St. Francis
The Feast of St. Francis, October 2, 2022
Sirach 43:1-2, 11-12, 27-33 • Galatians 6:14-18 • Luke 17:5-10
A juggler with a circus was pulled over for speeding. The officer was suspicious when he looked in the back seat and saw several large knives. “What are you doing with those?” he asked.
“I’m a juggler with the circus,” said the man. “To make it more exciting I juggle those large knives.” So, the officer demanded to be shown. The juggler started juggling six of these large knives all at once. Knives were flying everywhere, yet all were under his expert control.
While he was performing, another car passed by. The driver of this card did a double take when he saw the juggler throwing six knives up in the air at one time and catching them. He turned to his wife and said, “That’s it. I’m through drinking. Why, if I ever got stopped, I could never pass one of those new sobriety tests!”
The disciples saw faith as something like a test that had to be passed. They were sent forth to preach the Good News and heal the sick. They had some great success. They saw many people become followers of Jesus. But they also found that there were things they couldn’t do. They didn’t have much luck in exorcising a demon. They didn’t know why. Jesus told them that they needed faith for that. So, naturally the disciples saw faith as a commodity. “Give us more faith,” they ask. They expect that Jesus would be able to give them something to bolster their faith.
Faith is not a test and it’s not a commodity. It’s about trust. Too often we tend to think of faith as belief. I think the disciples did too. They probably thought they didn’t know enough. They figured that as soon as Jesus gave them the right tools or the right knowledge everything would be okay. But faith is not just beliefs. It’s about trusting in God and in His providence.
That’s a great tie-in to the feast of St. Francis. One of the most beloved saints in the Christian tradition, Francis of Assisi, has his feast on October 4th, but we want to honor him today as he is both patron saint of our city and diocese as well as the founder of a community of religious. We are blessed to have some of these sisters in our parish. As a former Jesuit, I thought at first it was ironic that I would preach on Francis, but I realized that Dominic, Ignatius of Loyola and several other founders of religious orders owe their inspiration to the Poverello or poor man of Assisi.
He is beloved for so many reasons, but I think that two qualities particularly endear him to us in our current world. His love of animals and love of Mother Earth are the two that I would highlight. Whether we remember the wolf of Gubbio or simply the beautiful prayer the Canticle of the Sun, it is clear that Francis and his colleague, St. Clare, embodied what we would today call being green or living with ecology and respect for nature. Also, over the centuries, the Franciscans have been well known for their ministry to the poor, the sick and the homeless.
Let us reflect on these gifts of Francis to the Christian tradition and try to live more deeply in that spirit. May Francis, Clare, and the many saints and blessed of the Franciscan family inspire and guide us. Amen.