Friday, October 17, 2014

10/23/2014 – Thursday of 29th week in Ordinary Time – St John of Capistrano – Ephesians 3:14-21

        We hear a prayer today in our first reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.  Paul kneels before God the Father and prays for the Ephesians.  He prays that Christ may dwell in their hearts in their faith.  Faith is indeed a gift, and all of us can thank God for the faith that we have in my heart through his grace.  We seem to live in a world where faith is suspect or mocked or questioned.  But the faith that we have in Christ, a faith that we have in our hearts, is indeed a faith to be cherished. 
         The saint we celebrate today is a man of great faith just like St Paul: St John of Capistrano.  You probably are more familiar with him by his Spanish name, as mission San Juan Capistrano in California was named after him by the Franciscan missionaries who brought God’s word to the native people of that reigion.  St John of Capistrano was born in the late 14th century.  He was imprisoned for a time during a war with a neighboring town in Italy, and he entered the Franciscan community in Perugia after his release.  After being ordained to the priesthood, he brought his gifts of preaching to countries all over Europe – throughout Italy, Germany, Bohemia, Austria, Hungary, Poland, and Russia.  Through his preaching, John of Capistrano tried to unify the Christians throughout Europe.  He died of the plague on this day in the year 1456 in Italy. By the way, today, October 23, is the day that the swallows leave Mission San Juan Capistrano in California as they make their way down to Argentina. 

         How are we striving toward holiness in our lives?  How are we opening up our hearts to Christ and proclaiming his kingdom?

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