Francis, in the previous post, celebrated the various Virtues as gifts of God that share His Divine nature. Francis talked about Holy Wisdom, Pure Simplicity and Holy Poverty and how they were the enemies of the Flesh, the World and the Devil, vanquished them, and set us free to know God. Francis continues with his 'Salute' to the Virtues by talking about Humility, Charity and Obedience. These virtues, along with the others, allow us to get the victory over ourselves and, as St. Paul said, be 'transformed into Christ'.
St. Francis said, "Holy humility gives shame to pride and anybody of this world and anything in all the world. Holy charity gives shame to all temptations of the devil, and the flesh, and any carnal fear. Holy obedience shames all self-will of flesh and body, and keeps a body mortified to obey the spirit, and obey one’s fellow man."
Proud is the best character trait to describe our 3 spiritual enemies - the Flesh, the World and the devil. Pride made the devil try to take control of heaven from God. He said, "I shall sit on the throne of God and be God!" Pride and the desire for glory were the tools the devil used to persuade the snake to become his ally in tempting Adam and Eve. Finally, it was pride and lust for power that led the first humans to disobey God. Remember, they were led to believe that, by eating the fruit, they would 'become like God'. All three ended up claiming beauty, power or intelligence as theirs by right and aspired to a position that only God has the right to assume. This sin of pride ultimately led all three to rebel against God. Humanity has been paying for that sin ever since . . . with sorrow, suffering and death.
Pride is not only one of the most horrendous sins we commit in our lives but the one that we commit nearly every day of our lives! St. James was referring to prideful presumption when he wrote, "Who are you to say, 'I will go to this city, trade there for a year and make some money' when you do not know what tomorrow will bring?! All such talk is evil. The most you should say is, 'If God is willing I will be alive to do this or that'". How often do we 'declare' what we 'will do' instead of saying, as St James tell us we should, 'if God is willing'? We sin in this way, daily, without it ever occurring to us that we are thinking in a sinful way - a way opposed to God's will!
Francis tell us that "Holy humility gives shame to pride and anybody of this world and anything in all the world''. God loves Humility and that is the reason He loved the prophet Moses so much. He was extremely humble. God said about Moses, "I have not found a more humble man in all the earth." God loves humility and is humble Himself. Jesus, the Son of God, is just as humble. That is why St. Paul says, "Though Jesus was the Son of God, He did not cling to His divinity but emptied Himself of His Divine power and became a man. And, being a man, He humbled Himself even further and willingly suffered death, even death on a cross."
No thing can withstand the force of the power, glory and goodness of God. Scripture tells us that "No man can see the face of God and live". St. Paul describes God as being a 'consuming fire'. Francis says that 'Humility shames anybody and anything in the world' because Holy Humility gives both humans and angels the clarity in seeing the great goodness and power of God. It is in God's Light that we can see what we really are - nothing (at least in comparison to God). We should feel shame that we presume to think we are so great! It is God who deserves all the glory for the good He has placed within us and the good He does through us.
However, our sinful ignorance and pride cause us to try to claim God's glory for ourselves! Yet we prove, day after day, that the only thing we deserve is death, because of our sins. All goodness comes from God since Jesus said "God alone is good".
Francis said 'Holy charity gives shame to all temptations of the devil, and the flesh, and any carnal fear'. Charity, like all of the virtues 'shames' the sinful works of the flesh, the world and the devil by showing us what they really are - low, dirty, cheap and ugly. However, like all evil, those works of evil are shrouded by delusion and ignorance so most men don't realize how terrible they are. The work of our spiritual enemies is characterized by selfishness - what 'I want', rather than what God wants.
The great quality that is most admirable about love is that it is selfless and pure. Love teaches us to always look for opportunities to help others. Jesus said, "I have not come to be served, but to serve and to give my life a ransom for many". Jesus, who deserves to have everyone serve Him since He is Lord of all, chose to take care of everyone else first. That is what Charity is, selfless and humble.
Charity reveals to us the true nature of the lies of the devil. He wants us to think only about 'number one' (ourselves). This attitude is short-sighted and mean-spirited. Unlike the devil, God 'Gives His blessings equally to the good and the bad, the sinful and the righteous man'. Jesus goes on to tell us we must 'be like your Father in heaven'. St. Peter tells us that Jesus, "Went about everywhere, doing good to all men". He was our example for He said to His disciples after washing their feet, "As you have seen me do this for you, do this also to each other."
Love shames 'carnal fear' because God is so infinite in His love for us that we learn we 'can rely on Him to take care of us'. There is no reason to fear anything or anybody in this world. Jesus said, "Behold, I Am with you always, even to the end of the world". There is no reason to fear since we have an all powerful, all knowing and ever present ally, God Himself, on our side.
Obedience is the last virtue Francis mentions but it is also one of the most powerful ones. Francis said, 'Holy obedience shames all self-will of flesh and body, and keeps a body mortified to obey the spirit, and obey one’s fellow man'. When Francis speaks of the 'spirit' here it appears he is talking about the same thing St. Paul is when he said, "My mind knows what is right and wants to do it but the law of sin prevents me from doing what I want." Jesus said "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak". St. Paul said 'the flesh is evil and is not subject to God, nor can it be'. This is why Jesus, St. Paul and Francis stated that our bodies, 'the Flesh', must submit to the spirit and should never be allowed to do what it wants for it doesn't think about what is right (doesn't want to!) and is constantly at war against God.
St. Paul tells us to 'walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the desires of the Flesh'. When Francis says 'mortify the flesh' he is just repeating what Jesus said, "You must die to self" and "Those who give up their lives will save them." We must kill the Flesh if we want to be with God. St. Paul said, "Following the dictates of the Flesh leads to death." The urging of our Flesh is, literally, a dead-end street so we must 'walk in the spirit' to assure our place in the eternal Light.
A powerful way to practice Obedience toward God is to make a promise of obedience in a community of believers. We practice obedience by submitting to the will of those whom God has placed above us spiritually. We thereby surrender body and soul to the will of God. Like Jesus we seek, "Not My will but Yours be done."
The love offered in obedience is a perfect love for it is empty of self. St. Paul says, "Jesus, learning obedience through the things that He suffered, was made perfect." We know, in the Garden of Gethsemane, that Jesus struggled to be obedient and did ultimately forsake His own will for His Father's. We must become like Jesus and learn to be 'obedient unto death' for love of God and for each other. That is what it means to be a Christian - to be Christ like.
PRAYER: Lord, no wonder Your little servant Francis celebrated the Virtues! Through Your grace he was able see Your Light, the Light of Love, dawn in his life through the Virtues. Please make these virtues flourish in our hearts since we know they make it possible to be with and be like You. Forgive us our pride and save us from our Flesh, the World and the devil so that we can always celebrate the wonder of knowing You. We believe You can do this and so, with all Your creation, we proclaim Your goodness and love with thanksgiving. How truly wonderful You are! Amen.
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