St. Francis of Assisi

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Today is the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi

When he was a young man, he had a dream that his home changed into a great palace filled with shields, armor, swords and banners – on all this war equipment glittered a red cross. As he wandered the halls a beautiful poorly clad young woman appeared and clasped his hand tightly and said to him: “Francis, my beloved, all this is for you and for your companions. Take up your arms.” Francis misinterpreted the dream. The poorly clad young woman was Lady Poverty; the companions – Franciscans, and the weapons well, God had other weapons in mind: prayer, penance and preaching.

Thankfully, God does not give up on us when we miss the point.

Francis came to the broken-down church of St. Damian, barely more than rubble. He fell on his knees before the Crucifix and in the silence, Jesus spoke saying: “Rebuild my Church. It is falling down.” Again Francis misunderstood what the Lord was asking. He began rebuilding the little stone chapel of St. Damian. It was a good start, but God had something much bigger in mind. Men began following Francis and his way of life. When there were 12, they went to the Pope for his approval. The night before, the Pope had a strange dream. The Pope dreamt he saw the Church falling apart, and when it was about to fall into pieces, a small man came up and put his shoulder against the building and with one shove he set the Church back on its foundations like new. When the Pope awoke, he knew the small man was Francis. He approved their way of life, and they became the Franciscans.

If you feel you have blown it and not done the will of God – don’t despair. God doesn’t care about the past. He lives in the present. Offer yourself to now once again.

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In the early 1200s, the 5th Crusade was happening in Egypt. Francis decided the best way to bring an end to the fighting was to convert the Muslim Sultan to Christianity. So, he and Br. Illuminato joined the Crusade, sailing for Alexandria, Egypt.

Upon arrival Francis and Illuminato walked straight up to enemy lines requesting to see the Sultan Malik al-Kamil

The Muslim soldiers were so dumfounded by these two small, unarmed Christians, that they did not immediately kill them. They even granted their request to take them to the Sultan. However, there was a rule, if you were granted permission to approach and do not, you must be put to death. This was no problem except for one thing. The Sultan spread crosses on the ground covering the way to the throne – believing Francis would not step on the Cross. Boldly Francis walked right on the crosses to the Sultan who promptly ridiculed him for desecrating his sacred image. Francis replied: There were three crosses on Calvary – I stepped on the other two. This courage and whit so captivated the Sultan that they ended up having many conversations and a surprising friendship grew. However, the Sultan would not convert. But Francis was persistent.

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Seeing he was making no progress, Francis proposed that the Sultan command two large fires be made. He would lay in one fire and the Muslim Imams could lay in the other. The one who came out unharmed – theirs was the true Religion. None of the Imams, however, wanted anything to do with this trial by fire.

At length the Sultan said to Francis: “Brother Francis, most willingly would I be converted to the faith of Christ; but I fear to do so now, for if my people knew it, they would kill both me and you and your companions. You have much good to accomplish, and I have certain affairs of great importance to finish. But teach me how I can be saved, and I am ready to do as you tell me.”

To this Francis answered: “My lord, I will take leave of you for the present; but after I have returned to my own country, when I shall be dead and gone to heaven, by the grace of God, I will send you two of my friars, who will baptize you and you will be saved.

In the meantime, remove all sin from your life and live the way of goodness and virtue so that, when the grace of God arrives, you will be found ready to receive it.”

The Sultan then gave Francis His ring which signified His authority over Palestine, thus entrusting the Christian Holy Places to Francis and the Franciscans. That is why from 1217 until this day, the Franciscans are the Custodians of the Holy Land.

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Years passed, Francis died and the Sultan, having fallen ill, awaited the fulfillment of the promise of St Francis, and placed guards in all the passes, ordering them if they met two brothers in the habit of St Francis to conduct them immediately to him. At the same time St Francis appeared to two of his friars and ordered them without delay to go to the Sultan and save his soul, according to the promise he had made him.

The two set out, and having crossed the sea, were conducted to the Sultan by the guards he had sent out to meet them. The Sultan, when he saw them arrive, rejoiced greatly, and exclaimed: “Now I know Allah has sent his servants to save my soul, according to the promise of Francis. After receiving Baptism, his soul was saved, and he died in the Peace of Christ.

Francis took the initiative, broke out of his routine, went way out of his way to build a friendship with the Sultan, and though it took many years, and did not happen in the lifetime of Francis – the Sultan turned to Christ and was saved. Friendship was the bridge that carried the Sultan to Christ.

What are the routines in our life that prevent us from doing the same? What are the fears that paralyze us from intentionally engaging in relationships to help others to Jesus?

Have we given up before we have even really tried?

Ask the Holy Spirit now who he wants you to go to, to renew your efforts in friendship, to try and help another to friendship with Christ. Who is it?

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Salvation comes from faith. Faith comes through friendship.

St. Francis of Assisi once told a brother who was struggling with doubts: “Do not be troubled brother, but through friendship learn faith.” Through friendship learn faith

I saw a friend today who does not pray this Rosary. He asked how it was going and then asked where he could find it. He went on to say that his nephew had asked him to be his confirmation sponsor and they were required to do something together to grow in faith. He thought it might be good if they each prayed the Rosary podcast and came together once a month and talked about it.  Then he said, “I want to do this for selfish reasons, it would benefit me.” It is true but it is not selfish. The best way to grow in your faith is to commit to help someone else grow in theirs.

Maybe a good resolution for today would be to ask the Holy Spirit who to share this Rosary Podcast with and then make a point to follow up with them. Not for their sake only, but for yours.

Or maybe the Holy Spirit is prompting you to finally build your team.

I was so moved by a couple that caught me after Mass today to tell me how excited they were because they have finally started their team and are getting together every week.

By being Apostles-of-Friendship we can be Apostles of the Rosary and we both win.