The 4th of October is the Feast Day of St Francis of Assisi. A well-loved and popular Saint. I wonder what images come to mind when you think of him? Perhaps Pet Services, birdbaths and religious pictures? Certainly, there are many stories about St Francis and his love of animals, birds, fish, cricket, rabbits, bees and even worms. Thomas of Celano, one of the early followers and chroniclers of St Francis, recorded the following about him:
Toward little worms even he glowed with a very great love, for he had read this saying about the Savior (Psalms 22:6): “I am a worm, a no one”. Therefore he picked them up from the road and placed them in a safe place, lest they be crushed by the feet of the passers by."1.
If we find that slightly cute, I wonder if his (and our) affection would extend to other critters such as cockroaches and rodents? Be that as it may, we often have honoured the animals and birds with whom we share our lives at this time of year at an annual Pet Service. However, it is also good to remember that St Francis was more than a lover of animals – he is also a patron of the Ecology, and an inspirational travelling evangelist!
I think back to when I first learnt of Francis. I was a university student at a time when we had no internal assessments and no semesters. One could happily enjoy a good social life for the first half of the year before studying madly the last two months before sitting the final exam. So it was that a local vicar who knew my parents took me under his wing. I recall sitting in his Elizabethan sitting room in a dark, damp, old-worldly vicarage. He was puffing away on his pipe as he told me about a poor little rich man from Assisi, who also as a teenager, lived a wild and carefree life. What appealed to me then, and has stayed with me, was Francis radical, wholehearted determination to follow the way of Jesus. Francis was inspired to change his life and make a difference in a world where extremes of wealth, hypocrisy, and poverty existed. I also learnt about other people, closer to my generation, who had been inspired by St Francis to make a difference. People like Douglas Downs, an Anglican Priest, inspired by the life of St Francis of Assisi, move out from the comfort of his home in England to live and worked amongst the thousands of homeless men who lived on the roads during the post-war depression. They had no work, no skills, no social security, no hope and no one wanted them. Then a friend, inspired by the example of Douglas, offered the use of his farm in Dorset as a place of refuge. Douglas believed every person had a skill to offer. If they were willing to help on the farm, he would provide food and lodging, and help them find their special talent, develop it, then send them on their way with a reference and new hope for the future. Douglas' secret was similar to that of St Francis of Assisi. Both “Could see the light of God in others.” One of the brothers later wrote these words about St Francis:
It was this love that opened Francis's eyes to the truth of God in creation. Everything spoke of the love of God. All of creation became faces of God - the world became the temple of God as everything reflected God's power, wisdom and goodness. This led Francis to live in relatedness and to share all he was and had with all things – for all things were his brothers and sisters because they shared with him the same beginnings, the same incarnation of God. But we are unable to see this until we first are able to see God's goodness within us – this is the path to transformation.
The Gospel Reading for the coming Sunday (Mark 10:2-16) tells us of another young man who met Jesus on the road. This time it was not in the form of a leper as St Francis did. It was face to face in person. He wanted to find meaning in his life. But unlike Francis, he wasn't prepared to let go of the material things that gave his comfortable life meaning and purpose. And that one thing made the difference.
Francis could see beyond the superficial boundaries of life and see with clarity that every person is created after the image and likeness of God. And when we too are able to see people as Francis did, we will also see them for who they truly are – images of God.
Kia mau te rongo me te pai ki a koe i to haerenga
May you find peace and good will on your journey.
Phil
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1Thomas of Celano, First life of St. Francis.
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