Hurricane Matthew, a powerful Category 4 storm, made landfall on Haiti early Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. With as many as 900 killed and tens of thousands of homes destroyed in Haiti, the devastation caused by Hurricane Matthew is becoming more clear as officials and aid workers are starting to reach remote areas.
Today we celebrate the feast of St. Francis of Assisi. He is, perhaps, the most well known and popular saints of the Catholic Church. We see him in paintings, pictures and statues dressed in his brown robe, with a rope belt around his waist, usually with his arms joyfully raised up in prayer, surrounded by birds and other animals. It is easy to love and admire him. And we do. He is loved and admired so much, that even the Pope took his name, Pope Francis, the same way we take the names of saints when we receive confirmation.
Today’s Gospel from St. Luke is only two verses long, one of the shortest readings in the Lectionary. Those two verses, however, contain a profound truth: blessed are they who hear the Word of God and obey it. Two verses, two references, two actions, two recipes for happiness: (1) hearing the Word of God and (2) obeying it, keeping it.
If you believe in God, you will have no difficulty understanding the existence of law. If you believe that God created the world, you will have no difficulty understanding the significance of law.