As a Franciscan who deeply values the example of St.
Francis,
I
always appreciate the opportunity to help others
to
see more in Francis than the blessing of animals.
Not that this is unimportant!
We
humans desperately need to get over our species bias,
our
racism that sees the human race
as
more intelligent than other creatures, and therefore more important.
We need to get it that we are a part of the whole
ecosystem,
dependent
on the other components of that ecosystem,
and, honestly, the ecosystem could get along just fine
without us,
and
probably a whole lot better.
That being said Francis knew the
interrelationship of all the beings in creation.
The
Canticle of Creation expresses that fully.
Francis refers to Brother Sun, Sister Moon, brother fire
and sister water,
and
our sister, Mother Earth, who generates so much that is life sustaining.
But Francis is known for more
than his ecological astuteness.
There is the Francis who kissed
the leper
and
identified with his Savior to such an extent
that
he adopted a radical poverty so as to live the way Jesus did.
That close identification with
Jesus reached its fullness
when
Francis experienced within his own body
the
same wounds as Jesus bore in his crucifixion.
Today I want to talk about another aspect of Francis
that
I think is very timely and relevant to the issues of today
and
what we are all facing to some degree or another.
This is Francis as the agent of peace in the 13th
Century and the 21st Century.
Understand
that Francis is a peace saint,
a
reconciler between God and humans
and
a reconciler among humans, one with another.
When
Francis was a young man and still trying to achieve personal glory
as
a knight in shining armor,
he
rode out from Assisi with many of his peers
to
engage in battle with the town of Perugia,
some
10 or 12 miles away,
where
there had been long standing contention between the two –
feudal
warfare perpetuated over the generations.
Francis
had been taken prisoner
and
had languished a year in a dungeon in Perugia,
before
returning home ill and re-thinking the vain glory of war
Not
many years later, now gathering many brothers about him
and
living a life of extreme Gospel poverty,
Francis
was approached by those who also wanted to follow his example
but
who were married and had families to care for.
“Give
us a rule of life to live by too,” they demanded of him.
And
so the Third Order came into being.
In
the rule that Francis gave them,
as
well as living simply and penitently,
Francis
gave them a way to live reconciliation and peace:
“You
are not to bear arms,” he told them.
As
the medieval feudal system depended largely
on
the serfs, the common people, for their standing armies,
and
as the Third Order grew rapidly to many thousands of members
throughout
Europe,
the
number of serfs available for carrying on the continual warring
between
lords and fiefdoms shriveled up.
The
influence of St. Francis of Assisi essential brought to an end
the
whole era of feudal warfare.
But
there is another story about Francis often overlooked
until
this last decade or so.
In
2005, just four years after 9/11, on October 4
the
Feast of St. Francis of Assisi coincided with
Rosh
Hashanah, the Jewish New Year,
and
the beginning of Ramadan.
This
convergence provided a great opportunity for interfaith dialog,
a
time for learning about one another – Jew, Muslim and Christian –
in
order to build bridges of reconciliation and peace
in
a time of war, violence and fear.
And
it provided an opportunity to look with new understanding
at
the story of Francis during the 5th Crusade
and
his encounter with the Sultan Malik al-Kamil.
One
thing this shows is that interfaith dialog is not new,
is
not a product of just this generation.
Eight
hundred years ago Francis was engaged in
a
high level, interfaith dialog for the sake of reconciliation and peace.
The
story goes that Francis and one of his brothers, Illuminato,
traveled
to Damietta, Egypt, in 1219 during the 5th Crusade,
and
they went where they weren’t supposed to go.
Risking
their lives they sought out the Saracen leader,
Sultan
al-Kamil, who intrigued by Francis’ audacity,
and
after some testing,
engaged
with Francis in open-minded conversation.
Although
Francis was unsuccessful in his attempt to see
the
sultan converted,
he
was granted safe passage instead of martyrdom,
and
the Sultan then gave offers for a truce and possible peace.
He
also told Francis that although he could not become a Christian
because
of his leadership position,
would
Francis pray for him.
Now
the reason Francis was able to get so far with the Sultan
was
not because of having convincing arguments
or
proving his way was the right way,
but
through his openness of heart, his ability to listen and observe.
It
was through his acceptance and willingness to embrace
all
who came into his path.
No
one was a leper to him anymore.
No
one was turned away from or rejected.
Everyone
was welcomed as though they were Christ himself.
Francis
went to his enemy because he knew that he would find in him
what
he had found in the leper – Jesus.
For
always in the unexpected places Jesus is to be found.
In
the two weeks that Francis and Brother Iluminato spent with the Sultan
the
conversation shifted,
moving
into a place where neither had been before.
They
found a space for dialog that they both could be in,
a
space liberated from the two warring sides,
a
place in which they could speak what was vital to life and death
that
was not shared by the rest of those around them.
Liberated
from the outer condition of the Crusade
they
could share with each other their spirituality,
talk
about experiencing God in prayer.
This
enabled them to get beyond stereotypes and differences.
During
the 5th Crusade, the one Francis took part in,
his
mission was not to defeat, but to embrace the enemy.
And
what began as a confrontation in the Sultan’s tent evolved
as
each came to realize that before him was another human being
who
knew God,
and
so the need to convert was not the point;
there
was no need to turn the other to a different religion.
The
Sultan was deeply impressed by Francis,
especially
the way he was living what he preached,
how
he revealed Christ in his life.
And
Francis was learning from the Sultan and his people
a
way of worshipping God that the people of Europe could benefit from.
For
instance he came home to his brothers,
and
immediately encouraged them to prostrate themselves in praise to God
whenever
they heard a church bell ring.
We have an extant prayer of St. Francis
written after this encounter with the Sultan
that
praises God in the style of
the
Islamic praises of the names or attributes of Allah.
I
quote it in part:
“You are holy, Lord, the only God, and your
deeds are wonderful.
You are strong. Your are great. You are the Most High.
You
are almighty. …
You
are Good, all Good, supreme Good…
You are love, You are wisdom, …
You
are joy and gladness. … justice and moderation.
You are beauty. …
You
are our haven and our hope.
You are our faith. Our great consolation,
Great
and wonderful Lord, God almighty, Merciful Savior.”
So
this example of Francis, I would like you to consider,
is
now today for us more relevant than ever.
Look
at the issues around refugees, terrorism, immigration, Islamaphobia,
and
political and economic polarizations.
Francis
went where he wasn’t supposed to go.
We
are responsible for how we relate to the stranger living with us,
the
immigrant, the refugee, the one who looks different,
our
social lepers.
Can
we embrace them like Francis did?
Can
we go where we are not expected to go? –
to
the place that brings reconciliation and peace.
