St. Francis of Assisi

October 7, 2007


Against All Logic and Common Sense


I vividly remember a friend of mine back in the struggle of adolescence who would always pass judgment on some of our hair-brained ideas by vociferously saying: “That’s not logical, that makes no sense whatsoever.”

Needless to say, we very rarely followed his advice and often wound up in a mess of our own creation.

In our modern world we strive to live lives that are logical and make good common sense.

We plan well, we invest well, we work well, and we often comparatively judge our lives by the standards set by society.

That is all well and good, for, after all, we do live in this world and we do have to make our living and get along.

But, if we claim to be followers of Christ, logic and common sense place us on the horns of a dilemma.

For example, did you catch what St. Paul said in today’s lesson: “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”

Then, as if that isn’t enough, we have the Beatitudes on the Sermon on the Mount to deal with: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who mourn, blessed are those who are persecuted.”

How then, my brothers and sisters, are we to be faithful to Christ and to live in this world?

Today we celebrate the life of one of the most well-known and beloved saints of the church – Francis of Assisi.

As a young man, Francis Bernadone had it made – the son of a wealthy cloth merchant – one of Assisi’s most popular and well liked party guys.

He was expected to follow his father’s footsteps in the family business and be one of the most wealthy and influential people in town.

He went off to war as a gallant and beautifully armored knight, much to everyone’s admiration and approval, but the battle went wrong and he wound up the victim of defeat and found himself as a prisoner of war.

Upon his return home he became very ill, and during these hard times his wealth and the lavish comfort of his father’s house didn’t help, for deep within something was missing – something wasn’t quite right.

One day Francis was inside a very dilapidated church called San Damiano and was looking up at a beautiful crucifix.

So far, so good, because being in church and looking at the cross makes a lot of sense if you are a Christian, especially if you life is trouble and you need a touch from God.

But then, something incredible happened.

The crucifix spoke to Francis and said: “Francis, go and repair my house which, as you see, is falling in ruins.”

I wonder what one of us would have done in that situation.

Probably would be best not to tell anybody, lest they think we were off our rocker.

In any case, Francis took it seriously, took some cloth from his father’s business, sold it, and used the money to start repairing San Damiano.

His father was furious, and presented Francis with a choice: either come home, forget this God foolishness or be disinherited and out of my house.

Francis had to make a very hard choice.

So, in front of the whole town, he returned to his father everything, including the clothes on his back, walked out of town, and from that moment on he embraced what he called “lady poverty.”

Lady poverty – hardly logical.

But, Francis was serious about his commitment to Christ.

He took seriously the words of our first lesson today in the prophet Micah: “He has shown you O man what is good, and what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

And that is what Francis did.

He defied logic by running up to one of the untouchable lepers and giving him a hug.

He became an itinerant preacher, and, as strange as it may seem, preached to the birds:

“Brother birds, you ought to praise and love your Creator very much.

He has given you feathers for clothing, wings for flying, and all that is need for you.

He has made you the noblest of creatures, permits you to live in the pure air, and you neither have to sow or reap, because he takes care of you.

Then the birds began to arch their necks, to spread out their wings, to open their beaks, to look at him as if to thank him, while he went up and down in their midst stroking them with the border of his tunic, sending them away at last with his blessing.” (Sabatier, Paul. The Road to Assisi, page 78.)

For Francis of Assisi, Christ was absolutely everywhere, in every square inch of creation.

He had a great love for Brother Sun, for Sister Moon and stars, Brother Wind, Sister Water, and Brother Fire.

And, in when the time came at the end of his life, merely forty-four years old, he was able to praise God for Sister Death.

What a strange and illogical life.

Did he repair the church?

Oh yes, San Damiano was repaired and became the convent of his disciple St. Clare.

But there is more, much much more.

In his lifetime at least 5000 young men became his followers and proclaimed God’s love everywhere they went.

Francis took the ultimate risk and, in the midst of the violence of the crusades, went to the Holy Land and actually preached Christ to the Sultan of the Saracen army.

Today his followers still embrace Lady Poverty and, often with bare feet, proclaim the Gospel of God’s love for every human being.

So, on this celebration of St. Francis of Assisi, what does his life mean to ours?

Several years ago we were in Assisi, and we prayed before the crucifix that spoke to Francis.

Did it speak to us? Not audibly perhaps, but inwardly – without a doubt.

It spoke to us of the need for us to lead illogical lives in a logical world in order to proclaim an illogical God who sent his Son into a sinful world to die on its behalf.

Perhaps that moment at that crucifix was the beginning of the illogical move across the country that we made about a year ago.

My brothers and sisters, I am convinced that God has called all of us to repair his church.

How do we go about it?

Hear the words of St.Francis of Assisi:

Where there is love and wisdom,
There is neither fear nor ignorance.
Where there is patience and humility,
There is neither anger or annoyance.
Where there is poverty and joy,
There is neither cupidity nor avarice.
Where there is peace and contemplation,
There is neither care nor restlessness.
Where there is the fear of God to guard the dwelling, there no enemy can enter.
Where there is mercy and prudence, there is neither excess nor harshness.

Good words for us that transcend the time of St. Francis into this present moment in our lives.

Good words for a troubled and fearful world.

So, my brothers and sisters, let’s get busy and repair the Church – to repair lives that are damaged – to repair damage done through prejudice – to repair hopelessness by giving hope – and, most of all, to repair broken hearts through the love of the Christ that once spoke to Francis and now speaks to us.