Give up everything and do a St Francis?

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DarinHamel

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Does anybody else ever get the impulse to give away all thier possessions, put on a robe, not join an Order and do a St Francis in this modern world?
 
Not in the least. A total turn off for me.

But I do admire people who do. 🙂
 
It is definately daunting. Probably why I haven’t done it yet. No crosses speaking to me yet thank goodness. I just have this nagging feeling I should do it.
 
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DarinHamel:
It is definately daunting. Probably why I haven’t done it yet. No crosses speaking to me yet thank goodness. I just have this nagging feeling I should do it.
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I’ve had that urge many times, but as a married person it isn’t realistic. My wife and I are instead pursuing the Secular Franciscan Order and are about to enter candidacy. It’s a great way of uniting yourself with the spirit of St Francis in a way that ministers to the world from our state in life.

Don’t forget that it’s not possessions in and of themselves that are necessarily the issue. It’s your attachment to them and stewardship of them, and all of your gifts, that makes the difference. Still, the total abandonment of all possessions is the greatest profession of faith one can make and I know that God will bless you abundantly should you actually pursue that. 🙂

Peace,
 
I have joined the Secualar Franciscans. The group I joined has an average age of 70. They meet once a month and do nothing. I have heard of more active and younger groups but they are not close to me. I also checked out the Franciscan Monastery here in Detroit, the Fr Casey one and it was too ritzy for me. If I give up my job and house then I want to be totally like St Francis and Jesus. No place to call home and penniless.

I feel called to contemplation and poverty. I want to stay in Detroit too. I was born here and maybe for a reason.
 
Try a few retreats along with fasting for your answer.

Its not for me cause I like secular living but I do admire people who give up all.

What I dont have respect for are men who make a commitment to marry and raise a family and THEN leave them thinking they have a calling…sorry…I dont buy leaving your spouse and kids for such stuff… marriage is your calling now… deal with it.
 
There are times when I look around me at all my “stuff” and how useless it seems to be.

And I consider the hovels some people live in in Mexico and in spite of my major debt, I realize I am rich in their eyes.

Sometimes I do just want to give it all away, and I thank God that I am not quite that impulsive.

I am considering the religious life and it is a long process. In the meantime, I have had to realize that God has provided me the profession that allowed me to buy a home and have my 2 dogs, and most of my furniture has been given to me by others. I realize how blessed I have been and if really called to give it all away, I realize that blessing will be passed on.

God has a plan, and some may be called to give up everything in the blink of an eye, and others…well, it’s meant to take longer.

I’ve learned that I’m not really as attached to “stuff” as I used to be which is good, but when it comes down to it, if I am called, I pray I really do have the strength to cut all the ties and let it all go.

I tried to throw some stuff away last night and just couldn’t do it. Sentimental reasons.

It’s harder than it sounds.
 
We are Franciscan Tertiaries of the Immaculate. There is much you can do to simplify your life. We all have to live in the world, but we do not have to be of the world.

FTI is a pontifical order. Here’s their website:
www.marymediatrix.com
 
ShroudMan,
I am single, never married. Did you know that women who are virgins can be consecrated and take vows without joining a religious order, but men can only make promises outside the Orders.

Detrot Sue,
Whats the average age? Do you guys do things? The wesite didn’t show anything for Detroit.
 
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DarinHamel:
I have joined the Secualar Franciscans. The group I joined has an average age of 70. They meet once a month and do nothing. I have heard of more active and younger groups but they are not close to me. I also checked out the Franciscan Monastery here in Detroit, the Fr Casey one and it was too ritzy for me. If I give up my job and house then I want to be totally like St Francis and Jesus. No place to call home and penniless.

I feel called to contemplation and poverty. I want to stay in Detroit too. I was born here and maybe for a reason.
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Sorry your group is not active. We could use you in our group. Recently, we were asked to paint all the statues and stations of the cross at St. Anthony’s Retreat Center. If a person put on a robe and did what Francis did today, that person would become part of the problem rather than a solution to poverty and homelessness. God Bless,
Deacon Tony SFO
 
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DarinHamel:
Does anybody else ever get the impulse to give away all thier possessions, put on a robe, not join an Order and do a St Francis in this modern world?
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Tell me about it!
I’ve really have had bouts of total indeciciveness over this.

I look around and see and ask, do I really need most of these ‘things’. I can understand basic furniture, but then I have a lot of artifacts from my childhood and things my mother made me when I was a child.

As I told my pastor who spoke a homily about the Rich Man who had dome EVERYTHNG he was required to and Jesus told him to sell everything he had to follim Him. The man went away sad.

THe correlation to this is that our pastor lost a gold ring about three weeks ago and wondered if he should replace it. He told me he has’ sentimental’ value.
To the Things possess Us or do the emotions that we Assign them possess Us?

Now that’s a thought that needs to be thought through. :confused:
 
Deacon Tony560:
If a person put on a robe and did what Francis did today, that person would become part of the problem rather than a solution to poverty and homelessness. God Bless,
Deacon Tony SFO
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Not to be difficult but why? I used to work Downtown Detroit and saw and talked to its homeless daily. Now I work in the Hospitial down there. They need faith and hope. The world needs some sort of public witness by the True Church in my opinion.
 
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DarinHamel:
Not to be difficult but why? I used to work Downtown Detroit and saw and talked to its homeless daily. Now I work in the Hospitial down there. They need faith and hope. The world needs some sort of public witness by the True Church in my opinion.
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Good point, they need someone to help them, not join them.
God bless,
Deacon Tony
 
To do such a thing would be to choose a very selfish life. Why not serve by helping those in particular need? What does shutting yourself off from the world achieve? God gave you gifts - why isolate yourself and not use them? I think we all have the urge to jump off the planet sometimes but we are here for a reason. Anyone who seriously does that sort of thing needs to talk to a psychologist first.
 
I am considering entering a religious order, although I probably wouldn’t enter for at least five more years. When I think about giving up all my possessions, it honestly doesn’t seem that bad. Right now, I’m a college student, so nearly everything I own fits into a dorm room. That’s not too much to give up. I also have detachment, if not from what I already own, at least to what I don’t own. It makes me a lot happier, but it makes it hard for my family to buy me birthday and Christmas presents because I really don’t have a wish list (except for books, which no one seems to want to buy me).

On the other hand, I’m still too attached to certain things that would be very difficult to give up. Most of the books I do have are books I would hate to give away. Also, parting from my computer would be difficult. Not only do I enjoy writing, which the computer makes much faster and easier for me, but I would really miss CAF!
 
I have not been called to do what Francis did, but I am trying to be faithful in what I am called to do. DH and I made a decision early in our marriage to live below our income, thrifty and concentrating on meeting needs, not necessarily wants for our family. That attitude has made it possible for us to retire early and take jobs that are ministerial, pastoral or service in nature.

We consciously decided 10 years ago to follow a strict financial plan that involved selling a family business, selling the house and downsizing drastically when the kids left (which they all did inside the space of one year, oddly enough), get rid of a lifetime accumulation of stuff (the kids cleaned us out), and live our current simple lifestyle. We could still cut back a lot more, which we are doing gradually, amazing to find out what you can actually live without.
 
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mumto5:
To do such a thing would be to choose a very selfish life. Why not serve by helping those in particular need? What does shutting yourself off from the world achieve? God gave you gifts - why isolate yourself and not use them? I think we all have the urge to jump off the planet sometimes but we are here for a reason. Anyone who seriously does that sort of thing needs to talk to a psychologist first.
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How is renouncing the distractions of consumer society in favor of a life of poverty and consecration selfish? (Read Luke 18:22-30.) If one has the potential to become holy through God’s grace, and he feels like isolating himself to do so is the way in which he is called to achieve this…he achieves much indeed for obeying God. I wouldn’t call St. Anthony of Egypt, St. Benedict, or any of the other desert fathers or consecrated hermits selfish by any means. They were great men who left their comfort zones to serve Christ in a radical way.
-Kevin 🙂
 
I don’t think I’d care to try following Francis’ literal interpretations of the Gospels in modern America today. You might get away with it some Third World countries, but literally being homeless will get you arrested in some municipalities, or as was mentioned, add to the problem in others.

And do you really want to go door to door and beg for your food like Francis did? This isn’t the 12th century any more, and people don’t have the same idea about Christian charity as they did then…you go begging door to door now, and they’re going to consider you a dangerous nuisance; at best they’ll call the cops, at worst they might even try to poison you with something put into the table scraps.

If you really want to embrace the eremetic lifestyle, I suggest you join an Order like the Carthusians or the Cistercians.
 
ST Benedict reformed all of Europe at a time when the Church and society itself were in grave danger, by withdrawing from the world, with his companions, for a life of prayer and work. The monasteries, founded on his rule, are what saved European civilization in the Dark Ages.

Francis came on the scene just before the Renaissance, when Europe was again at a low ebb spiritually, and the Papacy and hierarchy were often corrupt. His band of pobrecitos reformed the Church again, and mendicant friars renewed the Church and European civilization again.
 
I think what were are seeing in the postings here are the classic differences in opinions between actives and contemplatives. Active think that contemplatives are wasting their time being monks. The Martha and Mary story.

I think in every age that is dangerous like ours saints arise like Benedict and Francis. (I am still waiting for the saint to come in this age.) How much more dangerous is it to be a mendicant today than a Jewish one in Roman occupied Israel. Jesus set the example I want to completely follow. Others weren’t condemned for not giving away eveything in Christs and the Apostles times, but they never discouraged those who did either.

The reason for homelessness determines how helpful it is. The homeless guy going from shelter to shelter because he doesn’t want to work or the heroin addicts are different than the mendicant who is trying to set an example of holiness by serving the poor by living among them.
 
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