ST FRANCIS OF ASSISI AND SEEING BEYOND OUR OWN LIVES

Fr Billy Swan

It is somewhat ironic that the 800^th anniversary of the death of St Francis of Assisi, will not be celebrated liturgically by the whole Church as it falls this year on a Sunday (4^th October). The Second Vatican Council instructed that Sundays, major solemnities and Feasts of the Lord were to take precedence over the feast days of saints. Humility and giving way to the Lord were two of Francis’s great virtues. I think he would approve.

Yet, I could not let his feast day pass without reflecting on the extraordinary life of a man whose earthly existence of forty-five years, continues to inspire millions around the world. Eighth centuries later, St Francis is like a magnet that keep bringing you back to him. During days off in Rome, I love going up to Assisi where I had been years before with students from the Irish College and where I first came to know and love ‘San Francesco’ and his beloved Assisi.

Francis was born in Assisi in 1181 to a wealthy family. As a young man he was frivolous and enjoyed impressing his friends. He became a solider in the local army that went to war against local rivals Perugia and after a battle, he was captured, imprisoned and became ill. Eventually he was released, but the experience prompted a change in him. He was no longer frivolous, lost interest in material things and committed himself to prayer and helping the poor. He committed himself to living for God alone.

One day, he was praying in the dilapidated Church of San Damiano when he heard a voice from heaven that said: “Francis, go and repair my Church that you see is falling into ruin”. Interpreting the words literally, Francis began to repair the Church using some of his father’s money. His father was furious and matters came to a head when Francis renounced his inheritance. Francis then began a mendicant ministry around central Italy and attracting young followers as he went. He had a strong devotion to God the Father which enabled him to see all things and all people as emanating from God’s goodness and therefore with an organic and spiritual link between them. Of all the words and actions of Jesus, his birth and death intrigued him as mysteries that summed up his whole life of saving and humble love. He received the stigmata at Mount Verna in 1224 and died on the evening of 3^rd October 1226.

There are two aspects of the life and witness of St Francis that I share here. The first is that the totality of the life of a Christian is greater than the sum of its parts. Francis lived faithfully for forty-five years and yet, eight hundred years after his death, God is still drawing out good from that one life well lived. St Francis’ witness to the Gospel’s simplicity continues to attract thousands to the faith in a way that would have amazed him. Little did he know how great his legacy would be.

But is that not true of every Christian life? Sometimes, we think too narrowly within the boundaries of our lives confined by space and time. We think of all the things we won’t do, if we die young. The life of St Francis challenges that limited vision and expands it to see the totality of every Christian life as being greater than the sum of its parts. St Francis could not foresee what the future held for his Order or the Church, beyond his own death. But that was not his focus. His focus instead was being faithful to the Gospel and God did the rest. The seed that is your life and mine is sown for a harvest that will only be fully reaped long after we have gone.

Secondly, Francis was a lay prophet who many would have considered to be mad. He was radical, different and was not a priest. Yet, he held the priesthood in high esteem and reminded priests of the dignity of their vocation. With the Synodal process, we are coming to a greater awareness that “Baptism is the foundation of Christian life. This is because it introduces everyone to the greatest gift, which is to be children of God, that is, to share in Jesus’ relationship to the Father in the Spirit. There is nothing higher than this baptismal dignity, equally bestowed upon each person” (Final Document: For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission).

St Francis was baptised in the Church of San Rufino in Assisi in the baptismal font that is still present. It was the foundational moment of an extraordinary life. With confidence and hope we look forward to a new future in the Irish Church where baptismal fonts around the country will become places of pilgrimage for future generations of Irish Catholics who will honour future saints, whose lives will continue to inspire, long after they have ended.