Dear Friends,
Happy Santa Lucia festival weekend!! I hope you have a chance to enjoy the music and the food and the
friendships. Please stay cool in the midst of the heat. I continue to be impressed during the festival by the
willingness of so many folks to openly express their faith and their love of the historic, courageous witness of the
saints. The life of Saint Lucy continues to inspire people to give their lives totally to God – come what may!
Of course, it is much easier to offer your life to God if you truly understand what Jesus taught about the
nature of God. He teaches us that God is love. Love is how we are to think about God, talk about God, believe in
God. We who are sinners may find it hard to believe the full extent of God’s love. It seems too good to be true.
We are hesitant to believe that the deepest truth about God is that God is self-giving, never-ending love; but this
is what St. Lucy knew deep in her heart. It is what gave her the freedom to offer her life as a gift to God.
Knowing that we are loved by God we are truly free to be the person God wants us to be.
How do you respond to the question, “Who are you?” Do you speak about your job, your family, your
history? Shortly after being elected, Pope Francis gave an interview and the reporter asked this question, “Who is
Jorge Mario Bergoglio?” Pope Francis did not tell his history or focus on his family or his work. He said simply,
“I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner.”
He went on to explain by talking about the painting in Rome that most moves him. It is a painting by Caravaggio
known as “The Call of St. Matthew.” It is a large painting on a sidewall at the church of St. Louis. It is a
depiction of the scene in Matthew’s life when Christ called him to become a disciple. Matthew was a tax
collector, a shameful profession in Jesus’ time. Tax collectors took too much money and were hated for being
traitors. In the painting, Jesus enters the lair of the tax collectors. The scene is dark, poorly lit. Some of the men
are looking down counting their money, others appear to be enjoying a drink after work. They do not seem to
notice Jesus coming into the room. Jesus brings light to the scene, points to Matthew and invites him to follow.
The painting awaits Matthew’s answer. What will he do? Follow? Turn away?
Pope Francis said he is like Matthew at the moment of this encounter. “That finger of Jesus, pointing at
Matthew. That’s me. I feel like him. Like Matthew.” Pope Francis went on to say, “It is the gesture of Matthew
that strikes me: he holds on to his money as if to say, “No, not me! No, this money is mine.” Here, this is me, a
sinner on whom the Lord has turned his gaze. And this is what I said when they asked me if I would accept my
election as pontiff…”I am a sinner, but I trust in the infinite mercy and patience of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and I
accept in a spirit of penance.” Pope Francis identifies with the Matthew who is still a sinner, not the Matthew at
the end of his life. The sinner who is afraid to let go of his sinful ways, the sinner upon whom the Lord turns his
gaze, the sinner who entrusts his life to the mercy of Christ.
Christ invited St. Lucy and invited Pope Francis and invites each one of us to be liberated of our selfcenteredness
– to let go of our moneybags – and find the true joy and freedom that only Jesus can bring. One of
the things in our little church of Frances Cabrini that makes me giggle – there is St. Lucy sitting royally in her
chair and displaying on a plate – her eyes! As if this was the most normal thing in the world, putting your eyes
on a plate. What would seem like a defeat, she displays as a victory. She gives more than her eyes – which is
why there is a dagger in her throat, but even in that she sits there royally. Not upset at all by the violence that is
being put upon her. The things of this world do not matter to Lucy. Loved by her God she is truly free. She is
able to laugh at death. We should join her in that kind of freedom – laughing at death.
Enjoy the festival.
Fr. Damian