Why St. Francis thought animals were better listeners
St. Francis Day
I’m not sure
what was done here previously with St. Francis Day. I know you have had
the blessing of the animals at the 10:30 service in honor of St. Francis but I
am pretty sure the 8am service just moved on as it always does. That’s
one of the things I love about the 8’ oclockers….you are incredibly
consistent. But it seems that even at the 10:30
service, there is not very much said about the life and teachings of St. Francis.
This was true at my previous church as well. Churches put most of the
emphasis on the animal portion and then make the connection that Francis of
Assisi really loved animals. However, when you read about the life of St.
Francis, you will find that his love of animals is one of the least interesting
things about him and definitely not the most important.
Francis lived in the 12th century
in Italy. He was the son of a wealthy merchant and was in want of
nothing. In his early 20’s he had a number of experiences that
altered his view of the world. He was taken as prisoner of war for a
year, he suffered a long illness, and then fought in a war. This was all
within a three year period. When he returned from the war, he found that
he had lost the taste for the finer things in life. Fortune was no longer
the goal. He found the things that he
once took pleasure in were no longer appealing to him.
A vision drove him to Rome where he met beggars outside of
St. Peter’s. He was moved to exchange his clothes for theirs and spend
the day begging. When he returned to his home in Assisi he was a
different man, living much more simply and devoting his life to repairing
churches. He also decided that he needed to serve the sick, which meant
he had to overcome his fear of leprosy.
He did that by embracing a leper. After that he was free to help
the lepers and even live among them. Four years after his
experience in Rome, he had another vision where God instructed him to give up
everything. In that very moment, he took off his shoes and gave away his
staff. He replaced his clothing with a long robe.
From that point on he dedicated his life to the poor and the
marginalized. He lived among the poor and formed a community of disciples
who lived by a rule of poverty. He was known for a love of nature, which
included animals. He did not write very much, but we have one hymn that
is attributed to him. In his Canticle to Brother Sun, he writes:
“Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures, especially through my lord Brother
Sun...” He went on to mention the moon, wind, water, fire, and earth. He
called on all of those things to praise the Lord through their very
existence. He believed that the same was true of animals—that their
existence proved the glory of God. There
are many stories of him preaching to the animals and joking that perhaps they
listened better than people.
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus said, “I thank you, Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise
and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants…” I have always struggled with that comment. I want to be a wise and intelligent
person. That’s why I spent four years in
seminary, so I could learn all these important things about God. But does that mean that God is going to hide
things from me? It seems a little counterproductive. The Bible is full of affirming statements
about the gift of wisdom. In general
wisdom is considered a good thing. Why
would Jesus want to hide things from the wise and intelligent?
Well it’s not that he deliberately hid things; it’s that the
wise were not able to see certain truths that Jesus and the prophets before him
proclaimed. People who were preoccupied
with their own wisdom, who suffered from intellectual pride were not able to see
God revealed in Jesus. They heard the
parables, but they could not accept this kind of wisdom. I’ve definitely
experienced this kind of blindness.
Often times I will spend so much time trying to figure out the new and
interesting twist that I can take in a sermon that I ignore the obvious and the
simple truth of the text. I think, well
that sermon has been preached 100 times.
I can’t be trite! My pride can
occasionally block the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Often the sermon should be about love or
forgiveness. Sure, that’s been done, but
if that is what the text is saying, that is what the sermon should be about.
Francis had the status and the
money. He could have been educated in
the finest schools. He could have preached
to the powerful and the privileged. He
didn’t. He gave it all up so he could
preach to the people who no one else bothered to talk to. He preached to the
birds and said they listened better.
They listened better because they did not have that pride that kept them
from hearing certain things. Perhaps
that was true of some of the people who he preached to as well. Since they were
so used to being ignored, treated as if they did not exist, they were hungry
for words. They were open to things that
other people had already closed their minds to.
I bet a lot of the learned and wise people ignored him
because he seemed a little foolish and possibly too simple. Yet today, he is
one of the most well known saints. There
is still a group in the Roman Catholic Church called the Franciscans who live
by his example. The current pope took
his name. I read that St. Francis is one of the most popular and admired
saints, but probably the least imitated. What they meant by that is while people love
his simplicity very few people are willing to live the way he did.
Yet I am not sure that is completely true. I think what we admire is not just his
simplicity or austerity but the authenticity with which he lived his life. He refused to conform to what other people
expected of him. He was true to God’s
call to him. Most of us will never live
a life like Francis, but that does not mean that we cannot live a life that is
true to God’s call for us. We can let go of our pride, intellectual or
otherwise. We can forget other people’s
expectations and focus on who God is calling us to be…who God wants us to be. That is something that each and every one of
us can emulate. We can all be like St.
Francis in that way. And if some of you
would like to take it a step further and preach to animals, I say go for it!
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