Readings:
Gen. 6:18-7:5; Ps. 148; Mt. 25:31-40
October 5, 2003
The Rev. Karen Siegfriedt
St. Jude the Apostle Episcopal Church, Cupertino,
CA
Jesus said: “Come you that are blessed by my Father; inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you gave me clothing. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me.” [Mt. 25]
Today we celebrate the blessing of the animals as part of the feast of St. Francis. Although Francis was not a lover of “pets’ as we understand a lover of pets to be in the 21st century (i.e. cute furry things to cuddle with), he considered himself equal with other creatures before God. This enabled him to call the sun, the moon, and the animals, brothers and sisters. Because he had a most unusual kinship with the natural order, animals were naturally drawn to him. This is why we bless animals on his feast day.
Francis was born at the end of 12th century in Assisi Italy, to a prosperous cloth merchant. *If St. Francis had followed the path that the people of Assisi had expected him to, he probably would have become one of the city’s wealthiest and most powerful merchants. He would have been a leading member of various guilds and societies and a proud patron of music and the arts. He would have married one of the beautiful, eligible daughters in town and fathered many children. He would have entertained anybody who was anybody at his large house. He would have traveled to France on a regular basis, combining pleasure and business, growing ever more fluent in the French language and more cosmopolitan in outlook. He probably would have had his own pew in the local Catholic Church, a symbol of the tight-knit relationship between medieval secular society and Christianity.
But that is not the way things turned out. Instead of wealth and esteem, Francis chose a life of poverty and service to others, especially to the poor and the leper. Instead of marrying, Francis chose a life of celibacy so that he could be 100% available to others. His children consisted of the thousands who have followed in his footsteps. Instead of going to France to enact business, he traveled throughout Europe, preaching Jesus’ message of love, the need for life-style changes, and reform of institutions.
How did Francis transform from being a spoiled, glory-seeking, drinking, carousing, vain and proud youth, to being a faithful servant of the poorest of poor? At the beginning of the 13th century, through a convergence of timing, sickness, disappointment, geography, and divine intervention, Francis experienced a personal transformation; a transformation that would influence the spirituality of the Catholic Church and continue to influence 1000’s of people some 800 years later.
But in order to really understand Francis’ conversion, one must first understand what it is like “to be in love.” Love is a tremendous motivating force that can move mountains. Perfect love casts out all fear. Francis found God amidst the darkness of his time and happened to fall in love with God. It is as simple and as profound as that. Francis was in love with God! Because Francis was a lover of God, he was also a lover of humanity and of the creatures who inhabit our planet earth. As his love relationship matured, Francis began to see the world as God sees it. Like God, Francis knew no boundaries and acted without fear. That is why he could call the sun, the moon, the animals, the poor, the lame, and the leper, “brother and sister.” Being God’s agent of love, Francis set out on a mission to bring back God’s children to a real understanding of what it means to be children of God. The message that he proclaimed was one of peace, simplicity, compassion, service to others, inclusivity, and joy.
At the beginning of the 13th century, the spirituality of the Church had grown old and tired. The severity of the dark ages had worn away the joy of Christianity. “Being alive in Christ and in the fullness of the Spirit” had been overshadowed by a focus on penance, austere living, and rote religious practices. Francis was living in a world that professed belief in God but mocked God by its everyday drama. It was into this context that he resurrected the true Spirit of Christ that had been forgotten by his contemporaries.
The Church of today is going through a similar reformation as did the Church of the 13th century. Perhaps that is why it is so important to hold up St. Francis as an icon of love, a challenge to the modern world. Francis reminds us of what is possible when we allow ourselves to fall in love with God. Relying mostly on our intellect, we have not made the long journey from the head to the heart. It is no wonder that our world is in chaos and that we do not use the tools that are necessary for peace and harmony on our planet.
Being a man of faith, Francis reminds us of the glory of God whose power working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. God was able to do impossible things through Francis not because Francis was a superhuman being. God was able to do impossible things through Francis because he believed that “with God, all things were possible.” He opened up his heart, his body, his schedule, and his preferences, so that he could be a conduit of God’s will. What a great reminder this is to all of us who fill up our lives with self-serving busyness, relying only on our own ego strength. We are beginning to realize that over long periods of difficulty, this ego strength fails us and we become tired & discouraged.
“Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.” Amen.
*Much of the material in this sermon is gleaned from the following books: The Lessons of St. Francis by Michael Talbot, Plume Printing, 1998. St. Francis of Assisi by G. K. Chesterton, Image Books, 2001.
| Updated 10/6/03 |
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