Christ set the standard in how we should behave in our lives and therefore the path to holiness seems daunting, the goal unattainable. How can any of us ever measure up to the standard of behavior that Christ showed us!? Jesus said, "This is impossible for men but all things are possible with God". Remember "it is Christ's power within you that accomplishes the will of God". We cannot do it ourselves but we can be confident that, through faith, the work of God in (and through) our lives will be accomplished to His greater glory.
Francis measured up to Christ's standard more fully and clearly than most. However, Francis was not perfect. He was fervent, focused and very sincere, but like all those with a body, he was subject to weakness - to being distracted from holy pursuits. Jesus Himself said, 'The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak".
In the following passage we have an example of how the devil was able to use a little 'thing' to distract Francis in his single-hearted devotion to Christ.
Francis, at the end of a long day, was sitting with the brothers in front of the fire. He had a little knife and, to pass the time, began to carve a piece of wood into a little bowl. He worked on it for some time, enjoying the mental focus as well as how good it was coming out. Before he knew it, it was time for prayer. During prayer he found his mind going back, again and again, to his unfinished bowl. Francis suddenly realized that he was distracted from not only his prayers but from God Himself! Francis was horrified! With both frustration and indignation he immediately got up, ran over to where he had left the bowl, grabbed and tossed it, without hesitation, into the fire and watched as it burned to ashes.
St. Francis said, "Bah, the silly gimcrack! To have power enough over me to distract my mind toward it! I will sacrifice it to the Lord, with whose sacrifice it has interfered. Shame on us for being rapt away to these trivial fancies when at prayer time we are addressing the Great King!"
Though Francis was angry with himself you shouldn't think he actually cursed! 'Gimcrack' is defined as something that is showy or superficially appealing, but badly made and worthless.
The danger in giving 'power' over ourselves to things is that these things can come to control what we think and do. This is one reason Francis took a vow of poverty - a recognition that having 'things' can harm one's relationship with God by being able to 'distract' us from Him. Francis recognized he had given power over his heart and mind to this little thing. He acknowledged that it had, 'power enough over me to distract my mind toward it'. Jesus warned that we won't be fruitful for God if we are filled with '. . . the worries of this world, the lure of riches and all the others passions . . .'. Thus, both big AND little things can distract us from God.
Francis gives us a great example of 'repentance'. He recognized his error, repented of it by saying, 'I will sacrifice it to the Lord, with whose sacrifice it has interfered' and then backed up his words with actions by throwing the thing into the fire. All of this took seconds - the thought, the words and the actions. Francis was a sincere and fervent follower of Jesus who didn't want to waste any time getting right with God! How long does it take us to recognize our failings and repent of them?!
Francis mentions 'sacrifice', recalling the words of St. Paul who said, "Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, which is the right thing to do . . . since He made Himself a sacrifice for you, to save you from sin". Later he said, "You are not your own any longer for you have been bought with a price" - that 'price' being Christ's own life! We MUST sacrifice every little thing - as well as the big things - for the love of God. He sacrificed everything for love of us. Jesus said, "Unless you give up all your possessions you cannot be My disciples". He also said, "Those who seek to save their lives will lose them but those who give up (sacrifice) their lives for Me will save them". This 'thing' interfered with Francis' sacrifice of himself so Francis sacrificed the thing and then, free from attachment to it (since it was ashes now!), was free to sacrifice himself totally to God.
Francis took advantage of the opportunity his failing afforded to teach the brothers the danger of being distracted by possessions. He said, 'Shame on us for being rapt away to these trivial fancies when at prayer time we are addressing the Great King!' Whenever anything - person or thing - distracts us from our duty to God, we should feel shame and turn whole-heartily back to our good and patient Father. After all, EVERYTHING is 'silly, trivial, worthless, empty' when compared to God.
Some of us have hobbies and neither Francis (nor any other saint) has said that everyday hobbies are evil. However, when they interfere with our relationship with God, take priority in our lives before God and our responsibility to Him, then they are hurtful to us. Christ calls us to have balanced lives, wants us to enjoy ourselves but never forget or neglect our duty to God.
Francis found it impossible, on this occasion, to be responsible - to meet his obligation to God properly. He realized a choice had to be made. Jesus said, "A man cannot serve two masters". This little bowl had become a 'master', demanding Francis' attention and kindling his selfish desire. Francis, dramatically, renounces this 'master' by burning it to ashes. Now, once again, he had one Master in heaven and on earth!
Many of us are overwhelmed with distractions and struggle to remain aware, focused, on the one God. Every day we must fight these distractions and not allow them to either cause us fear or worry or feed our sinful lusts - emotions that strangle our spiritual growth. Though hobbies can be good recreation, can be inspiring and even altruistic, we must not allow them to distract us when we are serving God in prayer, doing penance, reading scripture or serving the needy.
Jesus and Francis were no different from us when it came to being tempted by various distractions. How they reacted, however, may be different. Jesus and Francis would not tolerate the distractions - would get rid of them - so as to whole-heartily give themselves to God. We are called to do the same at least if we want the full reward Christ has prepared for His faithful.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, You gave Your servant Francis the right priorities in life - love God with his all and love everyone like himself. EVERYTHING else was a distant second. Francis carved a useful thing - something that he and the brothers could use. However, You have taught us that even useful things, if they get in the way of our relationship with You, must be sacrificed. Your servant Paul said, "I consider everything that I had gained in this world to actually be a loss so I could turn from them to get Christ". Help us to not allow our hobbies to interfere with our prayer or other holy devotions, and hurt our relationship with You. You Yourself have told us, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He shall give you the desires of your hearts". You also said, "Seek first God's rule in your life and everything else shall be given to you". Finally, Your servant Paul said, "God has given us all His gifts for us to enjoy". It is through delighting in and seeking You, that we are enabled to truly and fully enjoy all of the good gifts You've given us in life. Help us to always put . . . first things first. Thank You for all of Your gifts and this good lesson in balance we have learned through Your servant, our father, Francis. Amen.
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