Saint Francis of Assisi is a very interesting figure in the life of the church. He comes from the foundation of earthly pleasure and luxury, but after heading into war and being injured brings about a close to this chapter of his life. From here he led a gradual life of conversion which eventually brought him to the church of San Damiano. It was here that he prayed before the crucifix and the Lord spoke to Him from the cross, “rebuild my church.” Francis would take these words literally and he would rebuild the church of San Damiano for it had fallen into disrepair. Later he would hear the words which would predate our Gospel passage and so he heard, “And as you go, preach the message, “the Kingdom is at hand!...Take no gold, nor silver, nor money in your belts, no bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor a staff; for the laborers deserves his food. And whatever town or villa you enter, find out who is worthy in it, and stay with him until you depart.” From here Saint Francis was able to put into practice this command to “rebuild my church.”
So many hold to devotion of Saint Francis solely for his love of animals, but they more importantly forget about his radical love for the Lord. Saint Francis abandoned everything that he had in order to serve the Lord and to rebuild the church. This rebuilding of the church was not the structural reality, as important as this may be, but this rebuilding of the church was to live a missionary zeal which would attract others to the authentic living out of the Gospel. Indeed this is a task which is not easy if one cannot abandon their self out of love for Christ and His Church.
And so from our Gospel we heard some challenging words which coincide with the life of Saint Francis: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.”
To put all of this into context we must proclaim within our heart that Christ makes a great command of us. We need to acknowledge that Christ is the Lord, that He is the absolute value, that He is the supreme good, and that He is the pearl of great price. There are so many who proclaim to be Christian in name only, but not in the practice of their daily life. How full would this Church be, if under normal circumstances, if we were convinced of this reality? One man had an influence over so many because of his authentic embracing the cross of our Lord. Who took this cross up and placed his trust in the Lord no matter the difficulty that would come his way, so too we must grow in our appreciation and love for the cross.
From the cross we see a total sense of abandonment given out of love. There will be those who will attempt to pull us away from this loving reality, but we cannot allow this to be so. Stay close and allow the cross to lead you towards an authentic living out of the Gospel. I encourage you to keep a crucifix in each room of your home and to spend time before it each day in prayer. In the words of Saint Francis concerning the crucifix: “Most high, glorious God, cast Your light into the darkness of my heart. Give me right faith, firm hope, perfect charity and profound humility, with wisdom and perception, O Lord, so that I may do what is truly Your hole will. Amen.”
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