Discerning with St. Francis

St. Francis of Assisi was on the track to becoming a wealthy merchant when he had an experience that changed his life. In his the Life of St. Francis, Bonaventure tells a story of one of Francis’ earliest encounters with poverty. In this earliest encounter, we find that St. Francis is quite distracted by the his daily affairs. Because of this distraction, he sends a beggar away hastily but then comes to his senses as an expression of his growing “openhanded compassion for the poor.” This event in the life of St. Francis marks the beginning of a journey toward a life of radical obedience to the calling of God to serve others. Bonaventure tells us that St. Francis was quite ambitious in his desire to follow Christ. It was not unusual for St. Francis to go for days without eating or to remove all his clothes in an instant if he noticed that someone else needed them. When commanded by God in a mystical vision to “go and repair my house which, as you can see, is falling completely into ruin,” Francis sold some of his father’s cloth and promptly made a gift of the profits to the first of the three church structures which he would personally rebuild. Bonaventure tells us that the command was intended to be spiritual but Francis, in his haste to obey, set about rebuilding the three churches in his hometown. Francis is ambitious to the point of personal recklessness.

So strong was his desire to imitate Christ that he (unsuccessfully) seeks martyrdom. At one point in the narrative, Francis presents himself to a pagan king in the hopes that he will either convert him or be killed by him. In the end, the king is convinced that Francis is a really nice guy, quite pleasant, and he sees no need to kill him (nor, incidentally, does he feel led to convert). As in his efforts to rebuild the churches, Francis’ love for Christ and neighbor led him to desire something different than that to which Christ was actually calling him. Christ was, indeed, calling Francis to martyrdom, just not the kind you think. Bonaventure speaks of the “white martyrdom” of death to self. In one of the most beautiful passages in Bonaventure’s hagiography - a section devoted to a mystical vision of the crucified Christ - Bonaventure writes that Francis “eventually understood by a revelation from the Lord that divine providence had shown him this vision so that as Christ’s lover, he might learn in advance that he was to be totally transformed into the likeness of Christ crucified, not by the martyrdom of his flesh but by the fire of his love consuming his soul (Life, 306).”

The love that consumed St. Francis’ life and that strengthened him for a life of radical service to others didn’t come all at once. He had to discern God’s calling - God’s will. Why should we think that our lives are any different?

Those who claim the calling of Christ must be taught to discern God’s voice - a voice that, in our culture, seems to be increasingly difficult to hear. But is it really? St. Francis heard the calling of God in lepers and he kissed them. He heard God calling in the naked and the poor and he became naked and poor so they might have dignity. He heard the calling of God from a broken, tattered, abandoned church and he set out to rebuild it from the ground up. Who are our lepers? Who are our naked and poor? Where are our churches broken? These are questions that St. Francis asked - and then answered with action. Given, he often answered with misguided action but even then, the naked were clothed and the church was changed. I pray that, given the many pressing issues facing the church today, we would be vigilant enough to see and still enough to hear where it is that God is calling the church today.

for further reading . . .

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