-- Luke 16:10-11 --

[Weedy]

-- Luke 16:10-11 --

He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in that
which is greater: and he that is unjust in that which is little is
unjust also in that which is greater.
If then you have not been faithful in the unjust mammon, who will
trust you with that which is the true? DRB
========================
Our integrity often meets its match is money matters. God calls us to
be honest even in small details we could easily rationalize away.
Heaven's riches are far more valuable than earthly wealth. But if we
are not trustworthy with our money here (no matter how much or little
we have) we will be unfit to handle the vast riches of God's Kingdom.
Don't let your integrity slip in small matters, and it will not fail
you in crucial decisions either.

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July 1st - Blessed Junipero Serra

In 1776, when the American Revolution was beginning in the east,
another part of the future United States was being born in California.
That year a gray-robed Franciscan founded Mission San Juan Capistrano,
now famous for its annually returning swallows. San Juan was the
seventh of nine missions established under the direction of this
indomitable Spaniard.

Born in Spain’s island of Mallorca, Serra entered the Franciscan
Order, taking the name of St. Francis’ childlike companion, Brother
Juniper. Until he was 35, he spent most of his time in the
classroom--first as a student of theology and then as a professor. He
also became famous for his preaching. Suddenly he gave it all up and
followed the yearning that had begun years before when he heard about
the missionary work of St. Francis Solanus in South America.
Junipero’s desire was to convert native peoples in the New World.

Arriving by ship at Vera Cruz, Mexico, he and a companion walked the
250 miles to Mexico City. On the way Junipero’s left leg became
infected by an insect bite and would remain a cross--sometimes
life-threatening--for the rest of his life. For 18 years he worked in
central Mexico and in the Baja Peninsula. He became president of the
missions there.

Enter politics: the threat of a Russian invasion south from Alaska.
Charles III of Spain ordered an expedition to beat Russia to the
territory. So the last two conquistadors--one military, one
spiritual--began their quest. José de Galvez persuaded Junipero to set
out with him for present-day Monterey, California. The first mission
founded after the 900-mile journey north was San Diego (1769). That
year a shortage of food almost canceled the expedition. Vowing to stay
with the local people, Junipero and another friar began a novena in
preparation for St. Joseph’s day, March 19, the scheduled day of
departure. On that day, the relief ship arrived.

Other missions followed: Monterey/Carmel (1770); San Antonio and San
Gabriel (1771); San Luís Obispo (1772); San Francisco and San Juan
Capistrano (1776); Santa Clara (1777); San Buenaventura (1782). Twelve
more were founded after Serra’s death.

Junipero made the long trip to Mexico City to settle great differences
with the military commander. He arrived at the point of death. The
outcome was substantially what Junipero sought: the famous
“Regulation” protecting the Indians and the missions. It was the basis
for the first significant legislation in California, a “Bill of
Rights” for Native Americans.

Because the Native Americans were living a nonhuman life from the
Spanish point of view, the friars were made their legal guardians. The
Native Americans were kept at the mission after Baptism lest they be
corrupted in their former haunts--a move that has brought cries of
“injustice” from some moderns.

Junipero’s missionary life was a long battle with cold and hunger,
with unsympathetic military commanders and even with danger of death
from non-Christian native peoples. Through it all his unquenchable
zeal was fed by prayer each night, often from midnight till dawn. He
baptized over 6,000 people and confirmed 5,000. His travels would have
circled the globe. He brought the Native Americans not only the gift
of faith but also a decent standard of living. He won their love, as
witnessed especially by their grief at his death. He is buried at
Mission San Carlo Borromeo, Carmel, and was beatified in 1988.

Comment:

The word that best describes Junipero is zeal. It was a spirit that
came from his deep prayer and dauntless will. “Always forward, never
back” was his motto. His work bore fruit for 50 years after his death
as the rest of the missions were founded in a kind of Christian
communal living by the Indians. When both Mexican and American greed
caused the secularization of the missions, the Chumash people went
back to what they had been--God again writing straight with crooked
lines.

Quote:
During his homily at Serra’s beatification, Pope John Paul II said:
“Relying on the divine power of the message he proclaimed, Father
Serra led the native peoples to Christ. He was well aware of their
heroic virtues—as exemplified in the life of Blessed Kateri
Tekakwitha--and he sought to further their authentic human development
on the basis of their new-found faith as persons created and redeemed
by God. He also had to admonish the powerful, in the spirit of our
second reading from James, not to abuse and exploit the poor and
weak.”

Bible quote:
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and
forsaketh them shall have mercy. (Proverbs 28:13)


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A PRAYER FOR TEMPERANCE

Jesus, You practiced temperance;
You were the Model of self-restraint,
Never over-indulging in the temporal.
My body being the Temple of the Lord,
I must treat it with ongoing respect.
Self-abuse destroys the body;
Be it alcohol, drugs, or excess food.
Lord Jesus, bestow fortitude upon me
For my soul to control my body,
To practice the virtue of temperance.
Jesus, You are the source of my vigour.
Through You, all is possible!