Embrace Your Leper

On October 4, 2019, I was asked to give a reflection at morning Mass in my parish of St. Anne-St. Patrick in Sturbridge, MA. It was with great joy that I accepted this opportunity to share about the life of St. Francis with my brother and sister parishioners.  The following are my thoughts and reflections on the Feast of St. Francis.

Good morning brothers and sisters.

I have chosen to write my thoughts out this morning because, as any of you who have taken one of my classes know, I have no shortage of stories to tell. When Fr. John asked me to talk about St. Francis, I asked for an hour, but he said “5 minutes and then you get the hook.”  So, 7 minutes it is.  

I will do my best to share some brief thoughts on my 2nd most favorite topic, St. Francis of Assisi.  My favorite topic is Love.  God is love, and Jesus came to show us the true meaning of that love.  In my life, I look for examples of love, especially among the saints, and for me, St. Francis is one of the best examples of love that I have encountered.  He totally surrendered his will, and embraced God’s will in his life, living a life modeled after the life of Jesus.  A life of bringing the gospels to his everyday life and his everyday life back to the gospels, a life of poverty, simplicity and humility, a life of love.

Yesterday I attended what is called the Transitus of St. Francis. Each year on the evening of October 3rd the Franciscan family throughout the world pauses to celebrate the solemnity of Francis’s Transitus, his passing over from this life to the next. It is an opportunity for each of us to reflect on the Life of St. Francis and its impact and meaning for each of us.

All of us have some familiarity with Francis’ life.  Born in 1182 in Assisi, His father was a cloth merchant in the rising middle class, so although not part of the upper class, he did not have to grow up amongst the poor of the lower class.  In his youth, Francis was the center of attention and the life of the party.  He had a good sense of business, helping his father in the cloth business, and his relative wealth gave him freedom others did not have.  He dreamed of becoming a knight, but after a couple of failed attempts, one of which landed him in a dark, dank, and lonely prison, Francis went through a period of depression after which he began to question many of the assumptions he had been raised to believe.  It was during this time that Francis began taking long walks through the countryside, falling in love with God’s creation.

We know that Francis was called by Christ to “Go rebuild my church, which you can see is in ruins.”, which at first he took literally, rebuilding several churches in the Assisi area, and building a band of followers in the process.  And how eventually, by his example, and the official establishment of the Franciscan orders, he helped to rebuild the greater church.

He had a tremendous love for of all creation, seeing God’s creation as the first bible, through which we can come to a deeper understanding of God.  He recognized that we are called to live in kinship with all of God’s creation, recognizing that we too are his creatures, acknowledging in his Canticle of Creation, that we are brothers and sisters to the sun, moon, earth, stars, water, wind, air and fire.

He recognized that God put his ultimate stamp of approval on creation by becoming one of us.  Francis emphasized the importance of the incarnation by creating the first crèche in Grecio, using live animals and people to create the first Nativity Scene. Creation and the incarnation mark the two focal points for Francis in understanding his relationship with God and others. 

He embraced Lady Poverty, recognizing in her a Freedom to love everyone and every thing, something that is difficult for us to realize in a world focused on position, power and possessions.

As the consummate peacemaker, He made a trip to the front lines of the Crusades, first trying to convince the crusaders to stop the hatred, fighting and killing, and then ultimately visiting with the Sultan to try to convert him to Christ, and end the fighting.  Although unsuccessful in converting the Sultan, the two established a healthy respect for one another and each other’s faith.  The Sultan ultimately granted Francis and his brothers open access to the Holy Land.

And, we know the story of Francis, having lived a life so in line with the life of Christ, that he was given the gift of the Stigmata shortly before his death, the very wounds of Christ stamped in his hands, feet and sides.

But the story that I find myself reflecting on most has to do with Francis’ first encounter with a leper.  In his testament, a letter he wrote at the end of his life to his Franciscan family, he talks about this encounter, showing how important it was in his life.

While I was in sin, it seemed very bitter to me to see lepers.

And the Lord Himself led me among them and I had mercy upon them.

And when I left them that which seemed bitter to me was changed into sweetness of soul and body;

And afterward I lingered a little and left the world.

Francis feared lepers and found them to be abhorrent.  One day however he encountered a leper while riding his horse near Assisi.  He was filled with horror and disgust at the sight of the leper, yet he felt moved to get off his horse and he kissed the leper.  As the leper held out his hand, Francis was filled with compassion and gave money to the leper.  When Francis mounted his horse and looked around, he could not see the leper anywhere, realizing that it was Jesus whom he had just kissed.

This was the pivotal moment in Francis’ life and conversion.  The moment each of us faces where we have to make the decision: Do I continue to follow my will, or do I surrender my life and will to God, the author of Love?

Francis’ embracing of the leper was not an isolated instance.  It was the moment when he began to see Christ in every one and every thing, and he began to be Christ for others.  He continued to minister to the lepers below Assisi, outside the city walls.  And he embraced a life of humility, simplicity and poverty, after the example set by Jesus.  Francis is a beautiful example of someone who left behind the priorities of this world, while continuing to live and love in the world. He showed us how to start living in God’s kingdom, in the here and now.

What is the leper that God has placed in your life?

What it is that you fear most that God is calling you to embrace? 

What is it that God is calling you to that will be your next step in surrendering your life and will to His life, his will and his love in your life?

As Francis said at the end of his life, “I have done what was mine to do, may Christ now teach you what you are to do.”

May God grant you peace and all good.