One of the images that stands out to me during the months of the pandemic, of the protests and social unrest that we have had in many parts of our country, is the image of a young priest from the Archdiocese of St Louis trying to protect the statue of St Louis of France from a group of protestors outside of the St Louis Art Museum. With a microphone in his hand, the priest speaks: you are all shouting questions at me and you want answers, but you need to stop yelling at me in order to hear what I have to say. Unfortunately, the crowd who wants to judge this King of France and label him as a racist and a murderer have no understanding of the era of history he lived in 800 years ago.
Having been to Spain eight different times as a priest to study and to go on pilgrimage, I have learned a lot about that part of the world. One fact that most Americans do not know: Muslims from North Africa invaded Spain in the year 711 and were not expelled until 1492; eight centuries of foreign Muslim rule in a European country. The Muslims tried invading France and the rest of the Europe during this time as well, but they were defeated in battle and pushed back. King Louis of France fought in the Crusades, but the Crusades have to be seen in the context of the trajectory of history and the context of its times. We cannot judge history only based upon our own experiences and the little we might know about that era in history.
What is also said about King Louis IX: he was a man of faith who tried to rule as a Christian leader. His reign in France tried to institute justice and peace after two kings there ruled with violence and terror. He founded hospitals, churches, orphanages, and libraries. He often visited the sick and helped the lepers. He is a patron saint of the secular Franciscan order for his life of justice and outreach to the poor. During Advent and Lent, he would bring meals to the poor and the hungry. Let us unite our prayers today with the prayers of St Louis of France.
Today, we hear Jesus calling out the scribes and Pharisees for the way they lived out their faith. Retired football player Matthew Slater stated, consistency is big in whatever we are doing. It is easy to focus on the little details that ultimately do not matter, with the big picture getting lost. It is easy to work on little things that ultimately don’t matter. It is easy to get bored or to lose our motivation and to not stay consistent. The Pharisees and scribes were more interested in trapping Jesus than in learning from him. They were more interested in tiny details of the law and in the process ignoring the spirit of the law. May we always stay true to the Gospel.
No comments:
Post a Comment