A Little Thought About the Little Poor One on His Feast Day
We'll continue, as promised, with our theme of how work tempers the will for the good next time. But for today, let's acknowledge St Francis Assisi, whose feast we celebrate. We talked briefly last time about how many of us these days hardly even talk about sin, never mind admit that we ourselves are sinners. I hope you're not one of these, but even if you're not, it may still strike you, as it does me, when you hear that great saints - even someone as obviously "saintly" as St Francis - speak of themselves as sinners. I know it always give me a jolt.
The saints understood our sinfulness in a way we all should understand it, but we're not going to get into this in detail right now. Instead, let's think now of an image of St Francis (we all have one in our minds, don't we?) and remember that, yes, even St Francis understood that he was a sinner. One of his first followers, Thomas of Celano, wrote that Francis was "saintlier than any saint...among sinners he was as one of themselves."
Indeed, St Francis captures the imagination of many around the world, even those who aren't Christians. If the imaginations of others can be fired up by St Francis, surely we Catholic men, even in the midst of our busy work lives, can open our hearts to the Porverello (little poor one).
So take a few moments this day. Look at the "Poverello" now and picture him walking about in his robe with nothing but his love of God. Now think about yourself: Will you, as I do so often, get down to work today, seeking success in this world without even the slightest thought of God? For me, this stark contrast shakes me to the core.
Shaken perhaps, but not always stirred enough to change.
To change, I need grace. I pray that Our Lord may grant me the grace to strip off my sins, as St Francis famously publicly stripped off the comfortable garments he wore as the son of a successful merchant. With this gesture, he turned from the world of comfort and success to embrace what he would call "Lady Poverty," and live only for Christ.
Okay, so I'm not going to strip off my clothes today. But I can pray that, in addition to my sins, Our Lord will strip me of my pride and self-centeredness, to turn me from myself to Him, to help me to love Him as Francis loved Him, to put Him in the center of my life.
If St Francis so moves you on this his feast day (or any other day), take action. Perhaps your fist step might be confession, especially if you haven't been lately. We may not be called to strip off our clothes as did Francis, but we can all go to confession.
But however this little exercise moves you this day, I hope that at the very least St Francis moves you even one small step closer to Our Lord. I think I see him smiling right now at the very thought that he might, centuries after he turned his own life away from worldly success to love of Christ, cause us to pause and pray for the grace to do the same in our own lives. We may not all be called to wear a robe and sandals, but we are all called to put Christ at the center, the very core, of our lives.
And so today, we call on the intercession of St Francis to help us grow closer to Christ, even in the midst of a busy day at work.
The saints understood our sinfulness in a way we all should understand it, but we're not going to get into this in detail right now. Instead, let's think now of an image of St Francis (we all have one in our minds, don't we?) and remember that, yes, even St Francis understood that he was a sinner. One of his first followers, Thomas of Celano, wrote that Francis was "saintlier than any saint...among sinners he was as one of themselves."
Indeed, St Francis captures the imagination of many around the world, even those who aren't Christians. If the imaginations of others can be fired up by St Francis, surely we Catholic men, even in the midst of our busy work lives, can open our hearts to the Porverello (little poor one).
So take a few moments this day. Look at the "Poverello" now and picture him walking about in his robe with nothing but his love of God. Now think about yourself: Will you, as I do so often, get down to work today, seeking success in this world without even the slightest thought of God? For me, this stark contrast shakes me to the core.
Shaken perhaps, but not always stirred enough to change.
To change, I need grace. I pray that Our Lord may grant me the grace to strip off my sins, as St Francis famously publicly stripped off the comfortable garments he wore as the son of a successful merchant. With this gesture, he turned from the world of comfort and success to embrace what he would call "Lady Poverty," and live only for Christ.
Okay, so I'm not going to strip off my clothes today. But I can pray that, in addition to my sins, Our Lord will strip me of my pride and self-centeredness, to turn me from myself to Him, to help me to love Him as Francis loved Him, to put Him in the center of my life.
If St Francis so moves you on this his feast day (or any other day), take action. Perhaps your fist step might be confession, especially if you haven't been lately. We may not be called to strip off our clothes as did Francis, but we can all go to confession.
But however this little exercise moves you this day, I hope that at the very least St Francis moves you even one small step closer to Our Lord. I think I see him smiling right now at the very thought that he might, centuries after he turned his own life away from worldly success to love of Christ, cause us to pause and pray for the grace to do the same in our own lives. We may not all be called to wear a robe and sandals, but we are all called to put Christ at the center, the very core, of our lives.
And so today, we call on the intercession of St Francis to help us grow closer to Christ, even in the midst of a busy day at work.
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