Homily for October 4th, 2019: St Francis
of Assisi .
Why
does a gifted young man, son of a wealthy merchant, decide, on the verge of
manhood, to exchange his privileged life for literal obedience to Jesus’ words
to the rich young in the gospel: “If you would be perfect, go sell all that you
have and give to the poor . . . After
that come and follow me”? (Mk 10:21, Mt. 19:21). That, in brief, is the story
of the man we celebrate today: St. Francis of Assisi .
Born in that central Italian town in
about 1181, he was given the name John in baptism. When his father returned
from a buying trip to France ,
he started calling his infant son Francesco; in English “Frenchy” or Francis.
The boy’s youth was much like that of rich young men the world over, with one
exception: Francis was always generous to the poor. One day in his early 20s,
he encountered a leper. Though Francis had always had a horror of people with
this disease, he was moved to stop, get off his horse, and kiss the leper.
Praying one day
in the tumbledown church
of San Damiano , Francis
heard the painted figure of Christ on the cross say to him: “Francis, do you
not see how my house is falling into ruin? Go and rebuild it for me.” Some time
thereafter Francis gathered costly fabrics from the family business, loaded
them on his horse and sold both the cloth and the horse in the market.
Returning to San Damiano on foot, Francis offered the proceeds of the sale to
the priest, for the renovation of his church. When Francis’ father sued to regain
his property, the case came before the bishop of Assisi , a man named Guido. He told Francis
that he had cheated his father and must make restitution. Whereupon Francis
withdrew and returned to court carrying the expensive clothes he had been
wearing, and clad only in his underwear. From henceforth, Francis said, only
God would be his father.
This was the
beginning of a life as a wandering hermit and preacher, living in literal
obedience to Jesus' words in the gospel. At his death in 1326 Francis had
inspired over a thousand men to follow him. Francis never intended to found a
religious order, and possessed no ability to organize it when it came. What he
did have was the example of a gospel oriented life that continues to inspire
people today – most recently the Jesuit archbishop of Buenos
Aires who, on his election as bishop of Rome on March 13th 2012 took the
name of Francis as a sign of his determination to serve the poor. So we pray in
this Mass: "St. Francis, pray for Pope Francis, pray for us. Amen."
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