Accepting the Outcast

Francis, having returned to the church of blessed Mary of the Porziuncula, found Brother James the Simple with a certain leper much ulcerated.  For Francis has commended that leper and all others to him, because he was as it were their physician, and he freely touched their wounds and cleansed them and took care of them, for then the friars used to abide in the hospitals of the lepers.

            But Francis said to Brother James, as if reproving him, “You ought not to lead out these Christians, because it is neither decent for you nor for them.”  For though he wished to serve them, he did not wish that those who were most afflicted to be taken out of the hospital because people would be abhorred in seeing them.  Brother James was so simple that he used to go with them from the hospital to the church of St. Mary of the Porziuncula, as he would have gone with one of the friars.  And Francis used to call the lepers Christian brothers. 

            After Francis had said this, he immediately blamed himself, believing that the leper had been put to shame for the blame which he had thrown on Brother James.  Therefore, desiring to satisfy God and the leper, he confessed to Brother Peter of Catana, who was then Minister-General.  And he said, “I wish that you would confirm to me the penance which I have chosen to do for this fault and that you would not contradict me.”  He answered, “Brother, do as you please,” for Brother Peter so venerated and feared him that he did not presume to contradict him, even though Francis was often afflicted with guilt.  Then Francis said, “Let this be my penance, that I eat of the same dish as my Christian brother.” 

Therefore, when Francis sat down to the table with the leper and with other friars, one dish was placed between Francis and the leper.  But the leper was all ulcerated and loathsome, and especially he had his fingers shriveled and bleeding with which he took up lumps from the dish, so that when he put them in the dish the blood and matter of the fingers flowed into it.  And, seeing this, Brother Peter and the other friars were saddened, but did not dare to say anything on account of the far and reverence of Francis.  He who saw this wrote it down and bears testimony of these things.

                        Mirror of Perfection, Section IV, Chapter 58

Francis, Francis.  What am I going to do with you?  

Francis' impulse was wonderful here.  He wanted to feed and clean the lepers, and this was partly because of his own deep fear of lepers from a young age.  Of course, we now know that leprosy (now called Hansen's Disease) isn't really contagious to adults.  But in the ancient world, it was considered extremely contagious. 

Francis was so mortified by his possible rejection of unity with his leper brother that he caused even MORE embarrassment to the leper by insisting that they ate of the same bowl, and then calling it "penance". 

Francis wanted to accept the outcast, especially the outcast he was particularly averse to.  It is a good notion, but what is more important that we love all the outcast, which means radical acceptance, even in the fact of society's rejection.  The mentally ill, the homeless, homosexuals, felons, and all others that are rejected by society, we need to go out of our way to accept.  Not in a halfhearted way, like Francis, but with full love, and full joy.  This doesn't mean we don't take care to not recognize the weaknesses of those we accept-- whether it be contagion or potential criminal behavior.  But we find ways to make our friends be comfortable and helped in as much as we can.

Cleanliness Next to Godliness

On a time when he was staying at St. Mary of the Porziuncula, and there were as yet but few friars, blessed Francis went by those villages and churches in the neighborhood of Assisi announcing and preaching to men that they should do penance, and he carried a broom to sweep out unclean churches.  For the holy Father grieved much when he saw any church not so clean as he wished.  And therefore, when the preaching as finished, he always made all the priests who were there gather together in some remote place, lest he should be overheard by the lay folk, and preached to them of the salvation of souls and especially that they should be careful to keep clean the churches and altars, and all things which pertained to the celebration of the divine mysteries.

                        -Mirror of Perfection, Section IV, Chapter 56

Early in Francis' life he was called by God to "Rebuild my Temple." Francis at first thought he was to repair a chapel near his town.  So it only makes sense that he would become a fanatic about churches being clean.  It's kind of how he started on the path to sainthood.

Cleanliness by itself isn't that significant.  It's nice to keep things clean, but not at the heart of godliness.  However, to clean for another is to show respect for them.  It is to humble oneself low enough to do a demeaning task that we pay minimum wage for.  Cleaning for others, and especially cleaning for God, is important for a healthy soul. 

Francis Animated

A cartoon giving a non-canonical story about Francis and Brother Philip.  I like the animation.  Kinda VeggieTalesish. 

Rejoicing in the Poor Offering

Francis, seeing that the Lord wished to multiply the number of his friars, said to them, “Dearest brothers and my little sons, I see that the Lord wills to multiply us.  So it seems good and religious to me that we should obtain either from the canons of St. Rufinus or from the Abbot of St. Benedict, some church where the friars may say their Hours and only have near it some small sorry hut constructed from mud and branches, where the brethren may rest and work.  For this place is not fitting nor sufficient to the friars, since the Lord wishes to multiply them and especially since we have here no church where the friars may say their Hours.  And if any friar should die, it would not be fitting to bury him here, nor in a church of the secular clergy.”   And this speech pleased all of the friars.

            So he went to the Bishop of Assisi, and laid the request before him.  The Bishop replied to him, “Brother, I have no church which I can give you,” and the canons also said the same.  Then he went to the Abbot of St. Benedict of Monte Subasio and laid the same proposition before him.  But he Abbot, moved with piety, having counseled with his monks, with the divine will and grace operating, conceded to Francis and his friars the church of St. Mary of the Porziuncula, as the smallest and poorest church they had.  And the Abbot said to blessed Francis, “Behold, brother, we have granted what you have asked.  But if the Lord should multiply this congregation, we wish that this place would be foremost among your dwellings.” 

And the speech pleased Francis and his brothers, and Francis rejoiced greatly concerning the place conceded to the friars, especially on account of the name of the church, of the Mother of Christ, and because it was so small and poor a church, and also because it was named the Porziuncula, in which it was prefigured that it should be the head and the mother of the poor Friars Minor.  For the church was called the Porziuncula, because of that court which was formerly called “the little portion.”  So Francis was given to say, “The Lord wished that no other church should be granted to the friars, and that the first friars should not as then build a new church nor have any other except that, since by this, through the advent of the Friars Minor, a certain prophecy was fulfilled.”  

And though it was poor and now destroyed, yet for a great time the men of the city of Assisi and of all its lordship had had great devotion to that church, and they have a greater today and dail honor it.  So as the brothers went there to live, from that time the Lord multiplied their number almost daily and their reputation was wonderfully scattered through all the valley of Spoleto, and many parts of the land.  Yet of old it was called St. Mary of the Angels because, as it was said, the songs of Angels and of celestial spirits were there heard of those coming to the place.

                        -Mirror of Perfection Section IV, Chapter 55

I love this story partly because it reflects an event that happened in the early days of Anawim. 

In 2003, my family and I were being kicked out of our apartment because we invited the homeless to visit and sometimes stay with us.  The new owner didn't like our kind of people, so he gave us a 30 day notice, which was his right.  However, years before we had moved in without a deposit in the lowest rent district in town... and finding a new place would be difficult at best.  Frankly, we just didn't have the money for it. 

I called two people for prayer-- my pastoral overseer and my father-- for prayer, because we didn't know what to do.  Two days later, my father called me and offered to purchase a house for us.  

We were shocked, and praising God, and overjoyed.  But we also realized that we had only a little time to find another place.  So we looked at the internet, and we sought God.  I felt God was saying to look nearby downtown Portland, so we did... with no luck.  It wasn't so much that the places around downtown were so expensive, but that they were so difficult to do ministry out of.  We had a family of five who were ministering to the homeless-- what kind of house would do for that?

Diane (my wife) and I took to driving down streets, looking for houses for sale.  One house we drove by was just right-- it was large, and just north of downtown Portland. Diane said, "It's going to be way too expensive."  I said that it couldn't hurt to try, so we called our realtor and set up an appointment.  

The house WAS huge.  It had six bedrooms and a couple sheds in the back.  It had a shower downstairs that could be used for the homeless.  And it wasn't too expensive.  The sellers were an old couple who had done ministry to the homeless out of the house for years.  We took a liking to each other just as soon as we met.  It was done.

However, the house was beat up, torn down, and filled with at least thirty years of junk.  There were whole rooms full of trash and old wood.  It took almost a year to clear it all out.  The wiring was old and problematic.  But overall, it is wonderful and we appreciate it so much.

We have had dozens of people stay in our house-- at one point we had as many as 16 people in the house.  It is a wonderful gift of God-- and my father-- and we appreciate it every day.   

A gift that is broken down and weak is still a gift.  And the gift given with generosity and sincerity will always be rewarded.