Because I suffer from the need to be literal, let me venture guess that I hope will illustrate what I am trying to express: If St. Francis could come back to us for a week, I expect he he would not be bothered by the OF. He would be very bothered by the Cathedral in Los Angeles. He would probably also be bothered by New St. Peters. The indictment he would level against the way many Catholic lay people live would be even more severe.
Actually, if he came back, no one would ever now his position on any of these things. Francis was a very wise man. He kept his opinions to himself. He preached virtue and avoidance of sin. He was also very diplomatic. He avoided ever confronting anyone, denouncing anything, or stating a preference for anything.
There are very few things on which he expressed his preference. He bound his sons and daughters, under penalty of excommunication from ever expressing opinions contrary to his own, the pope or a bishop, without permission to do so. He prohibited all forms of debate on matters concerning ecclesiastical life. When he went to the Lateran Council, he refused to vote on the grounds that he was not there to take a position on any issue on the table, but he was there to model for others how to be Catholic. He was very comfortable telling everyone at the Council that he would not vote.
This was a man who abhorred all kinds of debates and argumentation. He constantly reminded his sons and daughters to make sure that everyone who saw them, saw in them men of peace and men who are conciliatory.
I believe that it is this use of charm to bring out the best in people and bring about change that made him one of the most beloved saints in the Church and raised his religious family to become the largest religious family in the Church to this day.
Maybe, it is this charm that we are lacking. All too often we try to make corrections without charm, without a smile, instead we put anger into our corrections or even hostility.
Francis certainly became angry with his brothers and sisters and was even physical with them, but never outside of the community. I think this would be the man who would just roll his eyes and go about his business of living the Gospel in obedience, without property and doing penance. He was very good at “eye rolling”. There are writings by the early friars and sisters that describe him taking a deep breadth when something displeased him and then making some kind of humorous remark to regulate his reaction. He had a wonderful sense of humor and an incredible amount of patience. This was not something that he was born with. He worked very hard at this all his life.
I think that if he were walking down the streets of LA looking for a church and saw the cathedral, his only question would have been whether or not there was a tabernacle there where he could pray. If he didn’t like the design, he would simply roll his eyes, smile and walk in to say his prayers.
We know that he did not like the mass of his time. There are several indicators of this. He banned Gregorian Chant from mass and the LOTH. He asked the pope to give him another missal, which the pope gave him. However, he did so in a manner that was so subtle that no one realized what was happening until it happened. It was Clare who later told us about his aversion to Gregorian Chant. It was Illuminato who later told us about his dislike for the mass of his diocese, because it was too complicated and required too many books and cards. Francis simply instituted the changes without making a public announcement. He shared his opinions within the community, never with the world.
Pope Gregory IX would later tell of their conversations while he was still Cardinal Hugolino. It is very clear that there were many things on which he had opinion, but not one knew until after his death, when his friends revealed them. He limited his statements to what was happening within his community, not the Church around him. He was not one to decry anything. That was not his style and it was a style that he encouraged his sons and daughters to avoid. This was a fascinating man, who transformed the world and the lives of millions of people from the 13th century to this day, without making a fuss over anything except poverty and obedience.
I believe that many Catholics today would not like him, because he would never answer their questions. He modeled how things should be, rather than explain it. We like to hear things in black and white. That is not Francis of Assisi or his order.
Other Catholics would love him, because of his charm, wit, sense of humor and ability to rise above the stuff that worries most of us.
He certainly is not a man about whom people would feel indifferent. Some would love him and others would hate him, not greys.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
