This week marks exactly 800 years since the death of Saint Francis of Assisi at the age of 44. Since then, Francis has become one of the most beloved and venerated figures in Christianity. He was the handsome son of a prosperous Italian silk merchant who gave up everything to become a beggar and itinerant preacher for Jesus Christ and His Holy Church. His severe asceticism and radical zeal for the things of God soon attracted many others. Within his lifetime, his Franciscan Order had grown to include approximately 5,000 members. Saint Francis was also the first person in history to receive the stigmata, the wounds of Christ on his hands and feet. So, what does this saint, whose radical discipleship earned him the nickname ‘God’s fool’, mean to people today? Here is what four devotees of Francis from the Diocese of Lansing have to say:
NancyLee Bareham, 20, is a graduate of Lansing Catholic High School. She is in her fourth year of study at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio as a theology and catechetics major. Nancy writes:
Saint Francis is attributed with saying, “Preach the Gospel always, when necessary use words.” As a theology and catechetics student I’m taught how to use words to proclaim the kerygma. That is easy. Telling people about Jesus is easy. Showing people Jesus is much harder, but Saint Francis did exactly that. It wasn’t just the lifestyle of poverty or the vows of virtue that he bound himself to that made him holy. Saint Francis lived his life with the knowledge that he was a beloved child of the Father.
As a college student I wear many hats. Theology major, student at Franciscan University, convert, etc. It can be quite easy to view myself as only those parts of who I am. While good, those parts do not determine the identity I’ve had and will forever have. At every moment I am a daughter of the Father: seen, known, and loved. That is how Saint Francis lived his life, it’s how he was able to preach the Gospel simply through his acts. He knew that he did not have to be articulate or witty to tell people about Jesus. He simply had to love. That is the Gospel. The greatest love story ever known; a story that tells of the endless love that Jesus has for us, for me. That is what Saint Francis inspires me to do. Not to strive for a state of perfection to be the greatest evangelist, but to love simply and pray.
Sister Solana Wegienka is a Franciscan Sister of Penance of the Sorrowful Mother. Sister Solana is a graduate of Michigan State University in East Lansing and entered her community in 2021. A self-declared lover of zoology and all animals, before entering Sister worked at a zoo, a doggy daycare, an animal shelter and a veterinarian’s office. Sister Solana writes:
…with Saint Francis as my model of Gospel living, I place myself at the disposal of this religious community, to glorify God and to make known His merciful love.” This is the last line of the vow formula of my community, the Franciscan Sisters, TOR of Penance of the Sorrowful Mother. I am an alumna of both Father Gabriel Richard High School and Michigan State University. While attending both of these schools, the Lord gently drew me to himself as He invited me to consider being a religious sister. His invitation to be His bride, consecrated for Him alone, is one of the greatest gifts of my life! And while I didn’t know a lot about St. Francis when I first met our community, I am so grateful to be his little daughter! Francis is beautifully incarnational. He loved the crib, the cross, and the Eucharist: these tangible reminders of how God loves us to the point of humbling Himself for us. Francis was simply all in. He exhorts his brothers, and all of us, as they gaze at the “humility of God” in the Eucharist, to “hold back nothing of yourselves for yourselves so that He who gives himself totally to you may receive you totally” (Letter to the Entire Order). And the inspiring thing about Francis is that he did just this! He was so aware of his own weakness, and yet the Lord used him to rebuild and transform the world around him. Saint Francis is my model of a person who radically lived the Gospel. He also encourages me to continue to run the race. As we celebrate this jubilee, may we follow his example in holding nothing back from our Most High and Glorious God!
Father James Conlon has been pastor of Saint Francis of Assisi Parish since 2013. Father Conlon writes:
In almost 25 years of priesthood, I have had four assignments, three of which have been under the auspices of Saint Francis. It is as if this saint from Assisi was trying to teach me a lesson. To be honest, I was never a great fan of Saint Francis. To me he was more of a hippie saint, a boy about town, with a reputation first for high living and then for preaching to animals and caring for the environment, none of which I was ever really interested in.
But then in 2015 came an opportunity to spend some real time in Assisi, not as a tourist but as a pilgrim. To be able to walk the cobblestoned streets where he walked, to pray in the churches and at the sites where he had prayed and to get to know the real Francis, the one-time knight and troubadour who gave up everything and lived in total dependence on God.
Yes, for many in our world he will always be associated with animals, but for me he is that humble man of spiritual steel, a man of deep prayer and total commitment to Christ. Many don’t know that, ordained a deacon to preach and serve the poor, Francis refused priestly ordination, despite his great love of the Eucharist. His renunciation of the things of this world allowed him to live with open hands before God and to be used by the Lord not just to rebuild His Church but to be a living witness to the life changing power of the Gospel. In the end, Francis’ true spiritual greatness really lies here!
Mike Kutas is a married father of two and serves as the Director of the Saint Francis Retreat Center in Dewitt. Mike writes:
"Go touch grass” is a phrase popular with a generation or two younger than me. To help those in my age group, it means to go outside, reconnect with nature, to get off the internet — and the interstate. Jesus summed it up by saying: come away to a quiet place. Saint Francis of Assisi is certainly an unlikely hero in my life. As an attorney licensed to practice patent and trademark law, I had my plan worked out. Then came an unexpected invitation to join the team at the Saint Francis Retreat Center.
You cannot miss Saint Francis’ influence at the retreat center. I have a job where I open my office window and hear birds singing, groups praying together, and the rush of the wind through the pines. I work at a place where my children grew up, volunteered their time, and developed a deep relationship with our Lord. I have the opportunity to meet and work with extraordinary people, and am reminded daily of the gifts I have in my life.
As a man who had all the world had to offer, Saint Francis instead chose to follow God’s plan. Deeply spiritual but stubborn and steadfast, he is a perfect reminder to today’s busy world to “go touch grass.”
An unlikely encounter with an unlikely saint has provided a life so far beyond what the world has to offer that it is not even fair to compare the two. This is what Saint Francis means to me.
Saint Francis of Assisi, pray for us.
