Oct. 4, 2019: St. Francis of Assisi
Oct. 4, 2019: St. Francis of Assisi
OURS IS A TIME OF INTENSE spiritual hunger. People are thirsting for the sacred, the mysterious, the mystical. They are looking for more than a good job, a full closet, and a balanced checkbook.
Perhaps it is no surprise that much of today’s spiritual hunger is being met outside of traditional churches and religious institutions. In that way, our day is remarkably similar to a time nearly eight hundred years ago, when a humble man named Francis transformed his world and renewed the church of his day by the simple but revolutionary act of practicing the Christian faith as it had never been practiced before, or since.
Raised in wealth and luxury, Francis spent much of his youth seeking pleasure and enjoying popularity. But he turned his back on everything to embrace God, live a life of poverty, and serve lepers and the lowly. At first he was rejected by family and friends as a kook or a fanatic. But the compelling example of his life, combined with his persuasive preaching, soon brought him followers—first a handful, then thousands.
The church of the Middle Ages was a big, wealthy, bureaucratically entrenched and politically influential institution whose leaders seemed more like self-centered, power-hungry civil authorities than selfless servants of God and humanity. Even many monasteries, which had been created as refuges for piety, became islands of wealth and worldliness.
But Francis was empowered and inflamed with a burning love for God. Simply and profoundly, he took the words of Jesus to his heart, understood what they meant in his mind, and sought out ways he could practice them in his life. He did all of this in a wild and carefree way, not stopping to calculate how it might hurt his career or cramp his lifestyle.
Down through the ages, many people have sought to follow Francis’s example in their lives, including King Louis IX of France, the poet Dante, the artist Michelangelo, the musician Arlo Guthrie, the scientist Michael Faraday, the philosopher Roger Bacon, and numerous theologians.
The worldwide influence of Francis can be measured by how many rivers, mountains, and cities, such as San Francisco, bear his name. He has also had a powerful influence on the world’s great thinkers, inspiring thousands of books and studies, numerous motion pictures and documentaries, and dozens of musical compositions. Francis has been hailed by historians, praised by religious leaders, quoted by presidents, embraced by members of the 1960s youth counterculture, and even honored by Communist leaders as “the liberator of the medieval proletariat.”
Though small of stature and plain in appearance, Francis has inspired hundreds of artistic masterpieces, including a renowned painting by Rembrandt. A devout Protestant who cared little for Catholicism, Rembrandt had a strong distaste for popery and the church’s practice of canonizing saints. But he lovingly painted Francis, kneeling in front of an open Bible and clutching a crucifix to his chest, thus showing how this humble believer speaks to all who follow Christ, regardless of denominational affiliation.
Once a year, millions of people around the world remember the birth of Jesus with Nativity scenes. In doing so, they pay tribute to Francis, the worldly saint who created the first crèche in an effort to communicate the powerful paradox of God’s son being born amid the hay and dung of a primitive stable.
Francis’s love for all of creation, his sermons to the birds of the air and the flowers of the fields, and his rapturous communion with the cosmos have led to his enshrinement in millions of bird feeders and garden statues. And in 1980 he was named patron saint of ecology by the Catholic Church.
He Practiced What He Preached
At a time like ours, when wrapping oneself in the rhetoric of godliness is a sure way to win votes, gain respect, or sell books and records, Francis is a startling example of someone who lived his faith more than he talked about it. In his many private moments, as well as in his relationships with his followers and his public ministry, Francis pointed a probing finger at himself and his own weaknesses and shortcomings instead of busying himself with the failings of others. By the example of his simple and radically committed life, Francis revealed a sometimes mysterious Christ to a world that could not, or often would not, see him. Even now, centuries after his death, that living example speaks more eloquently than a mountain of books, more forcefully than a lifetime of sermons.
These are just some of the highlights of the life of Francis. A Franciscan biographer who wrote, “Human pens are really overpowered by the greatness of his wonderful life.” Here are just a few thoughts about why Francis is such a universally popular figure and why I believe he is a trustworthy and reliable spiritual guide for us today.
- The Lessons of Saint Francis: How to Bring Simplicity and Spirituality into Your Daily Life
by John Michael Talbot and Steve Rabey
