[Francis] was not always the gentle, docile, animal-hugging cartoon that he’s been turned into in the public imagination. He could be intense, bordering on harsh. He did, contrary to what some people seem to want to believe, get angry. He did get upset with others, and with himself.
There were times in his life when he was dejected, annoyed, frustrated. And while I’m sure you must have realized that prior to reading it, for many people - admittedly, myself included - it’s something that’s easy to forget.
When we take a closer look at St. Francis, we also see a man who was filled with seeming contradictions. Francis was both uncompromising in his devotion to Christ and willing to engage in an early form of interreligious dialogue with the Muslim sultan. Unfailingly faithful to the Church while living a very different lifestyle than most clerics at the time.
Harshly intense with his expectations for himself and his brothers - as we can see from the opening story - yet often displaying moving kindness and mercy, such as when he broke a fast and had all the rest of his friars do the same for a hungry brother who would have otherwise been shamed and embarrassed.
A lover of poverty and a friend of lepers who nevertheless counted bishops, nobles and even the pope among people who respected and collaborated with him. A humble, unassuming lesser brother who was at the same time convinced of the holiness of his Rule and demanded absolute devotion to it on behalf of his friars.
Yes, St. Francis is so much more than the caricature he’s often made out to be.
He is an incredibly complex saint, one that continues to resonate with us 800 years later and whose example should continue to motivate us - “formal” Franciscans like myself and those of us who are simply touched by his life - in a time and a place much different than the 13th century Italy that fostered Il Poverello.
And that inspiration doesn’t necessarily come from Francis “inventing” some new modality of being. It is less the novelty of St. Francis that inspires, because the genius of Francis is not that he came up with some fresh new way of living out the Gospel.
A lot of the elements of his vision for Gospel living had been extant for some time before him, often for centuries and millennia: his commitment to poverty and simplicity, his radical ascetical practices, his undying devotion to the Church, his fascination with the person of Jesus Christ, his appreciation of the natural world, his iternancy, his life among the poor and the marginalized, his prioritization of fraternal living, the primacy of prayer . . . . all of these things had been lived out, in one form or another, for centuries within the Church.
It’s not that St. Francis came up with some brand new aspect of living out the Gospel and his baptismal call. The genius of Francis is that he was able to live out a life of radical conformity to the life of Jesus Christ while consolidating the seemingly paradoxical movements within himself as well as within Church and society at the time.
In a manner that was, I’d argue, revolutionary, he was able to hold together all of the various (and sometimes seemingly contradictory) aspects of a radical Christian life in a way of being that was not only authentic, but charmingly so. Attractively so. To the point where, 800 years after his death, people are still moved to tears when they remember it.
To the point where, 800 years later, there are still men and women who are inspired by his example and seek to embody his spirituality, willing to do their best to live out the same radical vision he set out hundreds of years ago half a world away. To the point where, eight centuries later, people from all walks of life find something in this man and his vision that moves them, inspires them, challenges them and, often, comforts them.
The intensity of St. Francis’ understanding of the Gospel’s imperative did not - and does not - diminish his appeal. He remains an inspiration to all manner of people, Franciscans and non-Franciscans alike. Which is really a remarkable thing.
Brother Jason Damon, OFM
Campus Minister
Villa Maria College
This reflection was excerpted from a longer piece on the Transitus.
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