A Lesson of Increased Faith from St. Francis of Assisi and St. Faustina Kowalska

We have just commemorated memorial feasts of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Faustina Kowalska during this week (the week of the 27th Sun in Ordinary Time on Cycle C). As a main theme on the 27th Sunday scripture reading is faith, increased faith, in particular, I reflected these saints in light of increased faith. Both of them sure had exemplary faith, which enabled them to love Christ unconditionally. The way they practiced increased faith reflect the way they loved Christ, as faith and love are inseparable. Putting their ways of faith and love in light of the Gospel reading for the 27th Sunday, we can better appreciate a lesson for the week of the 27th Sunday, in which these saints' memorial feasts are commemorated.

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Following the memorial feast of St. Francis of Assisi (October 5), we commemorate the memorial feast of St. Faustina Kowalska. This year (2016), both of their memorial feasts are commemorated during the week of the 27^th Sunday in Ordinary Time on Cycle C. Believing that this is not an accident, we can draw a certain meaning from this sequential line-up of these saints’ memorial feasts during the week of the 27^th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

While St. Francis is known for his radical conversion from a carefree life of wealth into a life of poverty, St. Faustina remained in poverty. While the former came from a privileged family, the latter did not. Nevertheless, they both left their families, as they heard Jesus’ calling to enter into a radical discipleship of Christ, reflecting Luke 9:57-62. They responded affirmatively to Jesus’call, without hesitation, because their love for Christ was already greater than their love for their own families and anyone on earth, including themselves. This aspects of their responses to the calls of Christ reflects Jesus’s words on the condition of the discipleship in Luke 14:26, especially the meaning of the Greek word, “miseo”, which is often translated as “to hate” but means “to love less relative to the one whom you love most”. Namely, the one they love most is Christ. Thus, they practiced “miseo” to their respective beloved families in leaving them to follow Christ’s calls.

The love that Francis and Faustina had for Christ was above all. Their supreme love for Christ – their practice of “miseo” to anyone else – shows that they put their utmost trust in Christ. As Robert Plutchik (2001) puts in “The Nature of Emotions” (American Scientist, 89(4), 344-350), love and trust are closely associated. This psychological concept on love and trust is actually better addressed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:13, addressing that love (agape) is closely related to but above faith and hope. In the New Testament Greek, faith is expressed with the Greek word, pistis. As this Greek word also means “trust”, basically, Paul is addressing that love as agape is founded on faith as trust (pistis) and hope (elpis). It is also interesting to know that the Greek word used as “hope” in 1 Corinthains 13:13 also means “trust”. Therefore, trust is an absolutely necessary condition for love as agape, which Jesus wants us to practice for him in order to be his disciples, by practicing “miseo” to anyone, including ourselves, as he already practices agape for us. The ways that Francis and Faustina responded Jesus’ call respectively, reflecting Luke 9:57-62 and Luke 14:26 make good examples to understand that the kind of love – agape – for Christ, as an indispensable condition for the discipleship, is rooted in our deep (pistis and elpis) in him.

Because of their love for Christ – founded upon their trust in him, they were able to leave their families behind at Jesus’ calls. Upon leaving their familiar environment – their own families -  “comfort zones”, they entered into uncertainty. Though, the way they responded to the calls from Christ resembled the way Peter (Simon) and his brother, Andrew, left their fishing nets and followed Jesus, who called them to follow him (Matthew 4:18-20), Jesus was not calling them with his physical presence as he did to Peter and Andrew.

Imagine what it would be like to follow a call when the caller is not visible to our naked eyes. For Francis and Faustina, Christ’s physical presence was not necessary to experience the very presence of him. It is because of their level of trust in Christ – the degree of their love for Christ. It is also their soul’s capacity to recognize the presence of Christ through the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus identified as “another advocate”(John 14:16), indicating his continuing presence in Spirit beyond his physical presence. Because of their capable souls, not only they could recognize the presence of Christ so intimately and powerfully without his physical presence, they remained confident in the voice of Christ. This enabled them to abandon their “comfort zones” and enter into lives of uncertainty without a second thought. Because of this, their journeys into uncertainty were not mired with fears and anxiety.

The Gospel readings for the 27^th Sunday (Luke 17:5-10) begins with the disciple’s expressed desire to increase faith. As faith literally means trust (pistis). Because of their increased faith, they were confident in the voices of Christ, though he was not physically present. In fact. “confident” literally means to have “fides”(faith, trust) with (“com”) someone, and it is the caller, Christ, that both Francis and Faustina put their “fides”(trust) in, as Christ, the caller, sure was confident in them – in their abilities to follow him. Thus, their “fides” or “pistis” in Christ and Christ’s “fides” and “pistis” coexisted.

As they confidently followed the voice of invisible Christ, they entered deep into a

life in Christ (Romans 6:23) through their discipleship in poverty. This is, indeed, a life in the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9). This is, in fact, how Francis and Faustina practiced a life of increased faith.

Their increased faith not only set their souls to recognize a voice of Christ, who cannot be perceived to others, and follow his voice, but also transformed them into a life of humble service to Christ, just as the 27^th Sunday Gospel (Luke 17:5-10) concluded.

Is our faith increasing enough to set our souls in tune with Christ’s voice? Does our increasing faith enable us to hear his voice?

If so, let our hearts be hardened (Psalm 95:7-8: Hebrew 3:15), because a harden heart is a stumbling block to follow Christ. It will put us in fear and anxieties in uncertainty and turn us back to our “comfort zones”. Let us learn meaning of a life of increased faith from St. Francis of Assisi and St. Faustina Kowalska, as it also means to take a lesson to live a life in Christ – a life in the Spirit – a life of eternal life – namely, salvation.

In Romans 1:16-20, Paul reminds us that it is faith that enables us to recognize and understand God’s invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity. The increased faith of St. Francis and St. Faustina put their souls finely in tune with God’s communication of His invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity. Because of this, they were able to follow invisible Christ through uncertainty without pulled back by fears and anxieties. At the same time, they remained humble in their ministries and service to God’s people, as He commanded. Furthermore, their increased faith transformed them to appreciate even small grace, which others may not be able to recognize. Their unhardened hearts were always open to even such a small grace.

Another important aspect of increased faith of Francis and Faustina is that unhardened heart can recognize God’s compassionate presence amidst of life’s adversaries. Otherwise, our hearts will be hardened with suffering, as small faith let us feel that God is no longer with us. On the contrary, increased faith enables us to see God drawing us closer and closer to Him through Christ and the Holy Spirit, through the Sacraments, as it keeps our hearts open.

Humility and gratitude certainly characterize both St. Francis and St. Faustina. These are, indeed, signs of increased faith, which makes our ego as small as a mustard seed but empowers us in amazing ways just as a tiny mustard seed uproots a huge mulberry tree, as addressed in Jesus’ teaching on increased faith in Luke 17:5-10.  

Increased faith that St. Francis and St. Faustina exemplify is also understood with the way they responded to Jesus’ call – practicing “miseo” to all earthly beings, including their families and themselves, to show their utmost love (agepe) for Christ. Though, their response to his call took them into uncertainty, they steered their journey of faith without being overwhelmed by fears and anxiety, because of their trust  - pistis (faith) and elpis  (hope) in Christ, while keeping their hearts unhardened. Even they suffered greatly  from their deteriorating health conditions toward the ends of their lives, both St. Francis and St. Faustina not only remained faithful to God but their faith in Christ even grew stronger toward their deaths, as they found a fresh joy in their unshaken lives in Christ amidst their sufferings.

After all, St. Faustina has left these words, “Jezu, ufam Tobie”(Jesus, I trust in you) and t St. Francis famously said, “where there is doubt, faith”, for us to have increased faith as they did, so that we can become better disciples of Christ – so that we can find joy in a life in Christ – life in the Spirit.