10/4/2017 - Homily for Wednesday of the 26th week in ordinary time - St Francis of Assisi - Luke 9:57-61

     When one of the disciples calls out to Jesus today, “I will follow you wherever you go,” I wonder if he realized the implications of such a statement.  All of us may feel something like that in our hearts, following Jesus wherever he goes and wherever he calls us, but it could lead us to some very difficult and challenging places.  

     I am sure St Francis of Assisi never dreamed of the places where God would call him.  St Francis is one of the most popular saints of any age, the saint we celebrate today. I was reading an article about St Francis that said that he is much more than a popular lawn ornament. I think we tend to domesticate and tone down the saints, making them these quaint, pious examples of faith and ignoring their flaws, their true radical nature, and the true reality of their lives.  It is well-known that Francis lived a very wealthy pampered life as a youth and young adult, but then an encounter with a leper changed his life and helped him look at God in a different way.  He started giving away his worldly riches and proclaimed a radical Christian message that got back to a lot of the heart of Christ’s teachings. The way Francis saw God in all creation, the way he reached out to the poor, his love for animals: many people of our modern world can relate to a Franciscan spirituality.  In 1986, when Pope John Paul II called a peace conference of world religious leaders, he held it in Assisi, the hometown of Francis.. Today, we recognize that if we do not see ourselves as stewards of the earth’s resources, if we don't see God in the beauty of creation, a message embodied in St Francis of Assisi, then perhaps we are denying a foundational aspect of our faith. When Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, Argentina became pope several years ago, he had a special place in his heart and his ministry for the poor, for the disenfranchised, for those living on the fringes and facing injustice, which is why he chose his name for pope after Francis of Assisi.  For so many throughout the world, both Catholics and non-Catholics alike, that name symbolizes poverty, humility, simplicity and a rebuilding of the Catholic Church. We certainly have a lot we can learn from Francis of Assisi.