Holy Foolishness!

MONDAY, JUNE 24, 2013

Holy Foolishness

I double dog dare you to walk barefoot with Jesus in this world of shoes.

Love Him enough to Be a Holy Fool. (Click for link to post).

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 02, 2012

Fools for Jesus! +

(Click on the picture to enlarge.)

Some people say we are crazy for having such a big family -I'm sure my parents as well as each of my siblings and siblings-in-law could make a long list of hilarious (and rude) comments they have received about their own or their relatives' families. But I know we all would agree that (besides our faith) there is no greater gift than the 'built-in best friends' we have in each other. When the going gets tough, we can always count on love, support, help and prayers from our families. All we have to do is have the humility to ask and someone jumps to the rescue (be it a grandparent to listen, a brother to help move, a sister to cook a meal, a niece to babysit, a nephew to cut the lawn, etc.). One more example of how the 'foolishness of God is wiser than all human wisdom.' 

This picture of our family (minus a nephew, a niece and the 6 babies to be born in these next 7 months) reminded me of a homily I read by Bishop Rhoades when he was still Bishop of Harrisburg. It was given to home-schooled families, but is applicable to all Christians who walk the 'narrow way' following Christ unto the 'folly of the Cross, the folly of Love.' Big families are one example of such radical, 'crazy' love and trust in God. They are considered impractical in today's world, and having multiple children seems 'too much of a bother' to many who center their lives around their own comforts, desires and needs. Yet, even though at times it is hard to be stretched by love between so many people, it feels great to know our hearts are enlarged to receive greater graces from the sacrifice, as well as to know that we are supported and surrounded by so great a number. We each have different gifts -as each member of the mystical body of Christ makes up a unique part of the whole. We each have different weaknesses -which help us be united as we allow these needs to be filled by others' gifts. And as I look at all of the pictures of you guys dancing at Jeff and Amy's wedding (after Lucy and I took the babies home) -I see how fun such 'foolish love' can be! I thank God nightly for each of you -and pray for all your needs, your protection, your holiness before I go to sleep. Its my little contribution... since my only gift is prayer. And I thank you for all you have done for me over the years -especially sharing your families and little ones (so full of wisdom, joy and love) with my life. We are so blessed -and I'm often reminded of how this blessedness is taken for granted when others tell me they long to have faith-filled siblings to turn to in their problems of life. ("You don't realize how lucky you are, Mary," they say... "Most people do not have the strong Catholic support you do in your family.") Anyway, here's a little excerpt from Bishop's homily -but you can click here to read the whole thing if you want. I love being a 'foolish Kloska' for Christ with you all... I learned my foolishness first at home with you. Thank you -its the best lesson I ever learned.

Bishop Kevin Rhoades -Diocese of Harrisburg, January 21, 2006:

"...Perhaps, because of your counter-cultural choices, you have felt a little like Jesus in today’s Gospel. Our Lord’s relatives said Jesus was out of his mind. You have probably heard some criticism from others because of your commitment to the faith and to home-schooling. Jesus’ relatives, like many people today, were too worldly minded. They regarded Jesus’ total commitment to building the kingdom as excessive. People thought Jesus insane for His complete dedication to His mission from the Father and for his lifestyle: His poverty, His celibate chastity, His life of prayer and loving service. Many who follow Jesus’ example – think for example of many saints – have been taken for madmen. They were 'mad' in a sense.

"Saint Paul called himself 'a fool for Christ.' Saint Francis considered himself 'God’s troubadour.' The saints were insane – insane with love for Jesus Christ and His Church.

"One of these great saints crazy with love for Jesus was the virgin and martyr Saint Agnes, whose feast we celebrate today. Her contemporaries surely thought she was crazy. In the materialistic and decadent Roman culture of the late third century, a culture not so unlike our own, Agnes, born of a wealthy Roman family, and known for her physical beauty, resolved as a young girl to live a life of purity, consecrating her virginity to God. Like Jesus’ relatives said of Jesus: 'He is out of his mind,' Agnes’ relatives probably said the same about her. One of the young men attracted to her beauty and upset that she rebuffed his advances, reported her as a Christian to the authorities. She was arrested and confined to a house of prostitution. Still, even when threatened with torture, she was not intimidated. She retained her purity. She suffered martyrdom, most likely beheaded, at the young age of 12 or 13. Popular devotion to her quickly grew and Constantine’s daughter had a basilica built in honor of Saint Agnes over the catacombs where she was buried.

"I say to all the children and young people here, holiness doesn’t depend on length of years. There are many young saints like Agnes. Holiness is a gift that God offered to Agnes and offers to you and to me. Just think of young Agnes’ great courage – it seems to surpass our human nature. But the Holy Spirit was with her. God gave her the grace to be chaste, to be courageous, to be faithful, to be a virgin and a martyr. May her prayers help you to imitate her virtues in a culture not that unlike late 3rd century Roman culture. Agnes’ external beauty was one thing. Her internal – her beautiful soul – was something else. And that’s what really matters.

"Even if others think we’re crazy for wanting to follow Jesus and to be faithful to the virtues of the Gospel, we can take heart that many thought the same about the saints and about Jesus Himself.

"May we never be afraid to be fools for Christ!"

MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2007

A Holy Fool

"... to be a fool for Christ's sake is first of all to love him passionately, above all else, and to be recognized as one in his service, as one of his companions.

"It also means to have immense courage. I have a favorite prayer which seems to fit here: 'Lord, give me the heart of a child and the awesome courage to live it out as an adult.' It seems to fit, because only a child, that is, an adult person with a childlike heart, can become a fool for Christ's sake.

"This means to face ridicule, to be singular in a manner of speaking, to be a non-conformist. Each one of these things are, until one absorbs them slowly and lovingly, like a sword in one's heart; and for a long time they are the essence of our struggle with God. Because Christ was a fool in men's eyes we have to have the courage to be foolish as he was. Non-conformity involves remaining exposed to ridicule, and takes courage...

 

"We are asked to imitate Jesus Christ. Can you imagine anything more foolish than hanging on cross? Is anything more foolish than spending years as a carpenter when you are God? Is anything more foolish than spending your time talking with ordinary people, when the world is your oyster, for you created it? What God said to St. Francis (and to each of us) is: 'Be like Me.'

"Anything and everything we do must be approached with the foolishness of God. We must approach everything with prayer and a sort of identification with Christ. We must always ask him, 'What would you do in this situation or that, which is facing us today?'

"Lord, you always seem to ask more from us. We must be fools about money; We must give away whatever we don't really need. We must be detached from it and rely on you.

"...Sometimes what we are asked to live or to do will seem stark stupidity not only to others, but to ourselves. We feel very foolish, especially when the situation continues day after day. We have to depend entirely on God, who says, 'Without me you can do nothing.' After awhile if we let go and trust him, an incredible freedom breaks through.

"We are asked to expect everything from God, to live in a dimension where miracles are going to take place, on a faith level, so that the absurdity of the Gospel really becomes part of us... We have to march to God's tune, and be willing to be out of step with everybody else. This can be a kind of martyrdom, in a sense. We are all called to be out of step with modern secularism, with this pragmatism which is leading us to a situation of despair. Through our very lives we have to stand up and speak and live the truth.

"I am in love with God. But being in love with God is not enough. One has to become a fool for his sake. That means really listening to what he says, which few want to do.

"We must be one with Paul when he says:

"It seems to me that God has put us apostles at the end of his parade, with men sentenced to death... We have been put on show in front of the whole universe, angels as well as men. Here we are, fools for the sake of Christ, while you are the learned men in Christ; we have no power, you are influential; you are celebrities, we are nobodies." (1 Cor 4:9-10)

"Can anybody realize the torture, the pain, the sorrow of seeing so many who do not love him? If you are really in love with God, if he is your Absolute, then the pain becomes excruciating. And you must go, without ever resting, to impart the Good News. For this you have been created. For this you have been baptized and confirmed. For this the Eucharist is your food. For this, when you fall, you ask forgiveness through Confession.

 

"I am so hounded by God that nothing seems to satisfy me, except one-to-one dialogue with another person, in speech or in silence, through which, hand in hand, we go to God. Can you understand that?...All I want, all that I exist for, all I desire with my whole self is that God be loved. I cry bitter tears in the night because so many do not listen to him.

"What I am asking you, each one individually, each one personally, is this: are you ready to be a fool for Christ? And I mean it: a fool!
Foolishness for Christ's sake, my beloved ones, is doing, not what you want, but what he or she wants, and doing it totally, with love. Perhaps the word is 'surrender.' Yes, perhaps we must surrender totally, completely, in order to really be fools for Christ's sake, no matter what the repercussions of our deeds may be. The blessings of God will come upon us.

"Are you afraid? Are you anxious? Are you alone? Is loneliness your companion? Listen. Listen to the footsteps of Christ. You need patience to listen, but if you do, you will hear them. Christ will teach you that which no philosopher or theologian can teach you. Christ himself will take you by the hand and you will know joy that is unending. There will also be pain underlying that joy, because he will ask things of you that you might not wish to give, and they will have to be given. But you will love him."

This is an important message for us in today's world. I could not put it any better than Catherine Doherty (a very holy woman of God) herself. She speaks God's words... this is truth.