We’ve had some very busy days lately, especially since Brother Brian returned from Australia with a broken shoulder and a broken rib. He’s now doing much better after the surgery he had few days ago. As well as assisting him through his recovery, we are also trying to continue our daily life as usual. That includes our prayer and sacramental life but also the various ministries to the people of the wider community. Yesterday I was invited for lunch with pastors and ministers from local churches and Christian groups. To me, it is always funny when it comes the time to explain who I am and what I do. Apparently, words like “religious order” or “Franciscan friar” don’t ring any bell to most people. Even after telling people about my life, I always get asked: “Are you married?” or “Have you got any children?”…
Nevertheless, it is a useful exercise for me too, because it keeps me focused and helps me remind me the reasons that make me want to be a Franciscan friar. I don’t ever have to wait too long before I meet someone new and I start explaining all about my life all over again. The interesting thing is that every time it gets clearer to me that there’s a huge part of my story which is still a mystery to myself.
I believe God is still calling people to a life in communion with Him. But that’s all I am sure about. I don’t know why God has called me to this. I have to admit I tried everything I could to avoid it. I chose to ignore it as long as I could. So, yes, I can give reasons why I am a Franciscan brother but there’s also something I can’t explain.
What can I compare this experience to? Maybe it is like being in love with someone. We might be attracted by some specific characteristics of that person but there’s also a whole lot of that attraction we can really identify or explain. So, we might not know why that person but we know we are in love with him/her.
The more I think about the St Francis’s experience of God, the more I realize it looks like a real love story. I do not want to sound too sentimental, but the longing and the desire for God that Francis had before the crucifix of S.Damiano reminds me of someone longing to be re-united with his lover.
When we study S.Francis and his writings, we tend to focus on some “themes” like peace, environment and so on but we forget about his mystical side and his deep devotion to God. Likewise, it was his intense love for Christ that led him to the point of wanting to imitate the object of his love in all that he was and did. In order to do that, he gave up everything he had: money, clothes, status and even his own family! One day I was watching an Italian TV movie on S.Francis – not “Brother Sun, Sister Moon”, a more recent one – and the scene of Francis stripping down in front of his own community made me think of another famous man who renounced everything he was and had: Buddha.
Now, I don’t want to draw easy comparisons between two different traditions and cultures with their own sets of values and historical features. Nevertheless, they both impressed me for their courage to walk away from the security of a good life and embrace the unknown. They both became mendicants. And they both found out what they were looking for. Through incredible hardship and pain, they went from darkness to light, from illusion to reality and laid down a path for millions of men and women around the world. They lit up a fire that has been passed on ever since. As I hear Francis’s last words: “I have done my duty. Now may Christ let you know yours”, I feel compelled to give my contribution to keep this flame of faith, hope and love alive for the generations to come.