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THE FRANCISCAN POWER SOURCE

On the cusp of my fifth anniversary of working at St. Francis College, I find myself reflecting on the many opportunities I have been given to introduce the Franciscan tradition to students, faculty, and staff. Each time, I feel like my spiel is a bit more refined. The encounter with the leper, the battle of Perugia, the stigmata, a prisoner of war, Clare going out the death door, the voice of God, undressing for Assisi's townsfolk, Greccio, Gubbio, Leo: there are many intriguing, inspiring, and inviting scenes to share which make up the illustrious story of the origins of the Franciscan tradition. I particularly enjoy telling the story of Clare creating a new path for her life. I find that students are captivated by the courage that Clare enacts when she makes the bold decision to deny the path laid out for her and to, instead, do something for which, given her place in society, there was certainly no precedent. This is a captivating scene in her life for us to consider, but what captivated her? What captivated Francis? Why did they leave lives of nearly guaranteed stability for lives of nearly guaranteed instability?

My mind goes to Hebrews 12:1-2:

"[...] [L]et us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God."

I figured I would bold, italicize, and underline the key phrase of the passage to really emphasize it - it's just that important! Why did Jesus do what He did for us? It was for the joy set before Him; the joy of making God's plan of reconciliation open to all people gave Him the endurance necessary for trusting the Father to bring Him out of the tomb on the third day. I think Francis and Clare bore this same deeply motivational characteristic. The joy of knowing God more and making God known more - the God they knew as barrier-breaking Love, perfect Peace, and pure faithfulness - was what ushered them deeper into their contagious lifestyles with each new moment. They were transformed in God - in Love, in Joy, in Peace, in Faithfulness. 

Being transformed brought about a new, Christlike orientation towards their beautiful yet leprosy-plagued town of Assisi. Dr. Dane Ortlund describes this orientation as such:

"The cumulative testimony of the four Gospels is that when Jesus Christ sees the fallenness of the world all about him, his deepest impulse, his most natural instinct, is to move toward that sin and suffering, not away from it."

Now, that sounds Franciscan, doesn't it? The lives of Francis and Clare show us that same instinct to move into the darkness, rather than to move away from it. Because they knew the gospel of love, mercy, peace, and reconciliation with God to be true, they always knew transformation was possible - even shining just a little light could overtake the darkness.

The gospel transforms: it brings about new lives of unshakable faith, enduring love, and serious, contagious joy because that is what it implants in the soul. The lives of Francis and Clare help us to see the impact that the gospel can have on two people who would have been otherwise forgotten, from a place that would have been much lesser known (and had far fewer basilicas), in a context that would have been a blip in history. Instead, because they were captivated by Christ and let the gospel permeate their lives so richly, we find ourselves toward the end of our first annual Franciscan Month having read about Francis, Clare, and Assisi again and again. So, let's plug into that joy-, love-, and peace-laden power source, the gospel, and let it eliminate our anxieties, destroy our stresses, overwhelm our sinfulness, and sweep us up into the reality of our adoption as God's sons and daughters, lavishly loved citizens of heaven, with treasures laid up for us, and promises to depend on at any and every moment. And when we encounter dark places and dark times, we can trust that we'll have enough charge to endure and shine the light of the gospel with the confident hope of transforming the world for another 800 years and beyond.

Timothy Nagy
Assistant Director, Office of Mission, Ministry and Interfaith Dialogue
St. Francis College

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