St. Francis of Assisi: Themes for Today

Continuing his reflection on St. Francis of Assisi, Bishop Donald Hying moves from the facts of the saint's life to the major themes that still speak to us today. Chief among them is Francis's radicality — his desire to live the Gospel in all its freshness and integrity. In this Special Year of St. Francis marking the 800th anniversary of his death, Pope Leo XIV has held up this saint as a model to emulate, one who points us with assurance toward the pristine call of the Gospel.

Transcript

Bishop Donald J. Hying 0:00

Welcome to Things Visible and Invisible, a podcast that discusses life, faith, current events, culture, history, and more, all in relation to Jesus Christ and his church. I'm Bishop Donald Hying, and in today's episode, I will discuss the major elements and themes in the life of Saint Francis of Assisi and what he has to teach us today. In the previous podcast, we discussed the details of Francis of Assisi's life and the fact that this year, 2026, is the 800th anniversary of the death of Francis. And so Pope Leo has lifted up for us this remarkable saint as a model for us to emulate, and one who points with assurety towards the integrity and pristine call of the gospel. So as we meditate on some of the principal themes of Francis' life, the first is his radicality. He wanted to live the gospel in all of its freshness and in all of its integrity. And so the rule that he designed for his order was really simply clipping together pieces of the gospel. He wanted the rule to be the gospel of Jesus Christ. And where Jesus says to the rich young man, for example, go sell all you have and give to the poor. Others may take that figuratively or symbolically or partially. Francis took it literally. So he gave away all of his possessions, and as we have seen, some of his father's possessions to the poor, and lived a life as a beggar, completely reliant on divine providence. That's a poverty that perhaps we cannot even imagine. But being a chivalrous knight, he called poverty his lady, lady poverty. And just as a knight would woo his lady and fight battles for her, so Francis saw Lady Poverty as his lady, as his mistress. For Francis, poverty was not an end in itself, but rather a sacred means by which to enter into the life and grace of God, to let go of all self-sufficiency, to let go of all security and comfort, to rely only on the Lord, and to trust that his providence would take care of his needs. And so for Francis, poverty was freedom, freedom from all other attachments, so that he could adhere passionately to Jesus Christ, whom he loved so much. Second theme in Francis' life was his love of nature. As mentioned in the previous podcast, he wrote the beautiful canical of the sun, in which he names all of the elements of earth, sea, and sky as brother and sister to us. He wrote the centile while he was blind. And yet in his memory, he saw the beauty of the hills of Assisi. He felt the warmth of the sun, the coolness of water, the heat of fire. And so he saw nature, God's fingerprints on everything. He didn't worship nature, he didn't exalt it beyond its place, but he saw the beauty of this world as a prefigurement and a sign of the beauty of God. That God had made everything that exists, and therefore it was sacred. In Francis, then we see the beauty of a Catholic ecology that rightfully treasures the world as this place that God has made for us to dwell while we are preparing for the life of heaven. For that reason, he's the patron saint of ecology. We see in Francis as well this beautiful love for the incarnation of Christ. And all of us as Christians should never get over the wonder of Christmas. That the eternal Son of God, invisible, immortal, beyond the universe, humbled himself to become one of his own creatures. That in Jesus we have the fullness of our humanity minus sin perfectly joined to the fullness of God's divinity. And so Francis was always struck by the humility of Jesus. And for that reason, in the town of Grecio, one Christmas, he had a living bativity scene with live animals, with real people. And Mass was celebrated in this cave at midnight. And the tradition says that the statue of the infant Jesus in the manger became the living baby Jesus himself when Francis held him, the wonder of the incarnation. Francis was a man of tremendous peace because he lived in such a complete unity with the Lord. And so he tames the ferocious wolf of Gubio. And his authority over nature really flows from his relationship with Jesus. And so in Francis, we see uh this peace that flows out not only to other people, reconciling enemies, seeking to bring about reconciliation between the crusaders and the Sultan, for example, but also reconciliation with creation. In Francis, there was no place for violence or selfishness or for calumny or attacks against other people. All of us were called to live as brothers and sisters. And of course, we see in Francis this overloving, overflowing love, particularly for the poor and for lepers. That in those who were materially poor, those who were sick, those who were cast out because of leprosy or illness, he went to with particular tenderness and saw in them the fullness of the presence of Christ. And because of all of this, he had this explosive joy, a joy that came not from owning things or controlling people or having a comfortable material life, but the joy of knowing that he was a beloved son of the Father, and that Jesus Christ loved him with an inexpressible, divine, perfect love. In all of that, then we see Francis' life configured and convergent on the crucified Christ. And so it was the crucifix of San Damiano that spoke to Francis at the very beginning of his spiritual conversion. And so in the cross of Christ and in the humility of the Eucharist, Francis saw as the way for us to approach the Lord. And it's through Jesus' suffering and death that the gate is open for us to experience the fullness of the resurrection and to live in this world as a new creation. And the Eucharist is simply an extension of that paschal mystery, Jesus dying and rising. All of that for us as Catholics, of course, makes perfect sense. We seek to embrace all those same elements in our lives. We want to know and love Jesus crucified. We want to be devoted to the Eucharist. We want to serve the poor and be people of peace and love. Question that Francis poses for us is how far are we willing to go? How much do we want to play it safe? Will we let the Lord fully have his way and will with us and allow him to lead us to places and to situations that perhaps in human respect or out of fear we would seek not to go? Francis shows us the way that if we truly rely on the Lord and hand our lives over to him, then nothing can happen to us except the fulfillment of his holy will. And the more we are free of the attachments of this life, the more we can love freely, wholeheartedly, not seeking possession, not seeking control. And then we will experience that explosive joy that came from the Pavarello of Assisi, Saint Francis, this joyful man of poverty and kinosis and self-emptying, who in the end stands for us as a wonderful extension and incarnation of the very Spirit of Christ. Many times people ask me, what is the most beautiful place I've been to? What place would I like to live in if I could live anywhere in the world? And my immediate answer is Assisi in Italy. Before he died, Francis blessed Assisi and asked the Lord that it always be a city of peace. And that blessing has come beautifully fulfilled. Because when you go to Assisi, you feel a peace there that is not of this world. And you expect to find Francis come around the corner. It's a beautifully preserved medieval city set up on a hill over this vast, beautiful valley. There's nothing like sunsets at Assisi. And down in the valley is the chapel of San Damiano with a beautiful church built over it and around it. And that is where Francis died, his sacred transitus on October 3rd, 1226. So if you go there, you can see the original chapel that he rebuilt, and you can pray at the very spot where he passed from this life. Up in Assisi is the magnificent basilica of St. Francis. So in the lower crypt is his tomb, and I've been privileged to celebrate Mass at his tomb several times. Also in the lower crypt are these remarkable frescoes by Giotto and other Italian artists of the early Renaissance, depicting the dramatic events and circumstances of France's life, but also of Claire. Upper Basilica are the frescoes by Giotto narrating the trajectory of France's life. It's a magnificent basilica and certainly the center point of the town. Maybe 15 years ago, there was a devastating earthquake that destroyed part of the upper basilica, but it has been restored to its original beauty. Across town is the convent of St. Clair, the Basilica of St. Clair, where St. Clair is buried, and also the original San Damiano crucifix, the very crucifix that spoke to Francis, is in the chapel, and one can pray in front of it. There's also St. Clair's convent below the town, and it's there that she lived a life of cloistered poverty and of radical humility. She's often pictured holding the monstrance because a group of Saracens came to attack the convent and to kill the sisters. And so St. Clair had the Eucharist put in a monstrance. She mounted the wall of the convent and blessed the attackers with the Eucharist, whereupon they were repelled and fled away. So she's often seen holding a monstrance. Those are the highlights of Assisi. You can also go to the cathedral where Francis was baptized. You can also see the site of Francis' parents' home. And the body of Carlo Acutis is also in the Church of the Holy Spirit in a glass case available for veneration. St. Carlo had a tremendous devotion to Francis, and so he asked to be buried in Assisi. And his mother comes regularly there to pray in front of her son's body, this young saint just canonized last year. So if you ever have the chance, if you haven't, be sure to go to Assisi at least once in your life. Being there, you feel palpably the spirit of Saint Francis, his magnetic power, the power of one so in love with Christ that it completely transformed his life. Saint Francis of Assisi, pray for us.