Tell all the truth, but tell it slant The Truth must dazzle gradually/or every [one] be blind. - Emily Dickenson

Transcription

1 Francis and Francis Tell all the truth, but tell it slant The Truth must dazzle gradually/or every [one] be blind. - Emily Dickenson Prayer: Jesus Christ, Word made flesh, grant us, like you, to suffer and so to rise, to be broken and so to be made whole, to die and so to live. Amen. [SLIDE] The Francis Factor The Francis Factor was the title of a conference sponsored by the Center for Action and Contemplation. It featured three speakers: Ilia Delio, Shane Claiborne and Richard Rohr, the founder and director of the CAC. [SLIDE] Rohr, Delio, Claiborne The focus was on the central ideas of Pope Francis and St. Francis their love for creation and for the poor. I thought I was going to learn about a nice monk who loved nature and the poor and whose Canticle of the Sun was the basis for a beloved hymn, All Creatures of Our God and King. But the themes of the conference Franciscan thought, Creation, the Big Bang, evolution, the poor pulled us in one direction we are one. One with Creation, one with the poor, one with each other, one with God. [ETC.] We Are One At the end of her talks, Ilia Delio said, [In the Franciscan tradition] we can develop a zest for life instead of a dread of the future. In our evolution of thought we can experience a more profound union in love, a deepening of being, a more unified soul and greater wholeness. I find myself yearning for this kind of life and this kind of hope. Perhaps you do too. Today I am going to talk about Pope Francis and St. Francis; next week, Creation, and the third week, freedom and joy through Poverty. 1

2 Pope Francis Ever since the election of Pope Francis, Americans have wanted to know, was the pope liberal or conservative? Before his visit to the US, the media wanted to know: how he would tackle controversial topics like Word Salad 1 sexual abuse by clergy, abortion, homosexuality, women clergy, climate change, immigration. Was the pope liberal or conservative? Everyone was looking at the Pope, and his politics. We were hoping he would kick sand in some peoples faces. ========== Francis performed well on his recent visit. The press praised his political agility. This is from the NY Times: Word Salad 2 [Pope] Francis demonstrated a nuanced political dexterity, effectively sidestepping the familiar framework of American debate while charting his own broader path. With nearly every issue, he addressed American politics in his own pastoral terms. Tacking more left than right, he made vigorous calls for action to protect the earth against environmental destruction. He continued his advocacy for the needs of the poor. And he made a passionate and personal plea on behalf of immigrants from his native Latin America. It was a good political analysis. But as I followed the news about the pope s visit to the U. S, I grew more and more agitated. All the media could talk about was the political conflict and how Francis would influence it. I was watching the talking heads dissect the pope s politics, and I finally shouted at the TV It s not about the politics; it s about Jesus. It s not about the finger; it s about the moon!!! Finger and Moon Bill Kerley has quoted The Buddha, who said, My teaching is only a finger, pointing at the moon. Do not look at the finger, look at the moon. 2

3 By taking the name of St. Francis, Pope Francis is the finger that points us to St. Francis. And Saint Francis, the moon, is a reflection of the Sun, Jesus Christ. Jorge Bergoglio Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio went to Rome in February of 2013 to help elect a new pope. He had his return ticket to Argentina in his pocket; his Easter sermon was ready to be preached when he returned. He checked into a simple hotel within walking distance to the Vatican. He didn t wear his cardinal s hat in public. Other cardinals, especially the Italians, were chauffeured in black Mercedes limousines, and were greeted as Your Eminence, as befitted the princes of the Church. In the initial conversations at the conclave it became apparent that the bishops were not united. The church was dealing with the sex scandals in the U. S., and financial scandals in the Vatican. Under Pope Benedict, the Church fought to maintain theological orthodoxy, and do damage-control on the scandals. It didn t work. There were reports of deep discouragement in the halls of the Vatican. The crisis deepened and Benedict resigned. The last time that happened was The College of Cardinals were looking for a savior. On March 7 it was Bergoglio s turn to address the General Congregation. In a four-minute speech he said that the church had become Self-referential ceases to be the light spiritual darkness self-referential, believing that she has her own light. She ceases to to be the light of the world and gives way to spiritual worldliness. The new pope, he said, must be someone who, Word Salad 3 from the contemplation and adoration of Jesus Christ, helps the church to go out to the the existential peripheries, that helps her to be the fruitful mother, who gains life from the sweet and comforting joy of evangelizing. Look at the words on that slide. The brief speech had an impact on the assembled bishops. Here is someone who has authenticity and is a wonderful witness to discipleship. This speech 3

4 is a call to stop messing around and get to the point. It s Jesus. One bishop leaned over to a colleague and said, I think this is our man. And so a church in crisis chose a pope from the Western Hemisphere for the first time in history, someone they hoped would lead the church out of its discouragement and scandal. Jorge Mario Berglio Pope Francis Pope Francis is the first pope to take the name of St. Francis. In taking on the name of Francis of Assisi the pope signaled a move toward mercy, compassion for the poor, and justice for the underdog. Richard Rohr says Pope Francis is an oxymoron a miracle of humility in an age of vanity. Rohr says that there is a good reason no other pope has ever taken the name of Francis of Assisi St. Francis spoke against the wealth and power of the church. Typically the Church both Protestant and Catholic is about those two very things wealth and power. But the election of Francis has had a dramatic effect. According to The Economist, in 2014, just a year later, the Catholic Church has almost fully recovered. It is reported that there is an air of joy and vigor in the halls of the Vatican, replacing the discouragement and even depression. Holy change; Holy pushback But with change, there is pushback. Cynthia Bergault says that holy change is always followed by holy pushback. Carl Jung wrote that such conflict is essential. The arrest of two Vatican employees this week attests to the continuing pushback and struggle within the Vatican. When Francis says, pray for me, he s probably not kidding. BLANK So let s look at the other Francis in The Francis Factor: St. Francis of Assisi. My quest to find the real St. Francis turned out to be like the quest for the real Jesus, or the quest for the real John Wesley that I did about a year ago. Here s one representation of St. Francis, the one we re most used to: 4

5 GARDEN ORNAMENT Francis as a garden ornament. Here s a quote from Richard Rohr, who is a Franciscan friar himself, and not a fan of what he calls birdbath Franciscanism. He explains: Francis and Clare [I ll explain Clare in a minute] fell in love with the unique person of Jesus in his incarnate and humble state, identifying with the excluded and little ones, the least of the brothers and sisters. If we do not choose this alternative orthodoxy the last shall be first, the poor are really the wealthy we get sucked into conformity to the world and churchliness. I call it Birdbath Franciscanism. Only love is big enough to handle and hold big truth. Truth which is not loving, joyful and inclusive is never the Great Truth. Birdbath Franciscanism conforms to the world, exclusivity and power. True Franciscanism is: Loving, joyful, inclusive Chesterton book cover I want to thank John Howard, who encouraged me to read the little book by G. K. Chesterton, St. Francis of Assisi. His insights into Francis of Assisi were the most helpful ones around. And entertaining. [The NY Times once sent a questionnaire to a number of famous authors with the question, What is wrong with the world? Chesterton wrote back: Dear Sir, I am. Yours, G. K. Chesterton. ] Francis, with dates Chesterton s core insights into St. Francis of Assisi: St. Francis was a clown and a lover. Juggler, troubador As a young man he and his friends entertained the townsfolk of Assisi with their songs, acrobatics, juggling, jokes, tricks they were troubadours. After his conversion, 5

6 Jongleur de Dieu Francis called his little band of followers Jongleur de Dieu minstrels for God. We ll see in a minute why he liked this description. And, Chesterton says, St. Francis was a lover. Lover Just as troubadours sang love songs for the ladies of the court, Francis sang of his love for God and for Jesus. To quote Richard Rohr again, Francis and Clare fell in love with the unique person of Jesus in his incarnate and humble state, identifying with the excluded and little ones. Young Francis Young Francis was fun-loving, enthusiastic, with high ambitions. In this representation he looks confident, perhaps even a bit cocky. He joined the local army with the dream of becoming a great warrior and returning home to take over his father s lucrative trading business. His first dream was dashed when he was struck down with an illness during a military campaign, and he had to returned home. He began to question his ambitions. He wandered about the hills around Assisi, praying and searching for his vocation. One night he was sleeping in the ruins of the Church of St. Damian, and he heard a voice, Francis do you see my house in ruins? I want you to restore my house. He rushed out the next morning and sold his horse to pay for the rebuilding of the church. He also took some of the fine cloth belonging to his father, and sold that too, for the rebuilding project. His father did not agree with Francis dreams, and had his impetuous, naive son imprisoned to prevent further damage to his wealth. Word got out that Francis had stolen from his father, the argument between them dragged on, and eventually Francis lost his reputation among his friends and the townspeople. It was his darkest hour to that point. 6

7 He was no longer a heroic soldier, a man about town, a popular singer and entertainer. His reputation and his dreams were shattered. His identity had been stripped away. Nowadays we would say his Ego container had been shredded. He retreated to a cave or cellar somewhere; we do not know this detail of his life. Chesterton says that when Francis emerged from his literal and figurative cave, it was as if he were walking on his hands, seeing the world upside-down. He had found his identity as a Child of God Child of God, a Lover of God, a follower of Jesus. He had found his new family his family was the poor and Creation. His father didn t notice this change in Francis. He took him to the bishop to talk some sense into this young man. When they appeared before the bishop, the bishop gave some advice: give back the money; don t do this again, and the slate will be wiped clean. Although Francis had a new identity, he still had the same personality he was enthusiastic and impetuous. He gave back the money, then he gave all his father s possessions even the clothes he wore to his father, on the spot. He denounced his old identity and announced his new identity. He received the blessing of the bishop and walked out barefoot into a snowy world. And he walked out singing barefoot, into the snow! No wonder people thought he was crazy. He became a mendicant, a beggar for God. He began to rebuild the broken-down church with his own hands, begging for food and for stones with which to rebuild the church. Two men were inspired by his faith and joined him. Then another and another eventually his little band of Singers for God numbered about 12 men. A couple of years later the small band of barefoot brothers went to Rome to seek permission to found an order, following the upside-down vision Francis had received from his Christ. 7

8 Friars Minor - Little Brothers Pope Pius III worried that the vows the Little Brothers took were too harsh. The Franciscans were barefoot, wore rough brown robes, had part of their heads shaved and had no worldly possessions. But he gave permission. Now, about Clare. We don t know much except that she lived in Assisi and was wealthy. But she renounced her family to join Francis band of Little Brothers. Francis found a convent where she could work. Friars Minor, Poor Clares, Third Order Eventually Francis founded a parallel order for women, the Poor Clares, and a third order for married laypeople simply called the Third Order. At his death the three orders had thousands of friars, sisters and followers. He was canonized in 1228, only two years after his death. Francis biographer reported: He spares lanterns, lamps and candles, unwilling to use his hand to put out their brightness, which is a sign of the true light. He picks up worms He picks up little worms from the road so they will not be trampled underfoot. He walks reverently over rocks, out of respect for Him who is called the Rock. He calls all animals by a fraternal name ( brother, sister ), and especially loves the meek among them. Francis felt his oneness with creation, even with rocks, on a very deep level we might say, on the molecular level. John Duns Scotus first coined the phrase, Univocity of Being univocity of being we are one with everything. From dust we were made; to dust we shall return. This will be a major theme of next week s talk on Creation. Francis with Animals The text shown here is a verse from Francis Canticle (or Song) of the Animals, or Canticle of the Sun, the basis for our All Creatures of Our God and King. 8

9 Francis biographers tell stories one is about Francis preaching to the birds. He approached a chattering flock and politely asked them to be quiet and listen to what he had to say. After they quieted, he preached to them of the love of God for them, his little sisters. In another story, he fearlessly goes out into the woods to confront a wolf who is terrorizing a small village, attacking its inhabitants. He finds the wolf and confronts him with his sin. The wolf grovels and indicates that he will not attack the village any more if the people there will feed him. He and the wolf go back to the terrified villagers, and present their case. The villagers agree the wolf is fed and no longer terrorizes the village. In 1219 Francis went to Egypt to attempt to convert the Sultan and thus end the bloody Crusades surely a futile exercise. But he nearly succeeded. Although the Sultan didn t convert, he treated Francis as a guest and the Franciscans were the only Order allowed to work in the Muslim Middle East. Francis reflected Christ, as the moon reflects the sun. Didn t Jesus say, consider the lilies of the field consider the birds of the air allow the little ones to come to me blessed are the poor blessed are the meek if someone strikes you, let him strike the other cheek if someone wants your coat, give him your cloak also and on and on and on. Francis, the clown for God, was merely following his true love, Jesus, the Christ. Francis and the Leper As a young man Francis had a profound revulsion of lepers, but during his conversion, Christ led him to embrace them. He spent a good part of his lifetime living with the lepers, and in the end, he himself was infected with leprosy. Suffering Francis Near the end of his life, the Franciscan Order expelled him from leadership in the order. He was too idealistic; too naive for the Order by then. The Order had acquired land, wealth and power. Francis preached poverty and love to his fellow friars, but to no avail. Sick of heart, sick with leprosy, going blind, he retreated to a mountain top where he saw a vision of an angel, wounded by the wounds of Christ, and in 9

10 great agony and ecstasy, he received those wounds himself. They are called the stigmata. They are shown in this painting wounds on his hands and in his side. Our Western minds refuse to acknowledge the possibility of stigmata. Here s another painting with the stigmata. Francis with Stigmata 2 Whether or not the stigmata were medically real, they surely were real for Francis. I m not bothered by the magic in this story. The deeper truth is that Francis suffered, just as Christ suffered, just as we must also suffer and die in order to be reborn. How is your spiritual practice going? Francis of Assisi is a complex person. He is much more than a garden ornament, much more than a lover of the animals. He didn t change his character with his conversion; he was always impetuous and enthusiastic. And probably naive. Francis story is overlaid with parts that make us uncomfortable for example, the miracle of the wolf, or the miracle of the stigmata. I ll close with a quotation from a blog by lafountain@hotmail.com: He and his followers became fools to the world, and troubadours for God. They lived in poverty, accepted the celibate life, fed the poor, and lived among the sick. Begging was not a shame but a denial of power; they were beggars in order to spend their time serving others. Next week we will delve into Franciscan thought concerning Creation, including Creation, cosmology, evolution, quantum mechanics cosmology, evolution and quantum mechanics! ================== No matter where you go this week, be careful, for you carry precious cargo. See you next week. 10