It has been said that St. Francis of Assisi is a popular Saint among all the Saints. He certainly gravitates hearts of not just Catholics and other Christians but also non-Christians and even non-believers. As to reflect this, in October, 1986, St. John Paul II, as Pope, initiated the World Day of Prayer for Peace in Assisi, amidst the cold war, gathering leaders of various religious tradition as one, putting the spirit of Nostra Aetate (1965) by St. Paul VI.
What is it in him that draws us across cultures and
religious traditions to St. Francis of Assisi as one in peace and harmony?
This must have something to do with the collective
commonality of all human souls and psyches, we are created by God in His triune
image (Genesis 1:26-27).
Ever since Adam and Eve were evicted from Eden
(Genesis 3:24), the humanity has been plagued with disharmony and conflicts. To
this, God the Father, the Creator, has sent His Son (John 3:16), incarnated in
the human flesh of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:30-33, 35), to
dwell among us (i.e. John 1:1, 14), so that we may receive peace through the
Son (John 14:27) and come together as one with the Father through Christ the
Son (John 17:20-23). And this oneness not only with each other but also with
God the Father through the Son, held by the Holy Spirit in peace is the
ultimate new creation (i.e. 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15) out of the
broken old creation which is plagued with sins. And the fact that St. Francis
of Assisi brings people together as brothers and sisters, across nations, from
all the ends of the earth, in peace and harmony, makes him a beloved artisan to
do the will of Christ for our unity not only with each other but with the
triune God (i.e. John 17:20-23).
Certainly, St. Francis of Assisi himself is a channel
of love and peace, which are dimensions of the fruit of the Holy Spirit, along
with joy, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). So how did St. Francis of Assisi become
involved with making peace and unity for the Lord Jesus Christ?
Perhaps, it was his war trauma that prompted Francis’
transformation.
In 1202, Perugia attacked Assisi, and brave men of
Assisi responded to defend. Francis eagerly joined his fellow men to defend
Assisi. However, this war took so many lives as piles of carnages were left in
the fields. Francis was spared from the battlefield slaughtering and taken as a
prisoner of war by the Perugians. Because of his aristocratic background, the
Perugians did not kill but used him for a ransom. In the following year,
Francis was released and returned to Assisi.
Francis was sick upon his return and needed to recoup.
Though he gradually recovered his physical strengths, Francis was a different
person from whom he used to be before the battle.
It must be the Holy Spirit to subtly and gradually
turning Francis’ heart to become more like Jesus’. Though he used to enjoy a
privileged life of luxury and pleasure as a son of a wealthy merchant before
the battle, Francis became drawn to needs of the poor and the sick in his
community. In the meantime, he became less interested in the privileged life
that he used to enjoy. He began to give away more and more of his possessions
to the poor and tend the need of lepers. He also began to give some out of his father’s
possessions for the poor and the sick.
This enraged his father.
In bishop’s presence, his father demanded Francis a
restitution. But Francis flatly refused to do so and renounced his tie with the
family. To symbolize this, Francis took the last set of his cloths that he was
wearing. To this, the bishop threw a cloak on Francis. And he walked away.
This shows that Francis sure loved Jesus more than his
father and mother in order to follow him (Matthew 10:37; Luke 14:26). And he
made himself detached from his earthly family, in addition to all the earthly
material things, to follow Jesus. So he chose to live as an anav, just as Jesus was on earth.
In 1206, while Francis was at the ruin of San Damiano church, in his vision, Jesus called him, “Francis, Francis, go and repair my house, which as you can see, is falling into ruins!” Francis took this call from the Lord literally as he actually rebuilt the church of San Damiano through his carpentry work, brick by brick. But this has resulted in ongoing repair process of the broken Church, which reflects the broken humanity, plagued with conflicts and disharmonies. Even after more than 800 years from his repair of the church of San Damiano, St. Francis of Assisi continues to bring children of God in His triune image (Genesis 1:26-27) to Him through Christ (John 17:20-23) as one body, which is the Church (1 Corinthians 12:12-27), with Christ its head (Colossians 1:8).
For St. Francis, Lord Jesus Christ was so intimate.
For this, he certainly has been chosen and blessed to have God’s wisdom
revealed to him, for being an anav,
as reflected in the Gospel Reading of his memorial feast (Matthew 11:25-30). And
the wisdom was revealed to St. Francis through the Holy Spirit, orienting him
to see Christ in the poor and the sick, including leppers, in light of these words
of Christ:
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I
was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and
you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me
(Matthew 25:35-36).
So, Christ also called St. Francis to yoke with him as
one:
Come to me, all you who labor and are
burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For
my yoke is easy, and my burden light (Matthew 11:28-30).
St. Francis of Assisi was in Christ’s peace as he had
his yoke to be united with him, as he found him among the poor and the sick. It
means that the abject poverty that he embraced, upon renouncing his tie with
his family, was no longer troublesome to him but rather helped him attain peace
of Christ in intimacy with him.
Are you drawn to Christ in poverty of anav, as
St. Francis of Assisi was? If so, you are a true disciple of Christ, having detached
yourself from all earthly things, loving him more than those on your blood line,
carrying your cross daily. If this is the case with you, Christ sure has chosen
you to reveal the wisdom, which is kept from those let worldly matter, including
secular wisdom, blind and deaf to the wisdom of God. And those whom the wisdom
is revealed to can see Christ intimately among the poor and the sick. This
wisdom vision to see Christ this way enables you to repair the Church, the house
of Christ, one body of Christ, as the new creation, as it was the case with St.
Francis of Assisi.
If you truly find St. Francis of Assisi as your
beloved Saint for inspiration, then, you are loving Christ more than anyone on
earth, renouncing all earthly possessions of yours, carrying your cross, to
follow the Lord Jesus Christ and to take your share in repairing the Church, in
which all Children of God are brought as one with the Father.
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