Those that know me well also know that my favorite human being of all time is Saint Francis of Assisi. He is a model. I wish I could be more like him. He is not just my favorite saint, but also my favorite individual - that's what I meant when I said "favorite human being of all time." I grew up hearing the most amazing stories of this man. He was a super champion of peace. In fact, one of my favorite prayers is his iconic "Lord make me an instrument of your peace" prayer. In it, he asks for the grace to be able to give love in place of hatred; pardon in place of injury; joy in place of sadness, and faith in place of doubt. He says, "O divine master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love," and then he hits a home run with the prayer when he adds, "for it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to everlasting life." This prayer was one of Margaret Thatcher's favorites as well. God rest her soul.
Francis is a saint for all people and peoples. Young, old, and people of different ethnicities can identify with him. During the religious crusades that rocked the world of his day, he was one of the few Christians who believed that peace can come about through ecumenical dialogue. This was very forward thinking in his time. But that was just the way he was: always looking for opportunities to bridge divides; to be sent about in the cause of goodwill and ubiquitous peace. This reaching out in spreading the message of peace and goodwill also included the animal kingdom, the members of which he called his brothers and sisters. He could communicate with animals, and he respected them as creatures of the one God. In this regard, a story was once told concerning Francis and a naughty wolf. You see, once upon a time in a village called Gubio, a wolf used to come out in the evening and at night to kill people and eat them. And so the villagers decided not to leave their houses in the evening and at night. Subsequently, the wolf got bolder and started to attack, kill and eat people even in the day as well. It was a bad state of affairs indeed.
The people of Gubio were very worried. If the situation endured, soon their village would be severely depopulated. They had to do something about it. They heard that Francis spoke to animals, and could negotiate with them, and so they sent for Francis to see if he could negotiate with the naughty wolf on their behalf and get the animal to stop killing and eating the villagers. And so on a certain day, Francis came to Gubio. The people of the village made him stand in the center of the village, while they secured themselves inside their houses. Soon enough the wolf came as usual to kill and eat unsuspecting villagers. Francis saw the animal come. The animal also saw Francis. Francis called out: "Brother Wolf, what is this I hear you are doing! Are you killing and eating the people of this village? Do you not know that human beings are made in the image and likeness of God? You should not kill and eat them! Anyway, I think I know what your problem is. You are hungry, and that is why you kill and eat. Now, would you promise me something? I shall ask the people of the village to give you food everyday. When you come into the village and see the food they have provided for you, you must eat the food and not harm the villagers any longer. Agreed?"
The wolf nodded penitently. and bowed low before Francis. Then Francis shook hands with the animal to seal the deal. Promptly then, Francis called the villagers to meet the wolf. He told the villagers that the wolf had agreed never to bother the villagers any longer. However, the villagers were to provide daily food for it to consume. In such a way, the wolf would not bother them when it was hungry. The villagers agreed. And so, from that day henceforth, they set aside a portion of food in the village center for the wolf to eat. Whenever the wolf was hungry and came into the village, it did not bother the villagers, but simply ate the food that they had laid out for it. The wolf became domesticated and friendly, and the villagers grew to like it very much. They invited it to parties and other events, and the wolf became very popular with everyone so much so that, when it died, it was remembered with love. A statue of Saint Francis and the wolf has been built in commemoration of what happened a long time ago in Gubio.
Francis was also a good friend of the poor. As a matter of fact, the reason he fell out early in life with his very wealthy father was because he once took all his father's merchandise and gave to the poor. His father, a successful cloth merchant, was so angry with Francis for doing this that he disowned the young Francis. It was after his father disowned him that the humble man set about building a local church with resources he begged off people. Some of his contemporaries were full of admiration that Francis, otherwise heir to a large fortune, could turn his back on the world and focus his effort on the selfless task of building a house for God. Soon enough, his contemporaries, young men from good families, followed his example and gathered around him. This was how the Franciscan Order started. With subsequent dispensation from the Pope, Francis and his companions organized themselves into a mendicant religious community dedicated to prayer and charity. The Family of Franciscan Religious Men and Women continues to grown even today.
St. Francis is truly a model. Today, we can think of all the good God used this humble friar to accomplish and be thankful for his life and example. We can adopt him as a model on our Christian journey, and we can ask him to pray for us. We should ask him to teach us firstly how to pray. When we are tempted to pray only selfishly, asking for this and that and that other thing, we should recall that "it is in giving that we receive," and rather offer our prayers for others who need more help than we do, such as the sick, the destitute and the oppressed. We can also learn from Francis to pray for peace all over the world. We can similarly reach out across divides of ethnicity, gender and age, and live in universal fraternity and sorority with all human beings, and even extend our charity to include compassion toward animals. We can be concerned for the environment by living frugal, simple lives, and we can tone down our avarice, our desire for material wealth, and turn our sights toward genuine riches which last forever; the riches of happiness in the Kingdom of God that comes from doing good. Today, I say hearty congratulations to our Pope Francis, and to all Franciscan Religious Brothers and Sisters on this Feast Day. St. Francis of Assisi, pray for us. Amen.
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