March 21, 2024

Hello John,

As holy week approaches, I often try to meditate on the life of St. Francis of Assisi, who held the season of Lent in high esteem. Today I am reminded of the moment when…

Francis and Clare changed the world. The son of a wealthy cloth merchant and a young woman of noble birth might seem an unlikely pair to lead a holy militia devoted to austerity and radical simplicity. But in Francis and Clare, seekers who sought to live the Gospel had two holy warriors to follow.

In his St. Anthony Messenger article, “Francis and Clare: Assisi’s Most Dangerous Citizens,” Father Pat McCloskey, OFM, writes that the two saints “Did not promote change merely for the sake of change. Francis and Clare simply responded to their society’s hunger for deeper conversion to Jesus’ way.”

And that is our sacred calling at Franciscan Media: to help bridge the Gospels to the wider world. Join the friars and Franciscan Media with your generous gift today.

Peace and all good!

Christopher Heffron
Editorial Director 

Saint of the Day for March 21: Blessed John of Parma

(1209–1289)

Blessed John of Parma’s Story

The seventh general minister of the Franciscan Order, John was known for his attempts to bring back the earlier spirit of the Order after the death of Saint Francis of Assisi.

He was born in Parma, Italy, in 1209. It was when he was a young philosophy professor known for his piety and learning that God called him to bid good-bye to the world he was used to and enter the new world of the Franciscan Order. After his profession, John was sent to Paris to complete his theological studies. Ordained to the priesthood, he was appointed to teach theology at Bologna, then Naples, and finally Rome.

In 1245, Pope Innocent IV called a general council in the city of Lyons, France. Crescentius, the Franciscan minister general at the time, was ailing and unable to attend. In his place he sent Friar John, who made a deep impression on the Church leaders gathered there. Two years later, when the same pope presided at the election of a minister general of the Franciscans, he remembered Friar John well and held him up as the man best qualified for the office.

And so in 1247, John of Parma was elected to be minister general. The surviving disciples of St. Francis rejoiced in his election, expecting a return to the spirit of poverty and humility of the early days of the Order. And they were not disappointed. As general of the Order, John traveled on foot, accompanied by one or two companions, to practically all of the Franciscan convents in existence. Sometimes he would arrive and not be recognized, remaining there for a number of days to test the true spirit of the brothers.

The pope called on John to serve as legate to Constantinople, where he was most successful in winning back the schismatic Greeks. Upon his return, he asked that someone else take his place to govern the Order. At John’s urging, Saint Bonaventure was chosen to succeed him. John took up a life of prayer in the hermitage at Greccio.

Many years later, John learned that the Greeks who had been reconciled with the Church for a time, had relapsed into schism. Though 80 years old by then, John received permission from Pope Nicholas IV to return to the East in an effort to restore unity once again. On his way, John fell sick and died. He was beatified in 1781. The liturgical feast of Blessed John of Parma is celebrated on March 20.

Reflection

In the 13th century, people in their 30s were middle-aged; hardly anyone lived to the ripe old age of 80. John did, but he didn’t ease into retirement. Instead he was on his way to try to heal a schism in the Church when he died. Our society today boasts a lot of folks in their later decades. Like John, many of them lead active lives. But some aren’t so fortunate. Weakness or ill health keeps them confined and lonely—waiting to hear from us. 

In need of order in your life?

Explore The Wisdom Pattern.

Through time, a universal pattern can be found in all societies, spiritualities, and philosophies.

Father Richard Rohr clearly illuminates how understanding and embracing this pattern can give us hope in difficult times and the courage to push through disorganization and even great chaos to find a new way of being in the world.

Lent Is a Return to Simplicity

In a digital age virtual reality seems more convenient than actuality. Whims can be satisfied on the spot. You can pay extra for same-day delivery. If the name of an actor is on the tip of your tongue, Google can help your memory. When you want out-of-season vegetables you just need to find the right supermarket. In practice, these are perks of twenty-first-century living (in the First World) that we are reluctant to give up.

The incremental danger, however, is a creeping distance from the world where disappointment and loss are inevitable. We feel our human rights have been abused when it is merely our consumer desires that have been denied. Contentment becomes a superficial feeling that keeps us permanently vulnerable, disassociated and self-centered. Jesus defended his disciples for not fasting while he was with them. He must have been a joyful and exhilarating person to be with. But he warned them of an impending separation and to be prepared for loss. There is a time-cycle for everything in life that even the best- stocked 24-hour convenience store cannot change.

The practices of Lent help us to be both realistic and happy. The two go together in a way that consumerism can never fathom.

—from the book Sensing God: Learning to Meditate During Lentby Laurence Freeman, OSB

Much has been written on the last words of Jesus, the traditional phrases taken from Scripture that depict the final moments of Jesus’s life as he dies on the cross.

Yet interlaced with suffering, the focus throughout this powerful book is on the immense love of God for human beings, shown in the gift of Jesus!

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