St. Francis of Assisi - an Imitator of Christ, a Fool in the World but Blessed by the Lord

On October 4, the Roman Catholic Church honors the life of St. Francis of Assisi.

God sure blesses those who are foolish in the eyes of the world but radically obedient to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. One of such fools is St. Francis of Assisi.

What, then, makes Francis fool from a worldly standpoint but exalted by God?

It is his choice to embrace poverty, which Francis called “Lady Poverty”, for the sake of Christ on the Cross, to be like him, though he was the privileged heir of a wealthy merchant, Pietro di Bernardone. Francis was destine to inherit his father’s affluence. He could have kept his privileged life of pleasure, as he used to. But he denounced all of his privileges and chose to embrace Lady Poverty and to “boast in the Cross”(Galatians 6:14a).

Francis’ choice to embrace Lacy Poverty follows the way Christ, as Paul encourages to do so in these words:

Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:5-8).

The First Reading (Galatians 6:14-18) sounds like Francis encouraging his fellow friars to follow him in choosing to embrace Lady Poverty so that they can also boast in the Cross, as living in poverty also means humility. But this humility demands them to crucify themselves, as the world is crucified, meaning that we are made nothing in the world, as the world is made so, by the Cross, on which Christ died for us.

The text of the First Reading is:

Brothers and sisters:
May I never boast except in the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
through which the world has been crucified to me,
and I to the world.
For neither does circumcision mean anything,
nor does uncircumcision,
but only a new creation.
Peace and mercy be to all who follow this rule
and to the Israel of God.

From now on, let no one make troubles for me;
for I bear the marks of Jesus on my body.  

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit,
brothers and sisters. Amen.

By boasting in the Cross of Christ (Galatians 6:14a), Francis is also boasting in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:31; cf. Jeremiah 9:24).  It is to glorify Christ and him on the Cross, rather than ourselves and our earthly possessions, such as wealth and statuses. Therefore, it is humility. In a way, boasting in the Cross, boasting in Christ, is like Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55), which begins with Mary’s words of joyfully glorifying God, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior” (Luke 1:46-47).

The above passage of the First Reading also reflects Francis’ primacy of Christ. So he is calling his friars to live a Christ-centered life, upon crucifying themselves to the Cross, so that Christ is living in them (Galatians 2:20), thus, being a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15).

For Francis, being in a new creation means being all worldly things stripped out, including carnal desires. This was radically symbolized when he took all his cloths in denouncing a worldly life and his privilege to inherit his father’s wealth, as well as, severing his earthly family tie. And by putting on a rag, given by a bishop, he became a new creation, detaching himself from the worldly matter and concerns. Therefore, he attained freedom from worldly and carnal matters that became obstacles to the closeness to Christ.

By embracing Lady Poverty, upon denouncing all of his earthly privileges, Francis became a new creation. This also means his conversion. But his transformation from an old creation began while he was still living in a privilege life, pursuing carnal desires. Francis always not only had compassion but also acted on it by helping the poor. So, he often gave to them by giving away nice cloths of his, given by his father. He also used his family’s money to give to the poor. As his act of charity escalated, it drew unfavorable attention from his father, because it was ultimately out of his expenses. And this led to a conflict between Francis and his father. For Francis to reconcile with his father, it would mean to remain in his privileged life, being obedient to him. But Francis chose to be obedient to Christ, who called him in vision, “Francis, Francis, go and repair my house, which as you can see, is falling into ruins!”, while gazing upon him in the Crucifix at San Damiano Church, which was nearly abandoned and in ruin.

In following this call of Christ, at first, Francis took it literally. So, he began to repair this neglected Church through his carpentry work, one brick at a time, by himself. Later other men joined him to repair San Damiano Church near Assisi. This is how the Franciscan order began.

But Francis’ radical embrace of Lady Poverty was a real way to repair the Church, which had already lost herself to worldly concerns and affairs, for having been an imperial institution, infested with power struggles among clergies. Unlike the Protestant Reformation, Francis did not leave the Church to start his own movement. Rather, he made a radical return to the original Apostolic Church, in which all members embraced poverty and obedience. The question is: Does the Church today really follows the way St. Francis of Assisi imitated Christ by embracing Lady Poverty as a way of living with the virtue of humility and obedience to Christ? At least, this is what Pope Francis tries, as his papacy is inspired by him, as he confesses in his first encyclical, Laudato Si (10-12).

So, Pope Francis wants the Church to serve as a field hospital to those whose souls are wounded by sins as a result of living a worldly life of carnal desires. And this field-hospital-like Church is a compassionately welcoming home to the poor, the sick, the vulnerable, the marginalized, and so forth. Not a club house for the privileged.

In the Gospel Reading (Matthew 11:25-30), Jesus is speaking of and to Francis:

I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to little ones.

Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.

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 your selves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.

One of such little ones, to whom the Lord reveal what is kept from the worldly wise is Francis, for being a fool in a worldly sense to be radically faithful to Christ the Lord, embracing Lady Poverty and living a life of the Primacy of Christ, as reflected in the First Reading.  So, Jesus takes care of Francis, by letting him have his yoke, not the worldly one, by being one with him. This way, Francis enjoys the peace that only Christ can give (i.e. John 14:27).

Now the question is: Are you willing to be a fool, like St. Francis of Assisi, by giving up all your worldly privileges and embracing the Lady Poverty, to repair today’s Church, mired with power struggles and secularism, misunderstanding of “aggiornamento” ? This question is especially for those who are called to be priests, though Francis chose not to be a priest, remaining to serve as a deacon, freeing himself from Church’s politics, which was like the disciples arguing who among them was the greatest (Matthew 18:1-4//Mark 9:33-36//Luke 9:46-47).

Humility and Charity: A Lesson from St, Therese of the Little Child Jesus, the Youngest Doctor of the Church

The Roman Catholic Church begins the month of October, which is a Marian month of the Holy Rosary, by honoring the exemplary life of St. Therese of the Little Child Jesus, a French Carmelite sister in Lisieux, and the youngest Doctor of the Church.

It is not that she has a Ph.D. in theology, Therese never attended a college. It is not that she has written heavy-weight theological books, like St. Augustine of Hippo’s De Trinitate and St. Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae, but her personal writings, such as L'histoire D'une Ame (The Story of a Soul), that offers us deep mystical spiritual insights to enrich our faith in Christ.

L'histoire D'une Ame is her autobiography, in which she describes herself as a little child of Jesus and a little flower in God’s garden. She also candidly confesses her true love in God. Therese writes:

My God, Thou knowest that I have ever desired to love Thee alone. It has been my only ambition. Thy love has gone before me, even from the days of my childhood. It has grown with my growth, and now it is an abyss whose depths I cannot fathom.

Love attracts love; mine darts towards Thee, and would fain make the abyss brim over, but alas! it is not even as a dewdrop in the ocean. To love Thee as Thou lovest me, I must make Thy Love mine own. Thus alone can I find rest. O my Jesus, it seems to me that Thou couldst not have overwhelmed a soul with more love than Thou hast poured out on mine, and that is why I dare ask Thee to love those Thou hast given me, even as Thou lovest me.    L'histoire D'une Ame, XI

Therese is fervently in love with God, because she knows that she enjoys being nursed by God’s love, as to be breast fed by His tender love, reflected in the First Reading (Isaiah 66:10-14c). She sees herself as a nursling of God, knowing that her existence is thanks to His loving providence. For this, Therese devoted herself to Eucharistic Adoration.

In fact, it is God’s love being internalized in her that drove her vocation. Theresa writes

Considering the mystical body of the Church I had not recognized myself in any of the members described by Saint Paul, or rather I desired to see myself in them all. Charity gave me the key to my vocation. I understood that if the Church had a body composed of different members, the most necessary and most noble of all could not be lacking to it, and so I understood that the Church had a Heart, and that this Heart was burning with love. I understood it was love alone that made the Church’s members act, that if Love ever became extinct, apostles would not preach the Gospel and martyrs would not shed their blood. I understood that Love comprised all vocations, that love was everything, that it embraced all times and places… in a word: that it was eternal! Then, in the excess of my delirious joy, I cried out: O Jesus, my Love... my vocation, at last I have found it… my vocation is Love! Yes, I have found my place in the Church, and it is you, O my God, who have given me this place; in the heart of the Church, my Mother, I shall be Love. Thus I shall be everything, and thus my dream will be realized.  Manuscript B, 3

Therese’s love, which is God’s love for her internalized in her, manifests in her caritas, through her offering of herself as a living sacrifice (Romans12:1). And as she indicates above, the caritas that drives her vocation reflects Paul’s description of love as an expression of selflessness and humility (i.e. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8). And this is further addressed by C.S. Lewis in his Screwtape Letters.

In fact, because of her child-like humility, Therese was able to receive and internalize God’s love, turning it into her love, offering herself to God’s disposal for the Church, as a living sacrifice. Without humility, we cannot receive and offer love. One important teaching that we can receive from this youngest Doctor of the Church, St. Therese of the Little Child Jesus is that we are called to be humble so that we receive God’s love for its results, and it is to offer ourselves as living sacrifices for God’s will to be done in Christ’s name. For Therese, anything that only benefits her but nobody else is against caritas. And self-interest cannot let God’s love manifest as one’s caritas. This is why she remains to be a little child of God, the Little Child of Jesus, blooming as a little flower in God’s beautiful garden. And such humility of Therese is reflected in Jesus’ words in the Gospel Reading (Matthew 18:1-4).

Jesus says:

Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me (Matthew 18:3-5).

Theresa writes:

I hope, with God’s help, to be of use to even more than two missionaries. I pray for all, not forgetting our Priests at home, whose ministry is quite as difficult as that of the missionary preaching to the heathen. . . . In a word, I wish to be a true daughter of the Church, like our holy Mother St. Teresa, and pray for all the intentions of Christ’s Vicar. That is the one great aim of my life. But just as I should have had a special interest in my little brothers had they lived, and that, without neglecting the general interests of the Church, so now, I unite myself in a special way to the new brothers whom Jesus has given me. All that I possess is theirs also. God is too good to give by halves; He is so rich that He gives me all I ask for, even though I do not lose myself in lengthy enumerations. As I have two brothers and my little sisters, the novices, the days would be too short were I to ask in detail for the needs of each soul, and I fear I might forget something important. Simple souls cannot understand complicated methods, and, as I am one of their number, Our Lord has inspired me with a very simple way of fulfilling my obligations. L'histoire D'une Ame, XI

When Jesus said, “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike (Matthew 11:25)”, he was referring to a humble person, like St. Therese, as the childlike, as he was also referring likewise, when he said, “children”(Matthew 18:3).