St. Francis wanted all of his brothers to honor and lovingly obey all members of the clergy, especially priests who have, as St. Paul said, 'the responsibility of watching over your souls'. Francis' rationale for honoring the clergy is based on the fact that it is GOD that has decided to act through them . . . to bring Christ back into the world physically, during the Mass, and HE ALWAYS deserves our honor and respect!
Most of St. Francis' interactions with those in heaven were 'spiritual' in nature (prayers, visions and dreams) but there are many examples of heavenly persons taking on bodily forms to visit St. Francis. It is recorded in the 'Little Flower's of St. Francis' that he was visited by Christ, the Virgin Mary, St. Michael the Archangel and numerous others, in this way. These visitations were special to say the least but, for St. Francis, they occurred so often that they seemed part of the 'every day'. That is why, in the passage below, he speaks in such a matter of fact manner to St. Lawrence, a third century martyr and a saint.
St. Francis said, "If I were to meet at the same time some saint coming down from heaven and any poor little priest, I would first pay my respects to the priest and proceed to kiss his hands first. I would say, ‘Ah, just a moment St. Lawrence, because this person’s hands handle the Word of Life and possess something that is more than human. These hands have touched my Lord, and no matter what they be like, they could not soil Him or lessen His virtue . . . To honor the Lord, honor His minister . . . He can be bad for himself, but for me he is good." (About a priest accused of a sinful life).
We can sense Francis' discomfort when he says regretfully, 'Ah!'. Francis was extremely courteous, always sensitive towards everyone. In this case we see him quickly make his apologies to St. Lawrence as he rushes past him to reach the poor simple priest, anxious to pay his respects to him FIRST by 'kissing his hands'.
This is an interesting scenario! We have St. Lawrence, coming from serving in God's presence (where the truly important things for us all take place!) in great glory, to visit Francis but Francis doesn't appear to have time for him! Francis' first words are "Just a moment"! Can you imagine telling a saint coming from heaven to visit you to wait for you?!
Francis explains to St. Lawrence why he acts like this: "this person’s hands handle the Word of Life and possess something that is more than human". This is why Francis wants 'to kiss his hands.' The priest is the one God has given the power to bring Christ into the world again.
St. Lawrence, St. Francis points out, was honored by both God and Church, but was still no more than a man - nothing 'more than human'. Though the poor priest was also just a man, he also 'possessed something that is more,' something Divine. This 'something' did a miraculous thing: it allowed Christ, who the heavens and earth cannot contain, to enter the world transformed into what appears to be common food - bread and wine - for love of us! Alleluia!
St. Lawrence, a martyr for Christ, proved faithful to God in life and death. Shouldn't this faithful servant of God be shown greater respect (and get it first!) before this unproven priest?! Remember, when Jesus was asked if few would be saved He urgently replied "Try your hardest . . . for many are called but few are chosen." Judas was an APOSTLE, specially chosen by Jesus and ALSO had the gift of the priesthood. In the end, however, he proved to be the BETRAYER of Christ. St. Paul said, "Do not judge before the time for God alone knows the human heart" and "I don't count myself as being secure but continue to strive in faith for that which I have been called to receive." This is proof that none of us are safe - not even Apostles or priests! Therefore, this priest (unlike St. Lawrence) might not even make it into heaven! Who, then, deserves the greater respect, St Lawrence, perfected and already welcomed into heaven or this priest who, even if faithful now could prove unfaithful in the future?!
None of these arguments change the fact that the power to bring Christ into the world and offer Him to men . . . was in this poor priests hands! No matter how holy, faithful and good St. Lawrence is . . . He is nothing compared to Christ, who deserves ALL glory, honor and thanks!
St. Francis really gets to that which concerns us most in what he says next, "no matter what they be like, they could not soil Him or lessen His virtue". We might feel justified in ignoring or despising a sinful priest. However, the priest's failings should not determine how we feel toward them or treat them since Francis explains that Christ, in all His goodness and power, cannot be diminished by any man, no matter how sinful he is. Christ remains, in any priest's hands, THE SAME HOLY POWERFUL GLORIOUS PERSON, deserving of all honor and praise.
The gifts of God, including the priesthood, are things given us by God freely, without conditions, without our even being deserving. A person might try to make himself deserving of the gift: show God he truly appreciates it and expresses his gratitude by imitating the same selfless love God shows by, humbly and with great trust, placing Himself in the priest's hands. Despite all of this it should be clear that no matter what the priest might do before or after receiving the gift of the priesthood, he could never earn it or make himself deserving of it.
What God gives He does not take back. "Let every man be unfaithful but God will always be faithful to His promises to us," St. Paul said. The gift of the priesthood wasn't given because we deserved it but because we NEEDED it, God had the power to give it and because His heart is so filled with love for us. You can hear the wonder in Francis' voice over this gift when he says, 'These hands have touched my Lord'.
Francis tries to make his point about honoring priests even clearer: "To honor the Lord, honor His servant." The servant is here to act and speak on His Master's behalf. The priest, though just a servant, brings us eternal gifts from God! Since the Master is not present physically the only way to honor Him is to honor His representative - the priest. You are honoring the priest not for any ability or knowledge of his own but because he was sent by God - who deserves all honor and thanks for the gifts carried in His messengers hands.
When someone insisted that Francis was asking too much by saying we should respect even sinful priests, Francis responded, "He can be bad for himself, but for me he is good." The priest is 'good for' Francis in that, as long as the Church recognizes him AND he remains faithful to the teachings of Christ AND has not committed a sin which indicates A TOTAL betrayal of Christ - he should be honored for the 'good' he brings from Christ - the Body and Blood of Christ! If he is 'bad' then the bad he does affects himself and not Francis and his followers who have placed their trust in God. We can see that St. Francis wants us to stay focused on Christ and His power working through this sinful priest as he fulfills his priestly function.
One final note: Church scholars recognize the fact that St. Francis played a pivotal role in reforming the Church during his life. At the time, the Church was extremely corrupt, it's power was marginalized and heretical movements were on the rise everywhere. At this time the Pope had a dream about a poor beggar steadying St. John Lateran's Church - the Church in Rome - as it appeared about to crumble into a pile of debris. This dream was fulfilled in St. Francis. The pope recognized the face of the beggar in his dream as that of Francis when he saw him for the first time the very next day!
It was Francis' example of love, respect and humble obedience to the Church, especially toward priests, that transformed the Church. This is the way God ALWAYS works through His servants. Remember St. Paul taught "The weapons of our warfare are not of this world but heavenly and spiritual in nature and are able to demolish fortresses!" The world fights with weapons, angry yelling and cursing which creates resentment, bitterness and vengeful actions. Christ teaches us to fight with humility, gentleness, generosity, selflessness and love. Remember, "We conquer hatred with love" and "Fight evil with good." This is what Christ taught and what Francis practiced. The way to change sinful priests is to give them a true example of the humble and pure Christ and pray earnestly for them to live up to their calling as representatives of Christ. That is the way Christ taught Francis to do it and the way we, as followers and friends of Francis, should do it!
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, Your goal in confronting people in the world was not to condemn them but to save them and give them the power to change. Your servant Francis loved and honored those who were unlovable and had no honor and by doing so, You transformed them in love and honored them with Your glory. Teach us to fight evil with good and hate with love. Transform us into peacemakers so that there will be peace between You and Your children and peace between all Your children and the world. Keep us focused on Your goodness in the face of sin, so that confident in Your power to change things we won't get discouraged or have our peace and joy diminished in anyway. Our hope is in You dear Lord for we KNOW YOU CAN DO ALL THINGS. Amen.
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