the poor.

St. Thomas More would not or could not permit anyone or any legal nicety to alter his conscience not even the powerful Henry VIII.

So he accepted death rather than renounce his conscience and his allegiance to Christ and the Church.

Today there are lots of places in our society where our culture’s values are at odds with our Christian Conscience.

The example of St. Thomas Moore challenges us to remain faithful to our conscience and to God, no matter what anyone else thinks or no matter what the cost.

St. Catherine of Sienna look her up. was a simple holy woman who taught kings and popes their responsibility to be Christian leaders.

She convinced the Pope to leave the comforts of his palace in Avignon and protection of the King of France.

She convinced him to return to the rough and tumble city of Rome and face possible persecution.

She reminded him that God needed him to walk footsteps of Peter and to be about God’s work .

Recently the parents of St. Theresa of Lisieux were canonized.
They didn’t give their lives to God in one act of heroism.


Rather they lived holy lives at home and inspired their children to be saints.
How many of us have inspired our Children to be saints ?

In this day and age it is no easy task. But can never stop trying.
There are thousands of saints.

Each one took a different way home.
Let us never forget that our destiny is to be with God.
Let us always remember that many have gone before us marked with the sign of faith.

On this feast of All Saints.
Let’s pick a saint, learn about their lives, and imitate them.

Then let us all follow them home to God

Amen

30th Sunday of Ordinary Time year B - 2015

May the peace of Christ reign in our heart

I once knew a young man in college who was great at sports especially ultimate frisbee.

He had a winning personality with lots of friends, and  was a straight A student.

The only burden he seemed to carry was a stutter which would make it’s presence felt only once in awhile.

It would have been easy for him to turn into himself, limit his relationships, and stand by the sideline but he refused. He looked this challenge he had been given in the eye and he never let it hold him back.

At the end of his career in college the university wanted to honor him with an award. The only problem was he would have to give a speech to accept it.

He faced this challenge without fear. Now I’m happy to say he is priest doing great work. S

ome would say that having a stutter and being a priest are incompatible after all most of what a priest does is speak. God sees things differently.  

I have to say it was an honor to know this young man and it was inspiring to see him overcome the challenge he was given..

I mention his story today because Bartimaeus also had a challenge. He was blind, he could not work.

He was forced to beg on the streets. He was dependent on the goodwill of others.

The gospel mentions no family or wife or children he was alone. In that culture and that time who would marry a blind man?

One scholar I read said that many people who lived in  Jericho were members of the priestly class who would have been opposed to Jesus and his followers.

By reaching out to Jesus Bartimaeus risked alienating the very people he depended on to live.

Let’s look briefly at the scene and try to see what at the see Bartimaeus really did.

It might not be clear to us but when Baritmaeus stood up and started yelling Jesus Son of David he was making a profession of faith. By using the Title Son of David Baritmaeus was proclaiming his belief that  Jesus was the Messiah. This was sure to alienate the people whom he depended on.

He continue to proclaim his faith in Jesus even when people rebuked him publicly.

When Jesus called him Bartimaeus threw off his cloak and ran to him.

A poor man’s person’s cloak what his also his bed. It kept him warm in the night the pockets of the cloak might have had a little bread or food they had managed to save.

The cloak was also like a poor man’s wallet. Any coins he had collected would have been squirrelled away were probably in the cloak there were no pockets in the other garments a poor person wore.

By throwing away his cloak he was risking everything he had.

Bartimaeus could have stayed on the roadside that day

He probably could have begged a lot of money from the crowd that had gathered along the road that day but he wanted more and he took a big risk to obtain it.

All of us have challenges.

All of us have weakness.

Some of us face illness and handicaps.

Some of us have addictions.

Some of us regularly drink the bitter nectar of anger or resentment

There is not a person in this church that doesn’t have some burden some sin which limits their ability to live a happy normal Christ filled  life.

The question we have to ask ourselves is simply this.

Are we going to to let these things win and stay on the side of the road like Bartimaeus could have done or are we going to ask God for help.

Are we willing to make the changes in our lives needed to move beyond our limitations and our problems.

With God all things are possible. The first step is simply to ask for help or to ask for healing.  

29th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year B

In the Gospel of Mark, On three separate occasions

Jesus tells his closest followers, his closest friends, that he will have to suffer and die and each time they either don’t understand or fail to grasp what he is saying.

The first time Jesus spoke of his passion to the disciples Peter tries to convince him that he is wrong and Jesus says to him. “Get behind me Satan”

The second time Jesus reveals that he has to suffer and die, his disciples don’t seem to pay attention and start arguing about who is the greatest in the God’s Kingdom.

Just before today’s Gospel passage Jesus tried one more time to prepare his disciples for the passion..

No one consoles him or offers their support.

Instead James and John ask for places of honor one on his right and one on his left in the kingdom of God.

Their comment was so embarrassing to the early church that in the Gospel of Matthew the evangelist has the Mother of James and John make the inappropriate request.

The other disciples were indignant when they heard James and John not because they had asked for the places of honor but rather because they had beat  them to the punch.

Before we are too harsh on the disciples and before we are to harsh on anyone it is important for us to look at ourselves and our own lives.

How self focused are we?

How much effort do we spend trying to get ahead .

How much of our time is spent at home and at work looking to amass more and more property and more and more influence and more power?

How often have we failed to notice the needs of others

or when we did see someone in need  just not want to get involved.

How often have we failed to be of service to those around us

If we added up all the hours of a typical day how many of them would be focused on us getting ahead and how many of them would be directed toward concern for others.

Are we teaching our children to look out for the needs of others or are we teaching them that their needs and their wants must always come first.

A world where everyone thinks of themselves as first is a very sad world indeed.

All of these are very important questions because like the Jesus, we were given our life, to serve and not to be served.

Sadly in our world success is measured by how many people report to you or answer when you call.

In the God’s Kingdom success is measured by how many people you serve.

This same teaching is echoed in the first reading from the prophet Isaiah.

In this passage written 700 years before the birth of Christ seems to foretells how the Messiah will save a very broken and sinful world.

It will not be by force,

it will not be with an avenging army,

it will not be by coercion,

rather it will be by suffering love.

a love which is willing to sacrifice

a love which is willing to pay the price of our sins

a love which gives itself away freely.

Think about it

Do we really want a world where selfishness is a virtue or the main virtue which guides our lives ?

Do we really want a world where everyone looks out only for themselves and their own interests first and the rest get the leftovers

Today’s Gospel makes it very clear that’s not what God wants for us.

and that’s not how Jesus lived.

For as Jesus said the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life in ransom for our sins.

Amen

28th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year - B -2015

Last year one of our Grandmas couldn’t be with her Grandchildren on Halloween because they lived out of state.

So rather than sit home alone and sad, she packed up her car with lots of candy and a box of old matchbox cars left over from her kids and parked in our parking lot for trunk or treat.

As the kids came through she offered them a piece of candy and once in awhile she would pull out the toy car box and offer one of the cars too.

She told me it was a wonderful night and she was so happy to see all of the children.

A little boy probably around 2 ½ came to her trunk and he found a small matchbox car that he loved he looked at it and looked at it and wouldn’t let go of it or put it in his bag no matter how hard his mom tried to get him to do it.

When he came to the next car he had a big problem the candy bag was in one hand and the car was in the other and he couldn’t figure out how to get his candy because he simply refused to let go of the car or the bag.

The rich young man in the gospel was a good person

He kept the commandments,

He didn’t kill anyone

He didn’t commit adultery,

He didn’t steal or lie,

Yet there was something going on in his life, he longed for something more something different.

It was obvious that Jesus was touched by this desire to live a better life.

And so Jesus offered him another way to live another way to find happiness.

And with love he said “sell what you have and give it to the poor and your will have riches in heaven, then come follow me.”

Jesus understood that his had to be the next step for the young man.

You see even though he didn’t He didn’t kill anyone

He didn’t commit adultery,

He didn’t steal or lie,

there is no indication that he ever did anything good for anyone either.

Being generous, sharing or giving what he had to others would have radically changed the young man’s life.

Letting go of his wealth, his security, his position and prestige would have freed him up to love more and be more dependent on God’s love.

But alas he just couldn’t bring himself to do it.

He wanted something different but he just couldn’t let go of what he had so he was trapped.

Just like the little boy at trunk or treat who couldn’t bring himself to put down the bag or let go of the car or even put the car in the bag..

You know we priests talk to unhappy people all the time.

People rarely ring the doorbell to say gee father I’m happy, life's great, things are going well.

Often people who come to us find themselves at a crisis point or a difficult moment  for themselves or someone they love.

Frequently when we offer them alternatives or speak of other choices they can make but they just can’t bring themselves to do try anything new.  

They want something different out of live but they just can’t bring themselves to change anything or let go of any of their old habits..

All of this should call us to ask ourselves

What am I holding on to?

What do I refuse to let go of ?

What is keeping me from changing.

All of us have something which holds us back otherwise this church would be full of saints instead of wannabe saints.

For the young man couldn’t bring himself to let go of his riches.

even though they didn’t satisfy him.

And that’s why Jesus said… It’s so hard for a rich man to be saved.

So how can we figure out what is really important in life?

How can we know what to hold onto and what to let go of.

The answer is found in the first reading.

God promised King Solomon that he would give him anything he asked for:

Power riches, influence, health and easy life and instead Solomon prayed for wisdom

Wisdom is simply the ability to see things and understand things as God sees them.

When someone is wise they know what really matters and what doesn’t

When someone is wise they understand what they should hold onto and what they can let go of.

Let us all spend our lives seeking to see as God see, understand as God understands and live as God would have us life

For if we do we won’t ever  have to walk away sad like the rich young man in the gospel who just couldn’t let go of things that just didn’t make him happy.

Amen

St. Francis 2015

Once upon a time there was a man who fell in love with God

His love was so radical, so real,  that it changed him and everyone around him.

Love can do that !

He went from the child of privilege

To a man dedicated to the poor and the outcast

To a man not afraid of suffering

To a man enamored with creation so much so that he called the sun his brother, the moon his sister, and the earth his mother.

To a man who stopped worrying about so many things and was filled with the peace that only God can give.

His name was Francis of Assisi or St. Francis

Francis’ love affair with God grew slowly like any love.

It was born out of defeat he was a failed soldier who was captured during his first battle.

It was born out of suffering and illness because of his long imprisonment

It was born out of loneliness and confusion

He worried so much about what he was supposed to do with this life

All of these things and more drove him to solitude and prayer and that’s where he met God. (Sometimes we think that  

Slowly but surely Francis of Assisi dared to trust God

One day while at prayer in the abandoned church which of San Damiano which was literally falling down Francis was meditating on the cross that still hung in the sanctuary when all of a sudden the face to the cross moved and spoke to him.

It said “Francis rebuild my church”

Looking around at the church he immediately set out to literally rebuild that little church with Joy

He finally knew what God needed him to do

He sold everything he had to accomplish the task and slowly but surely other young men came to help.

They were intrigued by the changes they saw in their friend.

They were amazed at his dedication to his project.

The Church in Francis’ time was very worldly

It was made up of the privileged and the noble

It was very concerned about it’s power and wealth and influence

It was always in competition with the emerging civil governments.

The people the normal people were marginalized and pushed aside to the fringes of the Church.

Quite often there was literally no place for them in church on Sundays.

Many times the poor were forced to stand outside and listen through a window or door.

The Church was far from what it should be, and what God needed it to be.

So many people and even the clergy were inspired by the poor men of Assisi and their leader Francis.

This little group of men became a reform movement which was a catalyst of change

The church became more responsive to the poor, the clergy became less concerned about their place of privilege and more concerned about their service to God’s poor.

Francis the man who fell in love with God did indeed rebuild the Church not just the little Church of San Damiano but the whole Church.

And he did it by his humble example.

Now it should become clear why Jorge Mario Bergoglio chose the name Francis. He knew well the story of St. Francis and he knew the Church needed to change.

St. Francis rebuilt the church

Some 800 years later Pope Francis is trying to do the same.

Some agree with his method and some don’t.

All of this begs the question

What are we doing to rebuild the church?

What are each of us doing?

What are we going to do to build up our parish?

Yes we are in a far better situation than many.

However the gospel needs to be preached, a whole younger generation has to be called home.

Just managing the facilities in a parish like ours is almost a full time job.

There are senior citizen who are all alone.

There are confirmation students who disappear as if confirmation is graduation.

The list goes on and on and on. I carry it in my heart everyday.

None of us can say… I’ve done my share.

I’ve put my envelop in the collection.

I’ve gone to mass.

None of us can say I’m too busy. as if we’ll get involved as long as we have nothing else to at all to do.

Let us all meditate on the life of St. Francis.

Let us ask God what he needs us to do.

Let us resolve answer his call.

Everyone is needed no one is expendable.

As Jesus asked Francis of Assisi he asks us… Rebuild his Church let us answer his call.