As you may know, I recently achieved my master’s degree in theology, specializing in Franciscan Theology. I will be spending the next few newsletters explaining more about Saint Francis, both from the Catholic point of view, and also how his spirituality is reflected in other world religions.

Francis of Assisi: More Than the “The Birdbath Saint”

What comes to your mind when you think of St. Francis of Assisi? Most likely, most of you answered, “Oh, he is the patron saint of animals.” Or perhaps, “Oh yes, I take my dog to church to get her blessed on his feast day.” Or maybe, “I have a birdbath in my yard with a statue of St Francis.”

While none of these answers is wrong, Saint Francis is so much more. Yes, he is the patron saint of animals and is probably most known for his famous poem in praise of all Creation, the Canticle of the Creatures which begins:

Most High, all-powerful, good Lord, yours is the praise, the glory and the honor and every blessing.

To you alone, Most High, do they belong, and no one is worthy to speak your name.

Praised be you, my Lord with all your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun, who is the day through whom you bring us light. And he is lovely, shining with great splendor, for he heralds you, Most High.

Pope Francis starts his famous encyclical, Laudato Si, Praised Be, with Saint Francis’s canticle. And goes on to talk about why Francis’ theology and spirituality is important today. However, his love for Creation is only one of Saint Francis’ qualities. He is also known for his poverty, his love of the poor, his humility, his desire for peace, and his compassion. We will reflect on each of these qualities of Francis’ spirituality in this newsletter, and in future newsletters we will discuss how these qualities serve as an example for how we might make our world a better place to live in. We will also talk about how Franciscan spirituality is evident in other religions, and among those not professing any religion.

Poverty

Poverty is a hallmark of Franciscan spiritualty, in fact he is known as Il Poverello, the poor one. You may even have a Poverello House, which cares for the poor and marginalized, in your community, but his poverty goes far beyond just giving up his worldly belongings, it is living with and for the poor, it leads to his compassion for all people.

Pope Francis recently said of his namesake, Saint Francis:

"Brothers and sisters, let us not be afraid to strip ourselves of worldly trappings and return to the heart, returning to what is essential. Let us think of Saint Francis, who after stripping himself, embraced with his entire being the Father in heaven. Let us acknowledge what we are: dust loved by God, called to be dust in love with God. Thanks to him, we will be reborn from the ashes of sin to new life in Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit."

Pope Francis was referring to the famous story of Saint Francis stripping himself naked in front of his Bishop. As quoted in Seven Key Moments in the Life of Saint Francis.

Shortly after Francis’s experience in the Church of San Damiano where Christ spoke to him from the cross, telling him to “Go, rebuild my church,” Francis, dressed in rough clothing, took precious merchandise from his father’s store, and sold it to his customers, in order to pay for the rebuilding of the fallen-down chapel. He also sold his father’s horse. Francis’ father, Peter, would have preferred to see Francis go back to wearing fancy attire and throwing parties for his old chums. He was aghast and embarrassed, moreover, to learn that Francis was often caring for the lepers, who were living in the valley below Assisi.

In response, his father, boiling with rage, dragged Francis before the bishop of Assisi and demanded the return of his property and goods. Francis readily agreed to this. In the hearing of all present, Francis said, “From now on I will no longer say, My Father Peter Bernardone, but Our Father who art in heaven.” Francis gave back to his father not only his property and goods, but the money and all his clothes as well, carefully placing his clothing on the ground.

The bishop, admiring Francis’ fervor, drew him into his arms and covered him with his mantle. The bishop understood that Francis’ actions were inspired by God—and were part of God’s way of leading Francis into an amazingly new form of life. Francis’ heart was overflowing with joy. His heavenly Father had set him free of all attachment to earthly things.

Francis was now ready to serve the Lord simply and without fear. For all who follow St. Francis of Assisi today, this kind of poverty and detachment can lead to the freedom to, in St. Matthew’s words, become “children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect” (5:45, 48).

This action of Francis may have shocked his father and the townspeople, but clearly the bishop saw Francis’ devotion to God and his determination to give up his worldly possessions and to live in poverty.

My former pastor once gave a wonderful homily about the rich man and Lazarus, the gospel for today. He asked the congregation whether it was a sin to be rich. A few people said yes. My answer was, “It is not a sin to be rich, but I once heard an old Hebrew saying that it is not a sin to be rich, but it is a sin to die rich. The rich man in today’s gospel was not being punished after his death for his wealth but rather his lack of generosity to the poor man laying at his door step day after day. I do not believe we are called to emulate Francis and strip ourselves naked in front of our bishops (that would probably lead to a sensational news story, and likely being hauled off to jail), but we are called to not worship the things our wealth can buy us, and to give to others in our own way. My pastor went on to say in his homily, it is not just giving material things to the poor and needy but sometimes it is or love and support they need. As I meditated on my pastor’s homily, I thought of the very wealthy man sitting next to me in church and who was going through a very rough time with the death of his father and serious illness in his family. I could certainly not offer this man anything material that would satisfy his needs, but we held hands during mass, and I assured him of my love and prayers, for which he was so grateful. I wondered what the rich man in the gospel would do if Lazarus had offered him prayers and support even though Abraham told him that it would not do any good for Lazarus to come dip his hand in water and offer it to the parched man or to come back from the dead to save the rich man’s brothers from suffering the same fate he was facing. Perhaps Francis’ poverty would not have benefitted him as much had he had not stripped himself to show his love for God and his devotion to God and his fellow humans.

The great Franciscan theologian, Saint Bonaventure talked about Francis’ love of poverty, renouncing not only earthly possessions owned, but even to the use of those earthly possessions for anything that was not God’s work.

Love for the Poor

Francis showed his love for the poor and outcast in many ways. Bonaventure writes of him quoting Jesus, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs in the kingdom of God” and cites his invitation to follow his example of taking seriously Christ’s words in Matthew 19:21 “If you want to be perfect, go and sell everything that you have, and give to the poor and come, follow me.” Francis did exactly that because his own poverty was only the beginning, he had to love the poor and share with them everything he had to give, Bonaventure also says that God’s perfect love enables God to condescend to the weak without doing violence to God’s divine perfection. Francis was a perfect example of humanity being enabled to care for the poor while seeking its own perfection. Francis was the epitome of the statement that “Our key relationship to the world and to others is inseparable from our relation to God.”

I'd Love to Hear from You

Please email me your questions, or other comments you would like to make on this topic to Linda@LindaLysakowski.com. I will summarize your responses and report in my next newsletter. I really want to hear your thoughts!

Pace et Bene,

Linda