October 3, 2013
Francis of Assisi is one of the few saints in the Catholic calendar honored by the different religions around the world. And with the election of our new pope, people everywhere are hearing the name Francis now more than ever.
Pope Pius XI stated in one of his encyclicals that “there has never been anyone in whom the image of Jesus Christ and the evangelical manner of his life shone forth more lifelike and strikingly than in St. Francis.”
He was born in Assisi towards the end of the 12th century, the son of a rich cloth merchant, and he enjoyed a carefree adolescence and youth, particularly with troubadours.
He went to war at age 20 and was taken prison for almost a year. After his release, he became seriously ill, which occasioned a major turn in his life. He abandoned his worldliness and responded to the call of Jesus “to help rebuild my church.”
We celebrate his feast day [Oct. 4], and we know him as the patron saint of Italy, the founder of the Franciscan Order of the Friars Minor, an admirer of nature and a servant to the poor and destitute.
In a Sept. 20 lecture on “The Emergent Christ and Franciscan Spirituality” at the Franciscan Holy Land Monastery in Washington, D.C., Sister Ilia Delio, OSF, director of Catholic Studies at Georgetown University, described “the Four P’s of Francis: penance, prayer, poverty and piety.”
Penance: Penance is conversion, turning from what prevents us from being fully human.
Prayer: Francis was a man of deep and long prayer. He spent extended periods – several months at a time – in nature. He was rarely in community because he was always traveling. And one of the blessings of prayer is that it slows us down.
Poverty: Though he did give up his material belongings, he even more gave himself away. A particularly salutary form of poverty is to let go of the things we store up within ourselves – our jealousies, envies, resentments.
Piety: For Francis, to become a brother to another was to “be with.” Francis developed a sense of connectedness with the whole of creation, and the source of his connectivity was God.
God is with us to empower us to do new things, and Franciscan spirituality can make a contribution to our understanding, Sister Ilia reflected.
In 2012, the Franciscan Action Network (FAN) began building a national network of Franciscan-hearted young adults in what is called The Franciscan Earth Corps. It’s a collaborative effort of lay Franciscans – Catholic and Protestant – as well as Franciscan friars and sisters. There are presently 16 chapters spread across the country.
The starting point for Franciscan Earth Corps is taking action. Members are invited to pick a green project or charity, or join in the social and ecological justice work of FAN. They are then to connect that activity – whether it is community gardening, hiking, or advocating for justice – with spiritual reflection and prayer.
The spirit of Francis lives on!
Members of the Franciscan Action Network gather in front of the Supreme Court building. FAN and its Franciscan Earth Corps engage in a variety of social and ecological justice work. (Photo courtesty of Franciscan Action Network)