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JReducation
Guest
I’ve been thinking, what can I say or write in preparation for the Solemnity of St. Francis of Assisi (October 4th) that would speak to others and would come from my heart rather than san franciscomy head. Then it occurred to me to share the Lord has taught us through St. Francis. Every teaching has been a blessing.
I have to say that the most visible blessing that God has given to the world is the Franciscan family. I don’t think that anyone really knows how many sons and daughters St. Francis has. If I were to compare Francis to a biblical personality, it would be Abraham, the father of many. I think the first quality of St. Francis that I respond to is fatherhood.
This is interesting, because Francis always identified himself as our little brother. But this little brother has commanded the attention of millions of men and women around the world, not all of them Catholic. He has certainly had the obedience of thousands of men and women during the last 800 years. What makes Francis such a special man and a father figure is not that he was authoritarian or controlling. What makes him a special figure and a father is that he was respectable. Francis is credible. Credible people are respectable. He set out to live his life according to the Gospel. To everyone who came to him, he offered the Gospel. He did not impose himself on anyone. On the contrary, he was the father who guided his sons and daughters into the future.
Today, we have too many people who want to make the world right by dictating to others, including correcting the Church. There is such a thing as fraternal correction, which Francis used quite often. But let’s look at his style. Look at the admonitions. He speaks about faults that are to be avoided and how they are to be rectified if they are committed. He is a brother, not a policeman. He didn’t even police his own brothers.
A brother corrects while being very careful not to cross the line and assume authority that he does not have. A brother who is faithful to the Gospel corrects without making a judgment about the state of the other person’s soul.
I want to draw attention to an aspect of him that is rarely addressed, obedience. Francis’ poverty is well known. But very little is said about Francis’ obedience and what he taught the brothers concerning obedience.
Francis demanded that his sons and daughters obey. Above all, we are to obey God. We know when God speaks to us, because the Church confirms it for us. We can’t jump a rung on the hierarchical ladder. We seek to know the will of God in order to fulfill it. It is the Church who tells us if we’re on the right track. We can’t simply say that the will of God is X and the entire college of bishops is wrong and I’m right. It doesn’t work that way and Francis knew it. He reminds us in his Testament that the rule was of divine inspiration, not human influence. He quickly adds that he knows this because the Lord Pope confirmed it for him.
Francis taught us there is only one question that we need to ask. “Is this a sin?” If I’m being commanded to sin, I have a duty to disobey. However, if I’m being commanded to do something that is not a sin, even if I believe it is not the best decision made by legitimate authority, I am bound to obey. God is pleased by obedience more than by the thing that we do or not do.
Obedience can be deadly. John lost his head. Jesus was crucified. We cannot be obedient without dying. This death is not symbolic, metaphoric or allegory. It’s very real. We die to ourselves and to many things around us.
Francis teaches us what he learned from Christ, “obedience, even unto death,” without murmuring and without second thoughts, obedience given, rather than compliance demanded.
Despite everything that Francis said and wrote about Lady Poverty, he begins his most important piece of writing with the words, “The Rule . . . is to observe the Holy Gospel in obedience.”
Christ is the Master and Francis is his hired teacher sent to us, through the Church, by the Holy Spirit. He teaches us that obedience is an absolute requirement in order to be like Christ, even when obedience is deadly (in the eyes of the world).
Happy Feast of St. Francis
I have to say that the most visible blessing that God has given to the world is the Franciscan family. I don’t think that anyone really knows how many sons and daughters St. Francis has. If I were to compare Francis to a biblical personality, it would be Abraham, the father of many. I think the first quality of St. Francis that I respond to is fatherhood.
This is interesting, because Francis always identified himself as our little brother. But this little brother has commanded the attention of millions of men and women around the world, not all of them Catholic. He has certainly had the obedience of thousands of men and women during the last 800 years. What makes Francis such a special man and a father figure is not that he was authoritarian or controlling. What makes him a special figure and a father is that he was respectable. Francis is credible. Credible people are respectable. He set out to live his life according to the Gospel. To everyone who came to him, he offered the Gospel. He did not impose himself on anyone. On the contrary, he was the father who guided his sons and daughters into the future.
Today, we have too many people who want to make the world right by dictating to others, including correcting the Church. There is such a thing as fraternal correction, which Francis used quite often. But let’s look at his style. Look at the admonitions. He speaks about faults that are to be avoided and how they are to be rectified if they are committed. He is a brother, not a policeman. He didn’t even police his own brothers.
A brother corrects while being very careful not to cross the line and assume authority that he does not have. A brother who is faithful to the Gospel corrects without making a judgment about the state of the other person’s soul.
I want to draw attention to an aspect of him that is rarely addressed, obedience. Francis’ poverty is well known. But very little is said about Francis’ obedience and what he taught the brothers concerning obedience.
Francis demanded that his sons and daughters obey. Above all, we are to obey God. We know when God speaks to us, because the Church confirms it for us. We can’t jump a rung on the hierarchical ladder. We seek to know the will of God in order to fulfill it. It is the Church who tells us if we’re on the right track. We can’t simply say that the will of God is X and the entire college of bishops is wrong and I’m right. It doesn’t work that way and Francis knew it. He reminds us in his Testament that the rule was of divine inspiration, not human influence. He quickly adds that he knows this because the Lord Pope confirmed it for him.
Francis taught us there is only one question that we need to ask. “Is this a sin?” If I’m being commanded to sin, I have a duty to disobey. However, if I’m being commanded to do something that is not a sin, even if I believe it is not the best decision made by legitimate authority, I am bound to obey. God is pleased by obedience more than by the thing that we do or not do.
Obedience can be deadly. John lost his head. Jesus was crucified. We cannot be obedient without dying. This death is not symbolic, metaphoric or allegory. It’s very real. We die to ourselves and to many things around us.
Francis teaches us what he learned from Christ, “obedience, even unto death,” without murmuring and without second thoughts, obedience given, rather than compliance demanded.
Despite everything that Francis said and wrote about Lady Poverty, he begins his most important piece of writing with the words, “The Rule . . . is to observe the Holy Gospel in obedience.”
Christ is the Master and Francis is his hired teacher sent to us, through the Church, by the Holy Spirit. He teaches us that obedience is an absolute requirement in order to be like Christ, even when obedience is deadly (in the eyes of the world).
Happy Feast of St. Francis
