Because Jesus emptied himself totally in trust and love, he could be raised in victory to the eternal glory he had with the Father and the Spirit. But now—and only now, after his death—could the victorious God-man Savior send his Spirit, the Spirit of the Father, to complete his work on earth.

—from the book Live Like Francis: Reflections on Franciscan Life in the World
by Jovian Weigel, OFM

The Franciscan life is a high calling. But if God has given us this vocation, he will also give us his grace to carry it out. One important quality is required: a spirit of trust and generosity. This is the lesson of Francis’ life: a spirit of childlike confidence in his Father in heaven, and in the power and wisdom and love of his Father. With him, there is nothing to fear. Nothing can hurt us. There is no problem we cannot solve with God’s wisdom and grace.

—from Franciscan Media’s “St. Francis and the Word of God“
by Jovian Weigel, OFM

As with St. Paul, the only thing Francis would take pride in was the “cross of Christ.”

—from Franciscan Media’s “Humility: The Twin of Poverty”
by Jovian Weigel, OFM

In his simple wisdom, Francis saw poverty and humility as twins. We are absolutely dependent on God for all things: that is humility. And God will provide them: that is poverty. We are nothing without God: that is humility. We want nothing but God: that is poverty. As creatures, we are poor before God: that is both poverty and humility. Humility is a virtue whereby we realize and act according to our nothingness apart from God and our complete dependence upon God.

Christ began his Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes. First among them is “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3). This has two meanings: (1) How happy are they who are free because of their spirit of Gospel poverty, and (2) how happy are they who realize and admit that they are absolutely poor before God and thus see everything as a gift!

The fundamental statement of humility was made by our Lord. “Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Nothing can exist without God. Our hearts will not beat another beat, our next breath will not be drawn unless God keeps on maintaining our lives. We cannot raise a finger a fraction of an inch or love our neighbor unless God keeps us alive. Humility is, therefore, a deep and simple virtue. It acknowledges our absolute nothingness without God and our complete dependence on God every second of every day. “Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God” (2 Corinthians 3:5). It is hard for proud human beings to believe this basic truth of all life.

Humility in this sense was in Christ. His human nature was as dependent on the divine as we are. Therefore, Jesus had to say: “I do nothing on my own, but I speak these things as the Father instructed me. And the one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him” (John 8:28–29). Mary, in all her immaculate beauty of soul, had to say, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). She was nothing without God. How much more we ought to recognize this Christ as our model in humility.

Just as he depended on his Father, so we must depend on God. One of the greatest tragedies of life is the self-hate or the lack of a sense of self-worth that afflicts many people—sometimes without their realizing it. They feel completely insecure. How can anyone love them since they are not worth loving? How can they love others since they have nothing to give? How can they believe that others really love them since they are nothing?

This attitude does not reflect humility but emotional sickness, the terrible result of others’ lack of love. Anyone who is truly humble before God has heard the Good News, that God has made us really something—his children. And God loves us!

Pride, humility’s opposite, is the infected heart of all sin. It says, “I am somebody, all by myself. I am independent, worthwhile, all by myself. I need no one, not even God.” The tragedy of so many good people is the infection of pride that runs through their whole lives. One can be proud of the holiest things such as prayer and kindness. One can even be proud of humility!

Francis always mentioned humility in the same breath with poverty. In a sense, they are the same: personally doing without. This is a fact, because all that we have is from God. This is an ideal, because we want to be without everything but God. Some of the most striking things Francis said concern humility: “A man is what he is in the sight of God and nothing more.” “The better a man really is, the worse he feels himself to be.” The more we appreciate God’s gifts and unending generosity, the more we become conscious of refusing to admit this and spoiling God’s precious gifts. As with St. Paul, the only thing Francis would take pride in was the “cross of Christ.”

Even while he was the happiest of men, Francis felt himself to be the worst sinner in the world. No one ever took more seriously Christ’s words, “When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done’” (Luke 17:10). The follower of Christ was trying to keep a balance: realizing his nothingness but believing in God’s love.

“Let us begin to do good, for as yet we have done little.”
—St. Francis of Assisi

Francis spoke these words at a time when most people already considered him a saint. In his mind, there was no plateau in life where he could feel he had “made it” and could coast into heaven from then on.

He did not compare his love with that of other men but with that of Christ; hence, he always saw an infinite expanse into which he could still go, becoming more and more like his Lord. God has already blessed you with his life and given you the gift of faith and faithfulness. Each time we begin anew, we enter a new phase of life intent on enriching our relationship with God. You are not entering upon something different from the Christian life or something better than the life of other Christians.

You are looking, like Francis and with Francis, into that vast expanse of Christ’s love, and you desire to share it more deeply. The only thing different about your new life is that your Christian life will now be given a particular coloring and direction by Francis and the traditions that have grown from his life and words. You’re beginning again, and you will continue to begin again for the rest of your life. 

We often think that God’s call comes to us when we have achieved a level of spiritual perfection, when we are worthy of so great a calling. But the reality for most of us is that we get hints and suggestions of a new direction for our lives at the most unexpected (and occasionally inopportune) times. It was this way for Jesus’ first apostles. And it was this way for St. Francis of Assisi and many of the saints.

In your spiritual life, you must be satisfied to progress gradually. Usually you will not notice your growth. Sometimes it may even seem you are growing backward as you discover your weaknesses and failings. But trust in God. Allow God to lead you through your spiritual companions, through the reflections of this book, through your own study and prayer. Week by week, you will turn your attention from one aspect of the spiritual life to another.

It’s like painting a picture: a touch here, a dab there, and gradually the masterpiece emerges. When you finish this year of reflection, study, and prayer, you will be just beginning a deeper and more fruitful life with God. No deep understanding of Jesus, Francis, and Clare can be reached without God’s direction through prayer.

Make each action part of your prayer life. Invite the Holy Spirit to lead you not just to mental knowledge but to a deep spiritual understanding that will result in your conversion. Conversion is the ongoing process of learning to live the gospel way of life given to us by Jesus and revealed to us by Francis and Clare.

Prayer

Lord, you promise to make all things new.
That includes me.
As I begin this journey
to discover St. Francis’s way to you,
I ask you to begin to renew
my faith, my hope, and my love.
Amen

“Sin directs the heart of the wicked man;
his eyes are closed to the fear of God.”
(Psalm 36:2)

The Book of Psalms was composed many centuries before Jesus’ time. The psalms are beautiful prayers that fit every condition and circumstance of life. They praise the Lord’s goodness and cry out in complaint and despair for the suffering we experience. The Book of Psalms, inspired as it is by God, gives us a powerful insight into human nature. The imagery is strong and so telling in its description. One such example is the opening verse of Psalm 36, entitled “Human Wickedness and Divine Providence.

The opening line reads, “Sin directs the heart of the wicked; their eyes are closed to the fear of God.” It applies when we hear about or witness an individual’s deliberate act of evil against poor, innocent, and defenseless people. What I find so startling is how Psalm 36 seems to give life to the word sin as when it states that “Sin directs the heart of the wicked.”

Psalm 36 states clearly that sin itself speaks to the sinner, but speaks from within the sinner’s heart. Keep in mind that it is good people who are tempted, not bad people. That’s why it is so important to understand that temptation itself is not a sin. After all, Jesus himself was tempted many times in his earthly life.

Temptation is an attraction to sin and, given our wounded human nature, it is very normal to experience attraction to sin. For example, no one I know likes cod liver oil. Most people gag at the thought of a spoonful. Few would be tempted to indulge in a taste. But to spread gossip, to lie out of pride, to eat a hot fudge sundae—now these are forms of temptation. Good people are tempted by the attractiveness of sin. But Psalm 36 says that truly bad people are not tempted. If Satan sought to tempt, he would not waste time on a true sinner. Dedicated sinners don’t need temptation.

The Choices We Make

It is important to know the struggle with temptation that good people have only means that they are seeking to live good lives. That’s why they are tempted. Con artists, cheats, and investment robbers never have to worry about temptations because they have made the decision to rob others. They probably even sleep well at night. Good people experience guilt. Dedicated sinners do not.

But we also know that the evil decisions people make in life are the decisions they carry into eternity. So, in the end, they have chosen their eternity. They are not rejected by God. It is they who reject God.