Memorial of Saint
Francis of Assisi, religious
(Baruch 1:15-22; Luke 10:13-16)
One of the reasons that St. Francis of Assisi has been so
popular through the centuries is that he is seen as a romantic. It is said that Francis separated himself
from his money-driven father by taking off his fine clothes and giving them
back to his appalled father in the public square. Even more charming is the story of his taming
a vicious wolf by appealing to the wolf’s reason: if the wolf would stop ravaging
the town, the townspeople would feed it every day. The difficulty with such stories is that they
are not always accurate.
A recent biography by a hard-nosed but still admiring
historian dismisses a large amount of the legend surrounding Francis. What he finds is a man like the rest of us
groping to God through a troubled situation.
But Francis, of course, reached his object without the pains of
purgatory. Perhaps it was devotion to
Christ that gave him the critical edge. Francis
loved the Lord because Jesus truly impoverishes himself not just in the
incarnation and on the cross but in the Eucharist where he makes himself food
for human edification.
We do well to emulate Francis of Assisi. We need not go barefoot or eschew swatting
flies. But we should carefully
contemplate the mystery that confronts us at Mass. It is Jesus under the guise of bread and wine
who calls us to humble ourselves so that we might strengthen others.
