As preached by Brother Luke
Holy Wisdom Church
When I was a student in Tunisia, for most of the time the President of the country was in France for health reasons. But on the occasion of his return to Tunisia, no effort was spared to assemble a large crowd to greet him in Bizerte, the northern coastal town where he would arrive back in his homeland. Schools were closed and extra busses were added to the usual schedule to make the trip north. I happened to get a ticket on one of those busses, only to discover when the bus arrived to pick us up that more tickets were sold than spaces on the bus, including standing room! I did get on but many people were hanging on the outside of the bus as it took off. Not far out of town the driver stopped and cleared off all the people who were hanging on the outside of the bus. No room inside for them.
Today we celebrate the feast of St Francis of Assisi. Francis is well known and loved because of his love for animals and indeed all creation. The great number of animal blessings that mark his feast day around the world, including right here, are witness to this outpouring of love for him. But his teachings go beyond that and sometimes it easy to forget one of the greatest lessons of his life. He was born into a wealthy family and lived as a playboy in his youth until he had a dramatic religious experience. After that experience, he rejected his former lifestyle and even his family in order to walk the path of what he called Holy Poverty. Our usual concept of poverty did indeed apply to Francis. It was about material things. But it was also more than that.
Francis wasn’t calling on his followers to be poor for the sake of poverty but rather to detach themselves from what binds them so that they could be open to God and to doing God’s will. He said: “Holy poverty puts to shame all greed, avarice, and all the anxieties of this life.”[1] All the anxieties of life. The gospel tells us that if we live in fear, we have no faith. [Lk 8:25] If we are overwhelmed by the cares of life, then when do we have time for God? How can we hear God’s voice, if we the daily cares of life totally consume us?
It is easy to think of this as foolishness. Yet, Christ tells us that it is the childlike who are truly open to believe. [Mt 11:25] Why? because they have not yet let the burdens of this world control them. St Paul reminds the Corinthians that God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise. The wise he had in mind might very well have been the Pharisees, and yet, we all might feel a little pharisaical from time to time. We know the rules of life, we know how to live, we have it all figured out, until we don’t!
St Matthew recounts Christ’s teaching about letting go when he is encouraging his listeners to take on his yoke, that is his teachings, to find rest and release from life’s burdens. “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” [Mt 1:30] So, he is calling on us to make room for God in our lives. Of course, God is everywhere and, in all things, but do we really notice this? And even if we think we notice it, do we experience it? In those times of quiet meditation, we may notice how much the cares of our life continue to burden our hearts and minds. Our lives may be as crowded with cares as that Tunisian bus was with people. No room for God. Indeed, like that bus driver we may even be throwing God off the bus!
Rather than letting the world take over our lives we might do well to follow the advice Tobit gave his son Tobiah: “Through all your days, my son, keep the Lord in mind, and suppress every desire to sin or to break his commandments.” [Tb 4:5] And the fruit of that way of living is captured well by St Francis:
“Where there is charity and wisdom,
there is neither fear nor ignorance.
Where there is patience and humility,
there is neither anger nor loss of composure.
Where there is poverty borne with joy,
there is neither grasping nor hoarding.
Where there is quiet and meditation,
there is neither worry nor dissipation.
Where there is the fear of the Lord to guard the gateway,
there the Enemy can get no hold for an entry.
Where there is mercy and discernment,
there is neither luxury nor a hardened heart.” [2]
Holy Father Francis, pray to God for us!
[1] Daily Readings with St Francis of Assisi, Templegate Publishers, 1988, p. 37.
[2] Ibid., p. 38.
