It was Francis standard greeting. The people he met. The animals he ran across. May the Lord give you peace. I think we all long for such peace.
In a well-known legend, Saint Francis goes to the Italian town of Gubbio, where a fierce wolf had been terrorizing the village and even killing some of the people and animals. The villagers wanted peace. Francis goes out to meet the wolf, makes the sign of the cross and says, “Come here, Brother Wolf. I command you on behalf of Christ that you do no harm to me or to anyone. The fearsome wolf closed his mouth and stopped running; and once the command was given, it came meekly as a lamb, and threw itself at the feet of Saint Francis.”
If you read the whole story, it will put you in mind of the “peaceable kingdom, foreseen by the prophet Isaiah: “Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them” (11:6). Another passage of Isaiah reads, “The wolf and the lamb shall graze alike, and the lion shall eat hay like the ox.None shall hurt or destroy on my holy mountain, says the Lord” (65:25).
“What Isaiah is showing us here is a vision of a future era in which the original state of peace and harmony in the Garden of Eden, lost through disobedience and sin, is restored. In this new world, there will be no pain or sorrow or enmity or untimely death, only happiness and rejoicing. Even the animals will return to a state of innocence and bliss….
In part, what the story of Francis and the wolf reveals to us is that Saint Francis—as a follower of Christ, the Messiah foretold by Isaiah—is helping to bring about the same peace and reconciliation in this world. This peace, harmony and reconciliation is not only meant to exist between God and humans, but also between God and the whole family of creation! We, too, can be instruments of this peace.” (Jack Wintz, OFM)
Now you might think this is foolish, we are not Francis, we can’t do that today.
But people thought Francis was foolish…
· When he renounced the wealth & privilege he would have inherited
· when he kissed and hugged lepers, even cleaning their wounds
· when he preached to the birds, calling them his “little sisters” and remarking that they paid better attention to the gospel than people did.
· when he founded a religious order grounded in the belief that people could live as Jesus had, owning nothing, begging for what they needed and trusting God to provide for them as he did for the birds, the fish and the lilies of the fields.
· because he refused to distinguish between the “deserving” and the “undeserving” poor. He gave to everyone who begged from him -- money or food or clothing, or a smile and a kind word if he had nothing else to offer.
People who resented the rich couldn’t understand why Francis wouldn’t condemn their selfishness; instead, he asked his wealthy sisters and brothers simply to open their hearts to the Holy Spirit’s call and respond as their consciences commanded.
Francis followed the call of Jesus who people called foolish in his day. And we will be called foolish too if we choose to follow these words ourselves. We are taught to put ourselves and our comforts first. But what if we didn’t. What if, just for a day, just for an hour. We practiced living as Jesus did. Living as Francis did.
Today I want to challenge us all. To live as Francis did. Even for an hour. Pick a time. Go to the grocery store and walk around helping people. Smile to everyone. Ask them how they are. Put a stack of ones in your pocket and give money to every person who asks, and smile at them, ask their name. Shake their hand. And then, give money to people who don’t ask. People who aren’t in need. If you can afford it, pay for the car behind you at the drive-through. Pay for the person in front or behind you at the grocery store. Sometimes doing good for others isn’t about financial need, it’s about kindness.
Francis was never about judging. He did not discriminate. Need is need. People are people. We are all equally deserving, and equally loved.
The call of Jesus led him to do this and it such a call for us too.
Let me end with three poems of St. Francis that express these ideals…
- · “A kind face is a precious gift.” – how will you offer kindness?
- · If God came to your house – how would you offer love?
- · Enjoying the beautiful creation and the creatures in our care.
May the Lord give you peace. Amen.
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