On October 4th the Church celebrated the Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi, but who is Saint Francis? Most would say that he had a love for animals which is true because he had a love for all of God’s creation, but we cannot allow this image to overshadow his other acts. Others would remember him for the Prayer of Saint Francis which he never wrote. He is often quoted as saying “preach the Gospel at all times and if necessary use words.” As true as these words may be this is not a quotation from Saint Francis.
And so who was Saint Francis? Most importantly Saint Francis was an individual who came to love God above all things. He surrendered all that he had for God. Therefore he took on a radical poverty where he got rid of everything in order to follow after the Lord. From his relationship with the Lord he was given the desire to take care of the poorest of the poor and was able to see Christ who dwelt within them. One day during his prayers he was given the gift of the Stigmata where he came to bare the wounds of our Blessed Lord. He was a man who was willing to take up acts such as penance and fasting in order that he could come to love God with his whole heart and to push vice and sin out of his life. Truly Saint Francis is a radical individual who was willing to lay down all in his life in order to follow after the Lord.
Saint Francis becomes a perfect example of what the individual in our Gospel was told: “Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” I am sure that these words were difficult for Saint Francis to live and yet he was so filled with love for the Lord that he was able to live these words. Christ also looks at us and desires that we come to follow after Him to the point where we are willing to abandon all that keeps us from this relationship.
Our Gospel reaffirms the importance of living out the Ten Commandments and our Gospel reaffirms our need to abandon that which keeps us from following after Him. In the Book of Hebrews we were told “everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.” Therefore you may have me fooled, your spouse fooled, your children fooled, your friends and coworkers fooled, but God knows your sin. If God already knows your sin, as He already knew the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden, why not prevail yourself to the Sacrament of Confession and why not begin to abandon that which truly keeps you from following after Him?
One important practice of the Church is fasting and yet most don’t practice or even think about fasting except for on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday where we are required to fast by Church law. Throughout the Church’s history fasting is something that has been held as important. It was common for Christians to fast on bread and water every Wednesday for this was the day when our Lord was handed over, every Friday for it was the day of our Lord’s crucifixion, and every Saturday in preparation for the Resurrection. Yet we are lucky if we fast just two times a year. Have you tried and tried to break yourself from a vice and found that no matter how hard you try you cannot free yourself from its grasp? Do you find hate in your heart towards an individual and no matter how hard you try you cannot forgive? Maybe fasting is what you need in your life to abandon that which is keeping you from living charitably and following after the Lord.
May Saint Francis of Assisi pray for us that we may come to abandon all that keeps us from following after Christ.
