By Fr. Glenn Jones

This Sunday (October 4) happens to fall on the annual Catholic memorial feast of much-beloved St. Francis of Assisi. Even many non-Catholic Christians and atheists hold St. Francis in esteem, very often for his touted devotion to nature and kindness to animals; likely a majority of the statues and portrayals depict him with birds or other animals about his person. And even today the collective community of religious orders claiming St. Francis as their inspiration is likely the largest in the world. 

Some may ask: “I thought they followed Jesus?!” Well, certainly; Jesus Christ is their absolute origin, the rock upon which all are built and the goal toward which all aim and seek. Francis is their fellow, yet notable in his example, servant of God.

Yet each order has its own charism, or “spirit”, so to speak, following the demonstrated charism of their founders. As St. Paul wrote: “…there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” (1 Corinthians 12:4-7) Each order, and each member, seeks to serve God according to his individual call.

For instance, Franciscan men’s orders tend to be missionary in their work, exemplified in their beginnings in New Mexico as some of the first Europeans to venture into an unexplored land. Women’s orders tend to be either contemplative or to provide some specific type of service such as teaching or hospital work.  The Poor Clares in Roswell, for example, are a contemplative order of prayer tracing their origin to St. Clare, who was a (chaste!) disciple of St. Francis. Contemplative orders like theirs sit at the feet of Christ as Mary did (Luke 10), and to offer unwavering and persistent prayer for the people of the world as both Jesus (Luke 18) and St. Paul (Romans 12) urged. In fact, while their work is “hidden”, Catholics believe that contemplative orders’ ceaseless prayer for mankind accomplish some of the most fruitful of labors in the world. 

And yet ALL members in all religious orders are called to work for the furtherance of the Gospel of Christ in one way or the other, praying for the world and to “serve” in the manner in which they believed they are called by God.   After all, that is the very purpose of entering a religious order:  to devote oneself entirely to God, in the spirit of 1 Corinthians 7.

St. Francis is admired perhaps more than most for many reasons—his simplicity, his love of nature and animals, his total detachment from worldly possessions, his fearlessness in seeking the Good, his absolute trust in—and devotion to—God, and his compassion for his fellow Man. This admiration is why cities (San Francisco, California), streets (St. Francis Drive in Santa Fe), orders and churches (including our own cathedral basilica in Santa Fe, and San Francisco de Asis in Ranchos de Taos), and even our present pope, are named for him: in admiration of his devotion to Christ. A saying goes: “Want to become a saint? Then follow the saints, who themselves followed Christ.” … the saints thereby being a sort of intermediate and imperfect filter in viewing the perfect light in Jesus. Or, as the little boy said excitedly when asked about the saints depicted in a stained-glass window: “They’re people through whom the light shines through!”

And so our challenge is to become like those through whom the light shines, emulating Jesus and St. Francis in unflagging charity, gentleness, patience, selflessness and (we hope) devotion to God, the eternal Good. As St. Paul writes: “…whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Philippians 4:8) … and we might append “…and DO these things!” … regardless of whether appreciated or not, materially rewarded or not. The disciple ought have the spirit of Jesus when He stated that He Himself came “…not to be served, but to serve…” (Matthew 20:28)

In that vein, literally while typing this article I received a text from one of the Archdiocese’s pastors that they just discovered a mission church broken into … its saints statues shattered by vandals. One wonders why. Similarly, a few years ago some of the outdoor statues at the parish in Los Alamos were vandalized, and we never quite knew why. What is odious about love of God and neighbor, after all? Such targeted hatred may likely be sourced in the failures in, and even stark betrayal of, the Good manifest in Christ … failures and crimes by so many—the scourge of past child sexual abuse being perhaps the most abhorrent. As counter-reaction, today’s disciples’ need to “double down” on following Jesus wholeheartedly—loving God and His Goodness with all of our being, and loving our neighbor, even when—and perhaps especially when—they hurt us in perhaps their own pain, or their ignorance of the good. After all, if the eternal absolute Good was hated and despised, can His disciples expect not to be?  As St. Paul wrote of his own apostleship: “When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we try to conciliate…” (1 Corinthians 4:12-13)

And so … let US pray without ceasing for the good of all, we Christians hoping all find their way to the love we experience in Christ … they limpingly aided by our own imperfect words and examples. Never despair that your work can be fruitful, for as Paul wrote: “[We planted and watered the seeds], but God gave the growth.” (1 Corinthians 3:6) And, as St. Francis himself said: “If God can work through me, he can work through anyone.”

So … a blessed St. Francis memorial to all of you, beloved brethren, and, as always…

The LORD bless you and keep you:

The LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you:

The LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

(Numbers 6:24-26)

St. Francis Prayer

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred, let me sow love
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith
Where there is despair, hope
Where there is darkness, light
And where there is sadness, joy

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
For it is in giving that we receive
And it’s in pardoning that we are pardoned
And it’s in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.

Rev. Glenn Jones is the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and former pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Los Alamos.