fearless francis...

nobody@vox.com(the rev. nicole janelle) — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 00:02:01 -0700

I was recently listening to a podcast from Grace Cathedral in San Francisco of a conversation between the Bishop of California (Marc Andrus) and the Presiding Bishop (Katharine Jefferts Schori) moderated by the Dean of the Cathedral (Alan Jones). The topic of conversation was, naturally, the most recent House of Bishops meeting and the status of the Episcopal Church with the other churches of the Anglican Communion, given the ongoing conversation in the church around the election of bishops who are gay and lesbian and the blessing of same sex unions. I found the conversation of Marc and Katharine to be quite thoughtful and rich – and so I commend it to you internet and church junkies – just go to the webpage for Grace Cathedral and follow the links…Now, getting closer to the theme of today’s service…As the dean was wrapping up this podcast, he reminded people that the Feast of St. Francis was approaching and that the following Sunday, the blessing of the animals would occur at the Cathedral. When he first arrived at the Cathedral, he reported, it was the tradition of the Cathedral to advertise the festivities as “Blessing of the Animals followed by outdoor BBQ” – today they have cut the “followed by BBQ” part out! The Bishop and Presiding Bishop, both of whom are vegetarians, couldn’t seem to stop laughing…

Well, this year at St. Mike’s, we’ve had our BBQs, celebrating the new school year during Discovery Days a few weeks ago, followed by the celebratory potluck lunch in honor of St. Michael, our patron saint. And today, we find ourselves celebrating the Feast of St. Francis, patron saint of animals and the environment.

I’m not quite sure when marketing frenzy in the Episcopal Church or other churches around the Feast of St. Francis’ began, but in recent years the church may have very well created a new holiday on par with Christmas and Easter through this Sunday of creaturely blessing. I remember when I lived in New York City and attended the blessing service at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. There were elephants, birds I had never before seen, snakes, goats and a whole host of other creatures! It was as if the Cathedral had turned into a zoo of sorts, the music that day consisted shouts and song not only of human origin, but of all of creation.

It’s can be all very cutesy thinking about this domesticated picture of St. Francis blessing the animals. Cutesy on this days is to be resisted – because there is lots more that is profound operating in the person and proclamation of St. Francis.

Francis was born around the year 1185. He was born into wealth and was known in his youth to have a love of drinking and friends of great privilege. Yet early on in his life, Francis showed a capacity for struggling with the tensions that exist in the world. There is one account of Francis out having fun with his friends one day when a beggar came along and asked for alms. While his friends ignored the beggar's cries, Francis gave the man everything he had in his pockets. His friends quickly chided and mocked him for his act of charity, and when he got home, his father scolded him in a rage. Francis’ spent his young adulthood in military service and eventually was captured and imprisoned on a failed mission. It was said that this period of imprisonment marked a critical shift in his consciousness. Through a series of spiritual crises and encounters, Francis came to know his vocation in life. He was to claim a life of poverty, show hospitality to the poor and restore the ruins of churches who needed it most. Francis’ family rejected his call. This bishop even needed convincing. But Francis was clear. After having renounced his father and gained the blessing of his Bishop, Francis set out to fulfill his call in the world. Inspired by the missionary discourse of Matthew’s Gospel, he soon found himself an itinerant preacher, proclaiming a message of penance and preacher throughout Europe, the Middle East and north Africa. And as he traveled spreading this message of peace, a beautiful thing happened. Communities of people who wished to carryout this message were formed. Some people took to the road with Francis’ message, others chose to live in out in their own homes and communities. All of these followers were bound by a rule – the Franciscan rule.

In our modern culture, when we hear the word rule we tend to think of something uncompromising or narrow, perhaps. This was not necessarily the meaning of the word rule during St. Francis’ day. As Joan Chichester, the great modern monastic woman religious and writer reflects, a rule –regla—meant guide, guideline. It was like a railing going up or down a set of stairs. It was meant to help you – it was something to lean on – in your spiritual journey. It was a way to get you where you were going. It was an ideal and had something to do with living a lifestyle – not engaging is a specific profession or type of work within an institution – but participating in a lifestyle. The rule does not ask for any kind of rigid conformity. Rather the rule says, here are the scriptures, live in them. Here are your brothers and sisters, live with them – love them all, bring them all to life. Here is the life within the monastery or religious community, take it in. Do you own work, support yourself – earn your bread by the sweat of your brow. Living within in the rule meant joining a hard working, simple group of people modeling what it is to be part of the world, to take care of the stranger, to grow together. You live in community because it’s really only community that shows us who were are. That things that irritate us, bother us or that which we don’t want to do shows us exactly what we need to work on today. (See interview with Joan on Speaking of Faith)

Today, the monastic ideals of Francis and others are still very much at work in our world, through configurations of community that are both old and new. The order of St. Francis is alive and well – as is the 3^rd Order Franciscans, an ecumenical group of lay and clergy people who keep the practice of simple living, practicing social justice and caring for creation, all in the tradition of St. Francis. The parish in which I completed my field education studies housed a small community of 3^rd Order Franciscans and I can tell you that these people were on fire for the Gospel! In addition to these older monastic traditions, new ones like the movement among young adults known as “New Monasticism” is a modern example of young people committing themselves to live in community, care for the earth, share resources, practice simplicity and live by the rule of the Gospel. Faith based and secular volunteer programs are also allowing Young Adults to live the Gospel rule in an intentional and particular way.

I friend of mine from my campus ministry years who now is a priest recently left her position on the staff of a large, progressive Episcopal Church to launch the project “Join the Living” – an experiment in intentional, community living. This summer and fall she is on a pilgrimage of the western United States. Her pilgrimage journey is meant to allow her and those who read about her experiences to connect with places of life in our world. My friend is visiting communities that are touching and transforming lives in a new way: the coffee shop where they took prices off the menu so that everyone can eat, the campus ministry where students are growing their own food, making music and riding their bikes for spiritual reasons, the church where the sacred is being explored and experiences through trapeze art, film editing and jazz worship. When the pilgrimage in her biodiesel powered vehicle comes to an end, the hope is that new forms of community will emerge through a Community Living House for people called to living in this way.

It was this idea of a new creation that we read of in Galatians that excited Francis of Assisi. The part about his taming of the wolf that was terrorizing a town and other stories about Francis and the animals are apocryphal. But we can be certain that Francis dedicated his ministry to pointing out signs of new life and rebuilding communities that needed nurture in our world. His story is a powerful one. In Francis, as in Jesus, the Gospel is made flesh and dwells among us. Dressed in a simple brown habit, roving from town to town, unencombered by material possessions, Francis exposes our follies and serves as an icon into the vocation of the Christian who is compelled by issues of sustainability among the natural world and the human family.

Amen.

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fearless francis...