Francis of Assisi – October 4, 2024

Today’s Readings for the Feast of Francis of Assisi: Job 39:1-18; Psalm 121; Acts 4:32-35, 5:1-11; Luke 12:13-21

This morning, I told our daughter it was the feast of Saint Francis. She asked if I had already blessed our cat Coco. If anyone needs a blessing, it is this sassy calico tortoise shelled cat. She is always looking for a way to break into the fish tank, attack ankles of oblivious passersby, and when meeting new people, she either disappears or bows up into a hissing fury. We sure do love our fluffy Coco, all the same. And so, I blessed her and she tolerated the “pat-pats” momentarily. (Little did I know that she had already gotten into some mischief as she opened the filter house of the aquarium to pull the filters out this morning!) Cats will be cats – curious, tentative, and tenacious.

When I think of St. Francis of Assisi, I think first of his care for creation and animals. We have a statue of Francis in our garden, amid the flowers and beneath a tree. Yet when we sit with the readings for this Feast of Francis of Assisi, we are refocused to the heart of this man who lived from 1182 until 1226: living simply to be obedient to God. In the young Christian church described in Acts, the people following the Way of Jesus are of “one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common”. In Luke’s gospel, a man asks Jesus for help, for he wants his brother to share the family inheritance. Jesus says to him, “Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”

Francis lived like this – simply. After experiencing a wake-up moment that re-centered his purpose in life, Francis eschewed wealth and left behind the great means from which he came. From then forward, he gave deeply of himself, caring for the sick and rebuilding a church with rocks he begged for and scavenged from fields nearby. He fed himself by finding scraps or by asking to be paid for his labor in food, rather than money. Francis took Christ’s teachings of the disciples literally: “Preach as you go, saying, "The kingdom of Heaven is at hand." ... You have received the Gospel without payment, give it to others as freely. Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, no spare garment, nor sandals, nor staff.” Others began to emulate his way of life and joined Francis. The community of Francis grew. In 1210, the Pope authorized the Order of Friars Minor (lesser brothers) – the little brothers of Christ. We know them today as Franciscans. The ethos and the history of this Christian order is fascinating.

Friends, not all of us can live exactly like Francis. And yet, I believe that God calls me to pay attention to what Jesus said was first: love the Lord your God with all your heart and your soul and your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37, 39). How about you?

Faithfully,

Katherine+

Going Deeper

If you are curious about Francis' life of fervent simplicity and ministry to the poor, read more about him! Here is a link to one popular biography of St. Francis.