Francis was a violent man. Jesus was describing people like Francis when He said, "The Kingdom of God is suffering violence and the violent are taking it by force." St. Paul talked about this as well when he said, "We must do violence to ourselves . . ." and "I treat my body hard and make it obey me . . ." Francis was gentle and kind toward everyone but was hard with himself. Francis knew who his enemies were and the worst one was lurking within. God said through a prophet, "The heart of man is a despicable things, filled with all wickedness and deceit". It is this enemy, the Flesh, that Francis fought against to his last breath and, by the grace of God, overcame. We all must overcome this enemy if we want to be with God.
St. Paul talked about 'living in bondage to sin' and being 'subject to spiritual corruption' and the horror of 'living in darkness'. All of these are the consequences of being separated from God - spiritual death. We were made to not only know God but to be in constant communion with Him. Without God we are mere shells of what we were intended to be and it is only by being united to God that the full wonder of our being is revealed. Jesus said, "I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly!" Jesus brought life - the great gift of God - and wants to give it to all of us.
Those without God are spiritually dead and this death means that one's life is filled with misery, sorrow, pain and darkness! Those who want to truly live - to know the joy and peace of being in a relationship with God - hate those things that separate us from Him and delight in those things that help us to get close to Him. This is what Francis is celebrating in the Virtues. They enable us to overcome our enemies and draw close to God - the source of all goodness and life.
"And every one of you puts vice and sin to rout; Holy wisdom shames the devil and all his evil arts; Holy pure simplicity shames all the wisdom of this world, and the wisdom of the flesh. Holy poverty shames all grasping and hoarding, and the worries of this world."
Francis says that every virtue 'puts vice and sin to rout'. We can see here that Francis is talking about war! This means that the power in the army of virtues is so great that the evil forces of sin cannot stand their ground against them and must turn tail and 'run away'.
'Holy wisdom shames the devil and all his evil arts' because the wisdom of the devil comes out of darkness - ignorance, delusion and lies. The devil's 'evil arts' are those abilities and skills that enable the devil to accomplish his work of death and darkness in the world and in the hearts of men. 'Holy Wisdom' is the Light that reveals the true nature of what the devil says and does - that his motivations are hatred, spite, envy, jealousy, selfishness and rage. The devil is 'shamed' in that everything he is and says and does is shown to be stupid, weak, and valueless. He is humiliated when God reveals, through the light of 'Holy Wisdom' shining in the lives of His people, that the devil is actually a powerless fool and worthless. After all Jesus said, "He was a murderer from the beginning" and "He is a liar and the father of lies and there was never any truth in him." His business is death and lies - that is all he is, all he cares about and all he does.
We know the Wisdom of God leads to God and to all that is good. There is also a wisdom of the world but, compared to God's wisdom, it is pure stupidity. St. Paul said "If anyone of you thinks of himself as wise in the ordinary sense of the word then he must learn to be a fool before he really can be wise. Why? Because the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God." (This is why Francis referred to himself as 'a new kind of fool in the world'.) This is exactly what St. Francis is talking about when he says "pure simplicity shames all the wisdom of this world, and the wisdom of the flesh". The world tells us that what is 'real' and truly important is focusing on indulging selfish pleasure, here and now, in this world. The commercials on T.V. celebrate the idea of ' instant gratification'. That is why money is so valuable because it provides the maximum flexibility - in time and space - allowing people to misuse the many good gifts of God.
A life that is focused only on itself, that is selfish and petty, is tragically empty and meaningless. Simplicity shames the wisdom of the world and the flesh (two of our worst enemies, the third being the devil) by revealing how empty, meaningless and worthless - how spiritually bankrupt - they are. The world (the values and principles that people without God operate under) and the flesh (undisciplined, therefore excessive exploitation our sensual nature) promise so much but, in the end, all they offer is 'dust in the wind'. It makes no sense to follow the dictates of the world and the flesh since they end in nothing but ruin and sorrow.
Jesus said, "The real substance of life is not found in having or using things." A person who has the virtue of Simplicity knows this Truth Jesus talked about by experience - that a truly wonderful life is filled with what is really important, 'spiritual' things like love, goodness, patience, kindness, faith, etc. People of the world willingly trade relationships for things and love for pleasures and cheat themselves and others of what is really good, meaningful and beautiful.
St. Francis is talking again about our enemy, the World, when he says 'Holy poverty shames all grasping and hoarding, and the worries of this world'. Jesus, in the Parable of the Sower, explained that the weeds that choked out the Gospel seeds, preventing them from bearing fruit were "the riches, pleasures and worries of the world". Holy Poverty reveals the foolishness of the world, how stupid and ugly it is, to cling to 'things', gather large amounts of these things, and refuse to share the bounty of the Lord by giving to those with real needs. The World is worried about two things - getting (and keeping) everything it can for itself and getting it here and now. Jesus said, "If you cannot control the smallest things in life, why are you worried about all the rest?!" He added, "Don't be like those who live without trusting the living God and who are always worried about food and clothes" and "God will provide all you need". Poverty frees us by revealing the delusions and lies of the World (that 'things' are what is important in life). Poverty shows us we can rely upon our loving Father to provide all we need and, in addition, fill our lives to overflowing with peace, joy and love. Seeing the reality behind the lies and delusions of the world allows us to stop being greedy, selfish and worrying about 'things'. Poverty frees us to focus on what is truly important - knowing Love, being peaceful and living in joy - the things God wants us to 'worry' about. In regards to what we need to live in this world Jesus said, "Seek first God's will in your lives and all of these other things will be given as well" .
PRAYER: Lord God, Francis fought all of his life and with all of his strength to overcome himself (his 'flesh'), the world and the devil and, by Your grace, was successful. You gave Him a multitude of spiritual treasures - the holy virtues - that filled his life to overflowing with what is good and made him a man of limitless peace, boundless joy and infinite love. Free us from the lies, the delusions of the devil, the world and the flesh and help us to know the 'Truth that will set us free'. We would know You, walk with You and work with You in doing all Your Father asks - loving for the sake of Love - for love of You our dear God and ever faithful Father. We believe in You to provide all of our needs so ask for grace to 'hunger and thirst for righteousness' because we know, You will fill us to overflowing. Amen.
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