1 July 2020
Wednesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time / Optional Memorial of Saint Junipero Serra, priest
Today, Catholics in the United States celebrate the feast of Saint Junipero Serra, a Franciscan missionary priest canonized by Pope Francis in 2015. Catholics in Canada can celebrate Canada’s national holiday by entrusting the “True North” to her patron, St. Joseph, as they give thanks for the many blessings (and corresponding responsibilities) that God has showered upon their nation. The first reading (Amos 5) offers us a reminder that God does not rejoice in our festivities if they are not an expression of a more profound sharing in God’s life, given for the salvation of the whole of creation, groaning for salvation. The prophet Amos declares: “I hate, I spurn your feasts, says the LORD, I take no pleasure in your solemnities… Away with your noisy songs! I will not listen to the melodies of your harps. But if you would offer me burnt offerings, then let justice surge like water, and goodness like an unfailing stream.”
Pope Francis offers Junipero Serra as an example of someone who offers his life for the justice and goodness that is the acceptable sacrifice that God asks of us. On September 23, 2015, Pope Francis observed, “Father Serra had a motto which inspired his life and work, not just a saying, but above all a reality which shaped the way he lived: siempre adelante! Keep moving forward! For him, this was the way to continue experiencing the joy of the Gospel, to keep his heart from growing numb, from being anesthetized. He kept moving forward, because the Lord was waiting. He kept going, because his brothers and sisters were waiting. He kept going forward to the end of his life.” We need this message in a time when so many of us fear moving forward. On June 23, 2017, Pope Francis continued this idea, saying: “We can take as our inspiration Saint Junípero, as he made his way, limping, towards San Diego to plant the cross there! I fear those Christians who do not keep walking, but remain enclosed in their own little niche. It is better to go forward limping, and even at times to fall, while always trusting in the mercy of God, than to be ‘museum Christians’ who are afraid of change. Even though they received a charism or vocation, instead of serving the eternal newness of the Gospel, they are caught up in defending themselves and their own roles.” Let us then let ourselves be challenged by Christ through the words with which Pope Francis concluded that same talk: “So you too, siempre adelante! With courage, creativity and boldness!” Amen!