October overview EXPLORING THE PROFESSION OF FAITH VERSE OF THE MONTH hebrews 11:1 SAINT OF THE MONTH St. Francis of Assisi LESSON 1 I Believe Overview The aim of the first part of this lesson is for your children to learn what faith is and to begin to think about their faith in God. In the second part of the lesson, your children learn that the Church has summarized the great mysteries of our Faith in the Apostles Creed. Catechism Articles to Read Before Teaching 26-49 142-197 Words to Know Believe Trust Faith Theological Virtues Obey Creed Apostles Creed 6 SOPHIA INSTITUTE
LESSON 2 In God, the Father Almighty Overview Children begin to understand the mystery of God and how we can know Him, His divine attributes, and the Trinity. Your children also begin to enter into the story of God s great plan as we examine God the Creator and His creation. Catechism Articles to Read before Teaching 31-53 232-267 297-354 Words to Know Divine Revelation Mystery Trinity Sign of the Cross Creator By the end of this month, your children should be able to: Recite this month s Scripture Memorization and define this month s Words to Know Tell you about St. Francis of Assisi Make the Sign of the Cross and explain what it means List the attributes of God (older children) Recite from memory the following section of the Apostles Creed: I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth EXPLORING THE PROFESSION OF FAITH, OCTOBER OVERVIEW 7
Your Catholic Home If your family is not in the habit of beginning prayer with the Sign of the Cross, this would be a good opportunity to start or restart this traditional Catholic way of prayer. The Sign of the Cross actually expresses two mysteries of our Faith. The words profess our belief in the Trinity, and because we trace the Sign of the Cross on ourselves, it professes our belief in the Passion, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thus we can say that the Sign of the Cross is the sign of the Christian. It can also be said that it is a profession of faith a creed. Every now and then, stop after you have made the Sign of the Cross and ask your children what it tells us about our Faith.
LESSON 1 I BELIEVE Parent Reading Reading and reflecting on the essay that follows will prepare you to teach the lessons and activities this month. Try underlining key sentences you want to emphasize or notes in the margins about key concepts to discuss with your children. What Is Faith? Faith is a gift from God, as well as our free response to believe what God tells us about Himself and about the world He made. Faith is a gift If faith is a gift, how do we receive it? We first receive the gift of faith in the Sacrament of Baptism. The sacraments are the chief means of receiving of God s grace in our lives. Thus, whenever we properly receive the sacraments, we receive an increase in our faith. We must also ask God, in prayer, to increase our faith. The apostles said to the Lord, Increase our faith! (Luke 17:5). Faith is necessary for salvation. Jesus tells us many times, and the Catholic Church teaches that Believing in Jesus Christ and in the One who sent him for our salvation is necessary for obtaining that salvation (CCC 161). Our faith can be increased, but it also can be lost. We are free to accept or to reject God. We can deny His presence through our fear or doubt, and we can choose to lose His presence by our own mortal sin. God is always calling us to Himself, but He never coerces us. We must choose to believe in Him and we must live our lives according to His revealed truth. Faith is a theological virtue There are three theological virtues faith, hope, and love. They are called theological virtues because they come from and point us toward God. Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that he has said and revealed to us, and that Holy Church proposes for our belief, because he is truth itself (CCC 1814). Faith is certain Unlike human beings who sin, or who fail despite their best intentions, God never sins or fails. For this reason, faith is certain. We can be surer of our faith in God than we can be in any human knowledge. Our faith is not a blind leap, even though the truths that have been revealed to us are sometimes not clear to our human EXPLORING THE PROFESSION OF FAITH, LESSON 1 9
LESSON 1 understanding. We believe because it is God who has revealed the truth to us. Scripture tells us: Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1). Since all human beings can and will fail at one time or another, we would be foolish to place all our trust in any human being. There is only One in whom we should completely trust God. God can never fail. He alone is completely trustworthy and faithful. Faith requires obedience Jesus told us that those who love Him keep His commandments, and it is true that the appropriate response to authentic faith is to obey. If by faith we believe that God is who He says He is, we must respond to that revelation with lives lived in obedience to the truth that He has revealed. St. Paul, in his letter to the Romans, calls this the obedience of faith (Romans 1:5). By faith man freely commits his entire self to God. For this reason the believer seeks to know and do God s will (CCC 1814). Faith means the body of truths we believe Faith also means the body of truths, revealed to us by God, which we believe. These truths are summarized for us in creeds. The word creed comes from the Latin word credo, which means I believe. Creeds, as summaries of our faith, gather together the essential truths that we profess and were originally used as teaching tools for those preparing for Baptism. In the history of the Church, many professions of faith (creeds) were articulated in response to the different needs of each era. One creed, however, does not supersede or overrule another. Rather, each helps us to understand our Faith in a special and deeper way. One creed has a special place in the life of the Church: the Apostles Creed. This creed was not written by the Apostles themselves, but is a faithful summary of their Faith. The Apostles Creed is used at Baptism and is the basis of the Catechism s presentation of our profession of faith. 10 SOPHIA INSTITUTE
LESSON 1 reading summary Key Points from this Essay Activities to help teach this to your children Age level of activities Faith is a gift from God. I Believe Creative Project All ages Faith is necessary for salvation. I Believe Scripture Search Older children Faith is not a blind leap. Trust Walk All ages Faith requires that we obey God s commandments. Obedience Discussion All ages Faith is summarized in the Apostles Creed. Direct Instruction The Apostles Creed Family Creed Activity All ages EXPLORING THE PROFESSION OF FAITH, LESSON 1 11
LESSON 1 I BELIEVE Words to Know The terms below are words that you and your children should know and understand at the end of this lesson. Use your best judgment about which words to expect each of your children to learn. In your children s activity books, these words and their definitions appear on page 8, and flash cards begin on page 39. They will help them to earn these terms. Believe To accept as the truth. Trust To rely on someone. Faith A gift from God as well as our free response to believe what God tells us about Himself and about the world He made. Theological Virtues Faith, hope, and love; these virtues come from God and point to Him. Obey To do what God tells us to do (and to do what God s representatives parents, priests, teachers, and so forth tell us to do). Creed All the things that we believe in. 12 SOPHIA INSTITUTE
I BELIEVE Lesson & Activities LESSON 1 Opening Prayer Begin the activities you choose to do from this lesson with the Sign of the Cross and pray together a traditional prayer of the Church called an Act of Faith. This prayer also appears on page 9 of your children s books. O my God, I firmly believe that you are one God in three Divine persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; I believe that your Divine Son became man and died for our sins and that He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths that the holy Catholic Church teaches, because You revealed them who can neither deceive nor be deceived. Amen. In this activity, you may have older children write out the prayer or have younger children draw a picture of something the prayer makes them think of. Ask your children to count how many times the prayer uses the word believe. Explain that this shows us about the connection between faith and belief. Question to Explore Ask your children, What does it mean to believe? Ask older children to write down their answer(s) on a separate sheet of paper before you continue. Discuss how to believe means: to accept as the truth, to expect or hope for with confidence, to have trust, and to have faith. Our faith in God is a gift from God Himself. Scripture Memorization For all ages, page 10 in your children s activity books. Have your children write out this month s verse on page 10 of their activity books. EXPLORING THE PROFESSION OF FAITH, LESSON 1 13
LESSON 1 Activities The following activities are presented as options. Do as few or as many as will work with your children. Never feel as if you must create a classroom setting in your home. Instead, look for opportunities to have these discussions and do these activities in everyday life around the kitchen table, during car rides, before bed, and so forth. I Believe Creative Project For all ages, page 11 in your children s activity books. Have the children write or draw things that they believe in. Let children come up with their own ideas, but for example, younger children could: Draw a picture of themselves holding hands with Jesus Draw a picture of their parents hugging them List or draw some simple things like a sunrise, sunset, breakfast each morning, bedtime stories and prayers each night, and so forth. Older children could write out things such as: ӹ ӹ God loves me ӹ ӹ Jesus died for my sins so I could be with Him in Heaven ӹ ӹ My parents love me My family has dinner together most nights When we accept something as the truth, we say that we believe it. Believing is another word for trusting or for having faith. Continue in the same way going over their entire list. For example, We trust and have faith that the sun will rise. Go over the children s answers and say, We trust and have faith that [one of their examples]. Explain to your children that God wants us to believe in Him. In fact, we can only believe in Him because he loves us and gave us that ability. We then respond to His love by believing in Him. 14 SOPHIA INSTITUTE
Trust Walk For all ages, this activity is not in your children s activity books. LESSON 1 Family members do this activity in pairs: one person is blindfolded, and the other person leads the blindfolded person around the room or outside for five minutes. Reverse roles and go for another walk. Follow with questions and discussions. Ask your children: When you were blindfolded, did you have to trust that [Name] would lead you safely? Was it hard to trust? If so, why? DISCUSSION POINT Try to draw out the point that human beings can fail, even if they are trying their best. For example, I might have been hurt ; He could make the wrong decisions or tell me to take three steps when I really needed to take five ; and so forth. Believing means trusting. Since all human beings can and will fail at one time or another, we would be foolish to place all our trust in any human being. There is only One in whom we should completely trust God. God can never fail. He alone is completely trustworthy and faithful. The Scriptures reveal this truth to us over and over again. Pray Psalm 146:3-6: Put no trust in princes, in children of Adam powerless to save. Who breathing his last, returns to the earth; that day all his planning comes to nothing. Blessed the one whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD, his God, The Maker of heaven and earth, the seas and all that is in them, Who keeps faith forever. I Believe Scripture Search For older children, on page 12 in your children s activity books. Look up Matthew 7:21, and read it from the Bible. To help older children see the truth that faith is necessary for salvation, have them complete the Scripture Search entitled: I Believe. All of the verses show beautifully that eternal life is possible for those who believe in Jesus. EXPLORING THE PROFESSION OF FAITH, LESSON 1 15
LESSON 1 Obedience Discussion For all ages, his activity is not in your children s activity books. Over dinner, or on a drive together, talk with your children about why obedience is an appropriate response to faith. Many people today think of obedience as a negative thing, but obedience to God is good and true. If by faith we believe that God is who He says He is, we must respond by living the way He intends us to live. St. Paul, in his letter to the Romans, calls this the obedience of faith (Romans 1:5). When we trust, we have faith, and when we have faith, we act according to our faith. Discussion questions: What are some house rules we have? Why do you think Mommy and Daddy have those rules in place? Because they love you and want you to be safe and happy. Would parents who loved their children have no rules at all? Of course not. Why do you think God wants us to obey Him? Because He loves us. Sin hurts us, and God does not want us to get hurt. Direct Instruction For older children, this activity is not in your children s activity books. Go over the content below with your older children to help them understand the full meaning of the word faith and the purpose of the Apostles Creed. The word faith also means all those true things, revealed to us by God, that we believe. These truths are summarized for us in creeds. The word creed comes from the Latin word credo, which means I believe. Creeds, as summaries of our faith, gather together the essential truths that we profess (claim or affirm openly). One creed has a special place in the life of the Church: the Apostles Creed. This creed was not written by the Apostles themselves but is a faithful summary of their faith. The Apostles Creed contains the most important truths about our Catholic Faith written down together. These include many of the truths God wants us to believe to have faith in. There are 12 doctrines (or articles) that make up the Apostles Creed. The number 12 symbolizes the fullness of the Apostolic Faith (the Faith of the Apostles). We will learn more about each of them in subsequent lessons. 16 SOPHIA INSTITUTE
The 12 articles are: 1. God the Father, Creator 2. Jesus Christ, only Son 3. Jesus conception by the Holy Spirit, birth from the Virgin Mary 4. Jesus Passion, death, and burial 5. His descent into hell and Resurrection 6. Ascension and Glory of Christ 7. Judgment of all the living and the dead 8. Holy Spirit 9. Holy Catholic Church; Communion of Saints 10. Forgiveness of sins 11. Resurrection of the body 12. Life everlasting LESSON 1 You may also have them underline the 12 articles using page 13 of their activity books as you read the Apostles Creed aloud. Family Creed Activity For all ages, this activity is not in your children s activity books. Compose together on a separate sheet of paper a Family Creed that communicates those things that you value and that you believe in. For example, perhaps your family plays Scrabble after dinner or orders pizza on Friday nights. Or perhaps you have certain traditions during Advent or Thanksgiving, or maybe you believe in everyone sharing in the family s chores. These could become an article in your creed. Remember: this activity is not intended to rewrite the Apostles Creed, but rather to write about your own family s values and beliefs. EXPLORING THE PROFESSION OF FAITH, LESSON 1 17
LESSON 2 IN GOD, THE FATHER, THE ALMIGHTY Parent Reading Reading and reflecting on the essay that follows will prepare you to teach the lessons and activities this month. Try underlining key sentences you want to emphasize or write notes in the margins about key concepts to discuss with your children. Who is God? We can come to know and to believe in the existence of God through reason, through Divine Revelation, and through God s creation. We can know God through reason Reason alone is not sufficient to know and love God, but we can know that He exists through reason. Faith and reason do not contradict each other. Rather, our intellect and wills cooperate with divine grace. In fact, the word theology means faith seeking understanding. The Catechism teaches that although we can be certain of God through reason, there is greater knowledge that comes to us only through Divine Revelation. We can know Divine Revelation through the Word of God in the Bible, and through the Tradition of the Church Jesus founded. We can know God through Divine Revelation Because it was God s will that we would come to know Him, to love Him, and to live with Him eternally in Heaven, He has gradually revealed Himself to mankind. Salvation history is filled with the stories of God s mercy and His covenants with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David. The fullness of this revelation would come to mankind in the person and mission of Jesus Christ, His only Son. He has made known to us the mystery of His will in accord with His favor that He set forth in Him as a plan for the fullness of times, to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth (Ephesians 1:9-10). This revelation has been preserved for us, and for all generations, through the Sacred Scriptures and Sacred Tradition guarded by the magisterium (teaching authority) of the Church. Regularly spending time with God in prayer, hearing the Word of God at each Holy Mass, and receiving the sacraments especially Confession and Holy Communion will help you grow in your understanding of Divine Revelation. 18 SOPHIA INSTITUTE
The Blessed Trinity is the central mystery of our Faith We often think that the word mystery means something unknowable or a problem to be solved. But mystery means something different when we talk about the mystery of God or the mysteries of Christ s life. The teachings of the Church are sometimes called the mysteries of the Faith; we even proclaim the Mystery of Faith at Mass, and the Seven Sacraments of the Church are sometimes called the Holy Mysteries. But in no way are we saying that any of these things are problems to be solved or that they are unknowable. Quite the opposite, in fact. Who God is, the divinity of Jesus, and the truths of our Faith, which are invisible, spiritual realities, are revealed and made known to us through visible signs and symbols. The Blessed Trinity the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is the central mystery of our Faith. When we speak of the Blessed Trinity, we are professing two beliefs: belief in the unity of God (that there is only one God) and belief in the Trinity of God (that there are three equal, distinct Divine Persons in God). When we say that there are three distinct Persons in God we mean that one Person is not the other Person, and yet all three are one God. The Trinity is a communion of persons an eternal exchange of love. God is a family, and God s family life is life-giving love. When we are baptized, we enter this family as God s adopted children. We become partakers of the divine life of God and are called to enter into loving communion in this world as a sign and witness to the divine communion existing in the Trinity. The word Trinity does not appear in the Bible, but the Lord clearly speaks to us about this truth. One of the clearest examples is in Matthew 28:19, when Jesus tells His disciples, Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. We can know God through His creation The story of God s wonderful plan for all mankind begins in Genesis 1. The account of creation answers for us the most basic questions that people ask in life: where do we come from, and where are we going? Through creation, we can see and know that there is a God. St. Paul speaks of this truth when he says, For what can be known about God is evident to them, because God made it evident to them. Ever since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what He has made. As a result, they have no excuse (Romans 1:19-20). The human person also attests to the existence of God. Within ourselves we find truth, beauty, goodness, and a longing for that which is eternal. In this man senses his spiritual soul a soul that could be created only by an eternal One who is all truth, all beauty, and all goodness. In the story of Creation we learn that, unlike any other living thing, human beings are made in the image of God. This does not mean that we look like God. Rather, it means we are created with intellect, free will, and the ability to love. God called man very good. (The rest of creation was called good.) The only thing that God said was not good was for man to be alone the understanding that led God to create Eve (Genesis 2:18). Man and woman were made for another, to love one another. In this way, the Christian family is a reflection of the self-giving love of the Trinity. LESSON 2 EXPLORING THE PROFESSION OF FAITH, LESSON 2 19
LESSON 2 reading summary Key Points from this Essay Activities to help teach this to your children Age level of activities We can know God through His Divine Revelation. Who is God? Activities God is Bigger than Our Worries Reflection All ages All ages God is the Blessed Trinity: One God in Three Divine Persons the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Trinity is the central mystery of our Faith. Exploring the Trinity Activities SketchPad Video Excerpt All ages Older children God the Father is the Creator of Heaven and earth. The Story of Creation All ages We can know God through creation. The Story of Creation Saint of the Month: St. Francis of Assisi All ages 20 SOPHIA INSTITUTE
IN GOD, THE FATHER ALMIGHTY Words to Know LESSON 2 The terms below are words that you and your children should know and understand at the end of this lesson. Use your best judgment about which words to expect each of your children to learn. In your children s activity books, these words and their definitions appear on page 14, and flash cards appear on page 39. They will help them to learn these terms. Divine Revelation Truths about God that we could never know on our own and that God has chosen to reveal to us. Mystery A truth that is above our ability to understand on our own. We believe in a mystery because God has revealed it to us. Trinity A mystery that tells us that there are Three Persons in one God. Sign of the Cross A Catholic way to begin prayer; it reminds us of our belief in the Trinity of God and in the Passion and death of His Son, Jesus. Creator God, who made all things. Only God can make something out of nothing. EXPLORING THE PROFESSION OF FAITH, LESSON 2 21
LESSON 2 IN GOD, THE FATHER ALMIGHTY Lesson & Activities Opening Prayer Begin this lesson with the Sign of the Cross and by praying the Apostles Creed together as a family. You may want to have them read it on page 8 of their activity book. I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, Our Lord, who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into Hell; the third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into Heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father almighty. From thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen. Questions to Explore Ask your children, Who is God? How can we know Him? Ask older children to write down their answers on a separate sheet of paper. Discuss your children s answers and ask if there is anything about God that they find hard to understand. Let your children know that they are correct in their assessment! There are indeed mysteries of our Faith. But we don t call them mysteries because they need to be solved. A mystery is a truth entirely above our reason, but not contrary to it, which we believe because God has revealed it. Next tell your children that we can know God both through the world that He has created and by His Divine Revelation. We find Divine Revelation in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. The Catholic Church guards this tradition by her teaching authority. In addition to these ways of knowing God, we can also know God through frequent prayer. The time we spend in prayer with God helps us to know and love Him. This is one reason why it s so important that we pray every day. 22 SOPHIA INSTITUTE
Activities LESSON 2 The following activities are presented as options. Do as few or as many as will work with your children. Never feel as if you must create a classroom setting in your home. Instead, look for opportunities to have these discussions and do these activities in everyday life around the kitchen table, during car rides, before bed, and so forth. Who Is God? Activities For all ages, on page 15 in your children s activity books. On the Who is God page of their activity books, have your children describe God for you. Older children can use words, and younger children can draw pictures or dictate their words to you. Then share the five attributes of God: 1. God is holy. He cannot do or think anything evil. Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts! all the earth is full of his glory (Isaiah 6:3)! 2. God is almighty. He is omnipotent: there is nothing He cannot do. I blessed the Most High;... All who live on the earth are counted as nothing; He does as He wills with the powers of Heaven and with those who live on the earth. There is no one who can stay his hand (Daniel 4:31-32). 3. God is omniscient. He understands everything and can see all of His knowledge at one time. LORD, You have probed me, You know me: You know when I sit and stand; You understand my thoughts from afar (Psalm 139:1-2). 4. God is eternal and unchanging. He never had a beginning, and He will never come to an end. He does not grow and change. He is always the same. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). O LORD, your name is forever, Your renown, from generation to generation! (Psalm 135:13). 5. God is omnipresent. He is a pure spirit and has no body. Thus, He is everywhere all at once. The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good (Proverbs 15:3). Ask your older children to find the verses in the Bible and read them aloud to the family. They should then complete The Attributes of God on page 16 of their activity books. EXPLORING THE PROFESSION OF FAITH, LESSON 2 23
LESSON 2 God Is Bigger Than Our Worries Reflection For all ages, on page 17 in your children s activity books. Have each person spend some quiet time thinking about what they learned about the awesome nature of God. Then have each person draw a picture or write a poem or a prayer to describe his or her understanding of the nature of God. Encourage children to think about things in their lives that they are scared or worried about and then to remember that God is bigger than any of their concerns. Have them draw God taking care of their situation. When everyone has completed the activity, take time to share with one another. To celebrate the children s work, you could take a trip to the store to find inexpensive frames for their creation (or make a frame out of colored paper). When they are finished, put them in your children s rooms as reminders of the marvelous God who loves and cares for them. Exploring the Trinity Activities For all ages, on page 18 in your children s activity books. Go over the content below with your children to help them begin to understand the mystery of the Trinity. One of the greatest mysteries that we know about God (because He has revealed it to us) is that God is one God and yet Three Persons. This great mystery is called the Trinity. Although we know that it is the truth that God is one God, yet Three Persons, we cannot understand how this can be. It is a truth that is above our ability to understand through reason. We believe this truth because God has revealed it to us. Have younger children label and decorate the shamrock in their activity books while you read aloud Mark 1:10-11 and John 16:5-7, 12-15. Older children should reflect on these verses in their activity books. Close by making the Sign of the Cross. 24 SOPHIA INSTITUTE
SketchPad Video Excerpt For older children, this activity is not in your children s activity books. LESSON 2 Very briefly show 0:26-0:44 of the Sophia SketchPad Marriage video, available for free at SophiaSketchPad.org. This brief section of the video visually depicts the way the Blessed Trinity is an eternal exchange of life-giving love. Have your children do their own original drawings that show how the Trinity is an eternal exchange of love. The Story of Creation For all ages, on page 20 in your children s activity books. Read aloud the story of creation found in Genesis 1-2:2. Have your children complete the Story of Creation pages in their activity books. Word Search For older children, on page 33 in your children s activity books. Have your older children complete a fun word search with all their Words to Know this month. Saint of the Month For all ages, on page 34 in your children s activity books. Read the story of this month s saint to your children and have them complete the coloring page. You may also want to show them the full-page artwork depicting the saint on page 26 of this guide. EXPLORING THE PROFESSION OF FAITH, LESSON 2 25
St. Francis of Assisi SAINT OF THE MONTH 26 SOPHIA INSTITUTE
St. Francis of Assisi The One We All Love Note: Your children have a shorter and simpler version of this biography in their activity books. By reading this essay, you will deepen your knowledge of the saints, and you will also be able to fill in more details about the saint s story when you talk with your children. ST. FRANCIS is loved as a saint by Catholics and Protestants, and even by nonreligious people. His appeal can be traced to an extraordinary simplicity and humility that engenders the trust of all. One aspect of his simple nature was to hear and speak all words very literally. If God told him, Rebuild my Church, which is falling down, Francis soon had bricks in his hands. Young St. Francis John Bernadone was born at Assisi, Italy, in 1181. His father, Peter, was a rich merchant who often traded in France. John was nicknamed Francesco (the Frenchman), and this name stayed with him from birth. Francis was interested in his father s money but not his trade. He preferred fine clothes, food, and partying to studying and business. However, his heart was always good, which showed in his frequent and sometimes extravagant almsgiving. Serve God Rather Than Man A local strife made Francis a prisoner of war at age twenty. After being released, he became seriously sick. When he recovered, he followed a romantic notion to fight in the Crusades. He rode out of Assisi in grand fashion with a fine horse and new armor suit. Very soon these became a beggar s shabby clothes, because when he saw a poor man on the road, in compassion he swapped clothes with him! Later, a heavenly vision sent him home to serve God rather than man. This was the first in a series of mystical experiences that caused the frivolity to fall away and his love of God to grow. He began to speak of taking a bride who was wonderfully beautiful and worthy. The lady was named Poverty, and soon she claimed all his attention, leaving him with an increasing desire to sell or give away all his worldly goods. Francis was in the process of becoming poor in spirit, as Jesus taught in the Beatitudes. He desired poverty not for its own sake, but because living without possessions gave him time to pray and to help people. Praying helped him to love God more. Helping people was an act of serving God. Loving and serving God and Jesus is a sure pathway to the kingdom of Heaven. Real virtue began to appear in Francis as love caused him to embrace a leper and kiss his sores, even though the man was horribly disfigured. Shortly afterward, God told Francis, Rebuild my Church. Of course, Jesus was asking Francis to rebuild not a church building, but the Catholic Church. Francis EXPLORING THE PROFESSION OF FAITH, OCTOBER 27
took him literally, though, and began working on San Damiano outside the city walls of Assisi. He needed money for the task, and he believed his father would be glad to contribute. He sold a horse loaded with fine clothes, and the horse, too. His father was enraged, beat Francis, and disowned him. The family tie was broken, and henceforth Francis claimed God as his only father. He walked to the town line and returned all his fine clothes to his father. This act marked the end of slavery to riches; the beginning of a lifelong marriage to Lady Poverty. He took Jesus words literally: Preach the gospel. Do not take two coats, money or a traveling bag. Wear no shoes. Francis soon wore only a rough brown coat with a rope for a belt, and no sandals. Joyful Poverty Francis s rich friends soon began to admire his union with Lady Poverty; they wondered at his joy and they wanted to come along. The first to cross over was Bernard, a rich merchant. The second was Peter, a servant of the Church in Assisi. The two men received Francis s rough habit together on April 16, 1229, and this was the formal beginning of the Friars Minor. Francis chose the lowly name to encourage humility in his followers. When they numbered a dozen, he wrote a short rule of life and went to Pope Innocent III to have the rule and the small congregation approved by the Church. The pope considered the men too poor to be practical and at first rejected their request. Then he had a dream that Francis was propping up the Church, which was ready to fall. Francis got his approval! Steward of Creation Francis s life was punctuated with colorful events, some of which border on legend. He is reported to have saved the town of Gubbio from a vicious wolf that was preying on the townspeople. He is said to have talked with the wolf, which agreed to eat food provided by the people rather than the people themselves. St. Francis loved God s creation, and was known for preaching to the birds and calling the sun his brother and the moon and stars his sisters. He knew that in seeing the beauty in creation he was giving praise to the Creator. Francis was a very holy man, and he desired to suffer as his Lord Jesus had. Jesus answered his prayer, and Francis became one of a very few holy people to be graced with the stigmata, the five wounds of Christ. Francis s soul mate was St. Clare of Assisi, who adopted his way of life as a young woman, and who attracted other women to do likewise. Thus, the Order of Poor Clares became the cloistered counterpart to the Friars Minor. Francis s order soon became the largest in Christendom. The large numbers caused regret to Francis, as he found his original rule being compromised on all sides by departures from its simplicity. He resisted this trend by revising the original rule, but he never saw the order truly return to its humble roots. At age 45, when Francis was approaching death, he asked to be buried in a graveyard for criminals. Because of the love that his followers and the whole Church had for Francis, this wish was not fulfilled. He was buried with much pomp and solemnity in a magnificent basilica. We celebrate the Feast of St. Francis on October 4. 28 SOPHIA INSTITUTE
October in Review this month you explored as a family the questions: What does it mean to believe? Who is God? How can we know Him? In Lesson 1 your children learned that faith: In Lesson 2 your children learned that we can know God: is a gift from God and our free response to God s grace through reason is certain through Creation requires trust and that God is the Blessed Trinity One God in Three Divine Persons requires obedience is necessary to get to Heaven through Divine Revelation is summarized in the 12 articles of the Apostles Creed In this space below, write some reflections about the past month. What was your favorite activity? What didn t go as well? Will you adjust anything about what you re doing? What special intentions do you have for next month?