Baruch 1:15-22 / Luke 10:13-16
Today the Church honours St. Francis of Assisi as we celebrate the memorial of his feast.
St. Francis is a symbol of peace and poverty, as well as a symbol of humility and simplicity.
One saying that is often accredited to him is this: Preach the gospel, and if necessary use words.
Another saying from a poem by Edgar A. Guest that begins with this line: I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day.
Surely words have the ability to communicate a message and to clarify the ambiguities, and the written word can go down into history books and remain for posterity.
Yet action translates words into a visual meaning, and in other cases, words are used to describe an action and to put it into a teaching.
Jesus also used words in His preaching and the proclamation of the Good News.
But in today's gospel, He had a warning for the towns of Chorazin and Bethsaida. And He added that if the miracles done in these two towns had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago.
Those miracles were visible signs of the Good News and the Kingdom of God, calling people to conversion and repentance.
Just as St. Francis of Assisi was a sign of peace and poverty, of humility and simplicity.
Yes, what we need to see, we have already seen; what we need to hear, we have already heard.
What we need to do from here, we have to decide; we must decide.