Evil destroys good and no one who loves good tolerates evil in themselves or ignores evil in others. To do so would not only be destructive toward all we love but would be encouraging self-destructiveness in those we love!
St. Francis, after God had drawn 12 followers to him, went to Rome to seek approval from the for the Order that God was calling them to form. The night before they appeared before him, the Pope had a dream in which he observed St. John Lateran's - the church of the Pope - cracking, and tottering and about to collapse. The Pope was aghast as he stared helplessly on! Then, however, he observed a small beggar suddenly appear near the structure, put his arms up and steady it until the danger of collapse had passed. The next day, while receiving all of those who came for an audience, he recognized that the man he saw in his dream - was Francis of Assisi.
"O Lord Jesus Christ, You chose Your apostles twelve in number. And though one of the number fell, the rest clung to You and preached the holy Gospel, filled with one Spirit. You, O Lord, in this last hour, mindful of Your olden mercy, have planted this Order of brothers as a prop of Your faith and as a means to fulfill the mystery of the Gospel through them. Now, who is to make up for them before You if they not only fail to demonstrate before everybody the example of light, for which purpose they have been sent, but rather display the works of darkness!? By You, most holy Lord, and by all the court of Heaven, and by poor little me, let them be cursed who by their bad example embarrass and destroy what You have once built up and do not cease to build up through holy brethren of this Order!"
What was the difference between the 11 who proved faithful and the one who didn't? Francis said, "they clung to" Christ. This clinging was faith - the determination to hold on to both Jesus and His promises - no matter the sorrows or trials that came upon them. The 11 did not allow their weakness to discourage them in following Jesus. They looked to Him for forgiveness and help in staying faithful. Judas relied on himself and ended up betraying the Lord as well as his own principles. He ended up dieing alone, hanging himself from a tree in despair.
Francis knew that Jesus had 'planted this Order of brothers as a prop of . . . faith and as a means to fulfill the mystery of the Gospel through them'. What is this prop of faith he spoke of? The Order was created by God to support and strengthen faith in God throughout the Church and throughout the world.
How wonderfully this has taken place! Did you know there are atheists who appreciate, love and venerate St. Francis? People of faith throughout the world (even faiths that are not Christian!) love and honor the little holy man, Francis of Assisi. God was able to shine the light of His love so brilliantly through Francis that he became a sign of the infinite love and faithfulness of God. Even today Francis and his followers continue their work, comforting, strengthening and inspiring the men of the world.
But what is this 'mystery' of the Gospel? Gospel literally means 'Good News'. What makes it mysterious is that all of those amazing spiritual realities contained in the Gospel are so hard for men to understand. Some of the basic mysteries include: God Himself assumed human form and lived in the world as a limited human being; Christ came to serve rather than be served and to save others by dieing in their place; His resurrection from the dead was the guarantee that we also, one day, would rise body and soul, to live with Him forever; finally, our salvation comes totally from Him - what He has done - rather than our own good works, wisdom or power.
These 'mysteries' are fulfilled 'through' the little followers of Francis when they live out the realities of the Gospel. These mysteries are revealed in our lives until we are transformed by God into living 'Gospel's' - God's Good News 'incarnate' in each of us. The whole world can read us, living Gospel's, and come to understand God's love.
Francis' followers rightly reverence the Order(s). However, that doesn't mean that we should not look at their lives with blind eyes. Is it possible that some brothers could actually be like Judas - the betrayer of our Lord? We have seen how Francis compared faithful friars to the faithful Apostles of Christ. In the same way he compares sinful friars to Judas, who betrayed the Lord.
Francis is harsh (though humble) in his abhorrence of faithless friars. It is odd to think of our gentle father Francis being so harsh toward anyone, let alone his own brothers! How could those who have given up their lives in a religious Order ever betray God?! However, didn't Jesus say, "Even from your own midst false prophets shall arise, appearing as wolves, but in sheep's clothing." St. Paul said, "Is it any wonder that the servants of evil appear as servants of righteousness when their Master appeared as Lucifer - the Angel of Light?!"
Did you know that Jesus 'hated'? He said, "That which is highly prized and loved by men is despised and hated by God while that which God loves and treasures is hated and despised by men." Jesus didn't mince His words or His actions when it came to evil - especially blatant evil. He wasn't afraid to call those who rejected God's mercy and message of love, a "Generation of vipers . . . children of the devil . . . liars . . . murderers . . . evil . . . wicked . . . rebels against God . . . white-washed tombs . . . thieves . . . adulterers"
Francis was a true follower of Jesus. Like Jesus, he welcomed the poor broken hearted sinner into his heart and arms - comforting and encouraging him. However, with those who flaunted their evil (especially those who took their stand under the banner of holy orders), he had no patience. He calls on God, the heavenly court of angels and saints to curse those brothers who whose lives denied the spiritual realities of the Gospel - lives that denied Christ and His goodness. In fact Francis added his own curses to those of God and the saints toward his own brothers!
Countless Christian religious, throughout the millenia, have walked in the footsteps of Christ. However, these days, the only 'religious' we seem to hear about are those who have acted more like satan than like Christ. Jesus foretold this would happen when He said, "Because of their actions the way of God will be despised and rejected." Catholic universities are actually staffed with unbelievers (theologians and priests who are actually atheists) who have the responsibility of passing on the faith who will run the church! (Pope Benedict is actually trying to weed them out!) We've all heard of the priest's who sexually abused altar servers and others who stole from the offerings to live a life of luxury. These stories fill us with revulsion. They have covered Christ with filth, discredited the Gospel and discouraged the lost from finding God. These religious have followed Judas, trampling the blood of our Savior in the filth of their sin.
As followers of Jesus, Franciscans are called "to demonstrate before everyone the example of light" rather than "display the works of darkness". He says these cursed ones, by 'their bad example . . . embarrass and destroy" the good works of God. They don't spread the Gospel message of righteousness by their lives but destroy the good things others who are faithful have built - doing the opposite of their calling and proving themselves to be enemies of God and of all of humanity. Judas was sure, up to the very end, that he was doing the right thing. Only at the end did he realize that his actions denied the love he swore he had for Jesus. As he tied the rope around his neck he could not escape the fact that he had betrayed the One person who had truly loved him.
Let us be faithful to the Lord in how we live - reflecting the power of the Gospel in our lives and glorifying Christ. This is what it means to be a son of Light - a true follower of Jesus. Francis' curse falls on any member of the 3 Orders that he founded - including Secular Franciscans - on those who prove a source of shame and embarrassment to Christ and His Church. Let us not be darkness brothers and sisters, but rather let us shine like the Light whose children we claim to be!
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