An Instrument of Peace

Francis of Assisi receiving Stigmata

In light of the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi (October 4), I would like to explore this extraordinary person of faith. Francis has been described as a lover of animals, an environmentalist, a peacemaker, a mystic, a reformer, a poet. Who really was he?

Francis, from a middle-class Italian family, went off to the wars in that region and failed miserably. Then a dream compelled him to return to Assisi. Francis began to wrestle with fundamental questions. He yearned for something greater than himself that would give purpose to his life. In silence and in prayer, he began his search for God: “Who are you, oh Lord, and who am I?”

Eventually, Francis gave up every “thing” he had. He experienced his creaturehood, his nothingness. In that experience, he found everything—an all-good and compassionate God; a God who became one of us in Jesus; a God who is alive in our midst by the power of the Spirit, especially in the sacramental life of the community of disciples we call the church.

Francis began to pursue the Gospel in a literal fashion. Eventually men and women began to gather around him, to form what we know today as the worldwide one million-plus Franciscan family.

We may wonder, does the thirteenth-century Francis have anything to say to us in the twenty-first century? I believe we can see his message in three incidents.

As Francis prayed before the crucifix in the tumbledown chapel of San Damiano, he heard the crucified Jesus tell him, “Francis, rebuild my house which you see is falling into ruins.” Francis challenges us to build up our family and community life. Holiness comes from learning to forgive and to ask for forgiveness, learning to face challenges together.

Another incident occurred as he rode one day along a road. Out stepped a man with leprosy. Francis started to ride away. But no! Francis slowly climbed down from his horse and embraced the leper. Francis saw in that leper the brokenness of human beings, lacking wholeness. We experience this, in ourselves and in other people, in many ways.

The third incident was at La Verna, a cliffside sanctuary not far from Florence, Italy. Francis was praying, and suddenly he experienced the stigmata or marks of the crucified Jesus in his hands, feet, and side. This incident captures the depth of Francis’s relationship with God: such a close friendship that God gifted him with the stigmata. Francis challenges us to deepen our relationship with God.

This planet of ours, in some ways, hasn’t changed much since the times of Francis. There are so many ways in which we can be healers, peacemakers, bridgebuilders.

Francis was able to cut through trivial questions and focus upon the essentials: our life with God and one another.

May the life of Francis inspire us to intensify our life of prayer with God, to build up one another, and to reach out with a healing hand to those whose lives have been broken.

More about the blessing of pets:
https://www.franciscanmedia.org/blessing-of-animals/

The Relevance of St. Francis of Assisi

Does the 13th century Francis have anything to say to us in the 21st century?  Of course he does. And we can capture his message in 3 incidents from his life.

The first incident took place at La Verna, not far from Florence, Italy, in 1224.  Francis was praying to God and suddenly he experienced the stigmata or marks of the crucified Jesus in his hands, feet and side.  This incident captures for me the depth of Francis’ prayer life; his was such a close friendship that God gifted him with the stigmata.  Francis at La Verna challenges us to intensify our own prayer life with God.  

The second incident which captures Francis’ message took place one day as Francis was praying before the crucifix in the tumbledown chapel of San Damiano outside the city walls of Assisi  in 1206.  He heard Jesus from the crucifix whisper:  “Francis, rebuild my house which you see is falling into ruins.”  Francis at San Damiano challenges us to build up our family life, our parish life and our community life.

The third incident which captures the message of  Francis  was his encounter with the leper.  As Francis rode on horseback one day along a road, out stepped a leper.  He started to ride away.  But no!  Francis slowly dismounted and embraced the leper.  He saw in that leper the brokenness of human beings. We instinctively may want to get away from these people as Francis was tempted to “ride away” (so to speak) from the “leper.”  Francis and the leper challenge us to do volunteer work to help the needy.  There are so many ways in which we can become healers, peacemakers, comforters to one another, especially the needy.

This planet of ours, in many ways, hasn’t changed much since the days of Francis in the 13th century.  La Verna, San Damiano and the leper – three incidents which capture the message of Francis for us today; three incidents which show that Francis was able to cut through all the trivial questions of human life and focus upon  three essential questions:  our life with God; our life with one another, especially our family  community life; and our daily encounter with so much so-called “brokenness” in  people.

May these three incidents in the life of Francis, whose feast day we celebrate inspire us to intensify our prayer life with God, to build up our family and community life  and to reach out with helping hands to the needy people all around us.    May this prayer be “carved” deeply into being: “Jesus Christ has no body now but ours.  No hands, no feet on earth but ours. Ours are the eyes through which he looks compassionately on this world. Ours are the feet with which he walks to do good.  Ours are the hands through which he helps others.   Jesus Christ has no body now on earth but ours.”