I recently copied all my reflections to ‘the cloud’ as a backup but I also have it on DVD, of course. There are more than 700 essays there plus numerous image files that once were on a huge website of mine, called “Franciscan-sfo.” Here is the reflection, probably written in 2013 about a time in my life around 1998, when I was in OFM Novitiate in Cedar Lake, Indiana.

Reflections on old stories
by Fred Schaeffer, OFS

It is nearly winter. The first really cold days have come and gone and each night it is getting colder, even in the single digits. Pretty soon there will be snow. The last couple of years haven't been too bad but snow is a welcome friend for the first time each year. After that it can be a nuisance. Snow spreads her blanket of white and hides everything. It coats the bare trees. A couple of years ago in the Midwest we had snow which hung on in the evergreen trees while the snow on the grass had melted away. It was a unique sight. A blanket of snow reminds me of a long-lost sight in my native Holland.

One day, I was out with my bicycle. I was probably around 11 or 12 and I came upon a very large meadow covered with a thin layer of snow undisturbed since the snow had fallen. It was misty as Holland often is and far off, there was a little village church almost concealed in the mist. A mournful bell began to toll, three times, signifying that bread and wine were changed into the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Sometimes we think that Jesus is so far away. We hear Him talk to us but we're not ready to listen. We are too busy, too preoccupied. It is just at those quiet moments that we should stop what we are doing and listen… and greet Him, welcome Him in our souls. But just like snow that dampens all sound, we cannot seem to pay attention to His urgent requests for our love because we fail to hear Him.

What is Jesus trying to tell us? When you listen carefully, you will hear Him tell you that He loves you more than anyone ever has. You will hear Him tell you that He wishes all goodness and peace in your life and that we should try harder to repair the damage done by our sins. You'll feel Him urge you to pray His perfect prayer with you… "Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed by your Name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen."

Jesus will also ask you to pray to His Mother, our Mother Mary. She is the strongest friend we could ever ask for because Jesus listens to her. Pray the Rosary every day if you can. And if you can't then just pray a "Hail Mary" or two. Jesus will remind you that if you wish to be with Him and with Mary and all the Angels and Saints until the end of time, you need to begin preparing now. Don't forget St. Francis of Assisi- he a good friend to have. Franciscans call him their Seraphic Father because he bore the wounds of Jesus on his hands, feet and side.

When we were children and we "were bad," or didn't obey Mom and Dad, we said, "I'm sorry," and they forgave us. Well, when we mess up bad, we also must ask God for forgiveness. It is easy to say, "I'm sorry, Jesus," but we've got to mean it and, we've got to have a firm purpose of amendment to clean up our act. When we finally get away from sin and evil, our souls will become like that blanket of virgin snow…totally undefiled! It can be done but you've got to start right now, this very minute!

Fred Schaeffer, OFS
Written 2013, repub. October 10, 2021