Reflection: October 3, 2026
The following is a version of a homily for Oct 4th. It leans into the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, who died on Oct 3, 1226, 800 years+1 day ago.
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Several decades ago, Bishop and theologian NT Wright told a story. My recollection of it goes like this.
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There was a shabby, grey college in Oxford that few people, except those who lived or taught there, ever visited. It was a damp, drafty old building dating back centuries. In the winter, professors and students wore heavy sweaters and gloves to classes to stay warm.
One day, word came that an alumnus had given a fabulously large, valuable and rarely seen painting to the college, in his will. However, the gift came with several conditions. The college had to display the painting, and they could never sell it. If they didn’t want it, they had to return it to the estate.
Nevertheless, the college enthusiastically embraced the bequest.
But there were challenges. The painting was very large. There was only one space in the front of the Great Hall big enough for it, but it had exposed pipes running up either side of the wall, from the old heating system. These pipes would block both sides of the painting.
They considered the alternatives: returning the painting, or upgrading the pre-WWII era heating system and relocating the pipes. They hesitated at the cost and the interruptions to the college’s teaching and the lives of professors and students. However, they decided to proceed.
A few months into that project, another problem arose. The building envelope would need to be sealed or the leaks would waste energy. More significantly, art historians said, the humidity and drafts would damage the painting. The college felt committed, so it agreed to seal and insulate the building.
Of course, problems and cost overruns followed. Contractors discovered unforeseen challenges in the old buildings. Professors and students grumbled at the inconvenience.
As the work of sealing neared completion, curators pointed out that, while the painting could be viewed as a whole from a distance, part of its artistic merit was that it was also fantastically detailed. It needed to be properly illuminated for the detail to be seen and appreciated. But the lighting in the Great Hall was dim and lacked the ability to direct light towards the space where the painting would hang.
Fixing this would require a significant upgrade to the lighting. But the old wiring in the college would be unable to handle the wattage required.
The college agreed to take out the nob and tube wiring that still carried current to parts of the building and upgrade the wiring throughout ...and incur more months of delay.
At times the wardens of the college thought they had made a mistake in accepting the painting.
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But when the renovations were complete and the college announced the first public viewing of the painting, many thousands of people asked for tickets to the unveiling, completely surprising the college. The BBC wanted to send a film crew and reporter and feature it on the news.. Producers asked the college if they could create a special program about the painting and film the speakers in the Great Hall of the college , with the painting in the background. Curators asked if they could mount a special show of all the artist’s work with the college’s painting as the centrepiece. A book would be printed featuring the work in all its detail.
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As all these events unfolded the wardens of the college realized that the painting had, in a way been responsible for making the whole college warmer, more comfortable and brighter. More significantly, perhaps, the college had become a magnet for visitors and prospective students and professors. It shone brighter in the intellectual galaxy of the university.
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This story is a parable of inviting Christ into one’s life. Often, when someone truly accepts Christ, they gradually start making changes to their life ... praying, reading scripture, doing good works, advocating for the marginalized. It is necessary to accommodate his presence in their lives.
The direction and full impact of the changes may not be obvious at the start of the commitment. There may be delays, difficulties, detours and costs. Accepting Christ isn’t easy. He told his followers: Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23.
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So it was with St. Francis of Assisi. He was born into a well-to-do cloth merchant’s family in 1182. As a youth, he liked parties and music. He was the social centre of young people in Assisi. He wasn’t immoral, just shallow.
Becoming the saint we revere took time and had setbacks.
In 1202, when he was 20 - probably with fantasies of heroism - he put on a fancy suit of armour and took part in a battle between Assisi and the neighbouring town of Perugia. He was captured and held prisoner for a year in pretty primitive conditions until his father ransomed him.
The experience changed him... a bit. He was less of a partier and more reflective. But he signed up to go on another military campaign on behalf of the Papal States in 1205. While he was en route, he had a dream with the message to return home and wait for a call to a new kind of knighthood. He did and began to pray for insight into what the dream meant.
One day, he went to the partially ruined church of San Damiano, near Assisi. While praying, he heard a voice from the cross tell him to “repair my house.” Taking the words literally, he went home, took rolls of fabric from his father’s warehouse, sold them and took the money to the priest at San Damiano to fund the repair of the church. The priest refused the money because it came from selling stolen goods.
His father brought him to the bishop of Assisi to ask for help to straighten out Francis. Without a word, Francis took off all his clothes and gave them to his father. He embraced a life of poverty.
Still thinking literally, he repaired the church of San Damiano, and two other dilapidated chapels.
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On the feast of St. Matthias, in 1208, Francis heard the gospel: preach the message, ‘The kingdom is at hand!’ …Take no gold, nor silver, nor money in your belts, no bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor a staff; for the laborer deserves his food. And whatever town or villa you enter, find out who is worthy in it, and stay with him until you depart. (Matthew 10:7, 9–11) This moment was decisive. Francis responded, “This is what I wish; this is what I am seeking. This is what I want to do from the bottom of my heart.” He then put on a rough tunic and began to preach repentance, again, taking Jesus' words literally.
Though some thought he was crazy, Franics’s zeal, consecration to poverty, charity, and his personal charisma drew followers. His devotion to the human Jesus and his desire to follow Jesus’ example became an important spiritual development.
He wrote a simple rule of life for his friars, based on passages from the bible. Pope Innocent III recognized his band of friars as an order in 1210.
In 1212, he and his friend Clare established an order of nuns, following the same embrace of poverty, called the Poor Clares.
In 1219 he went to the Holy Land – not as a crusader, but as a peacemaker - meeting and impressing Sultan al-Kāmil, who invited him to preach to his soldiers and who gave him permission to visit Jerusalem. This was remarkable. Muslims and Christians were sworn enemies. Yet Francis overcame the differences with a message of peace... the inspiration for the Prayer of St. Francis that begins, “make me an instrument of your peace”
But while Francis was away, his followers disagreed with each other. Some broke away from his original directions. He had been gone so long without communication that they thought he was dead. On his return he had to reorganize his friars and he appointed another friar to administer the large numbers of people who now followed his way.
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In 1224 while on a retreat to prepare for the feast of St. Michael, he received the stigmata (the appearance of the bodily wounds of Christ’s crucifixion on his hands, side and feet) on Sept. 17, 1224.
Meanwhile his fasting and living a hard, simple life took its toll on his health. He died on Oct 3rd, 1226...800 years ago yesterday.
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Francis’s influence on spirituality extends beyond his imitation of the life of Jesus. Francis also came to see all of creation as a gift of God. There are many stories about Francis’s connections to nature - some no doubt, apocryphal- about how he led wolves away from molesting sheep, and another about how he preached to birds when townspeople wouldn’t pay attention to him, until the birds stopped singing and came to rest on his hands and listen to him.
He also wrote the Canticle of the Sun https://franciscanfriarscresson.org/the-canticle-of-the-sun/ a year before his death. His emphasis on Creation helped re-orient a medieval church - which sometimes over-emphasized original sin, reminding believers of the inherent goodness of God’s material world.
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In his encyclical titled Laudato Si: On Care for our Common Home the Earth, - a fundamental document of eco-spirituality, Pope Francis began with a quote from this Canticle. https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html For both Francises, Creation communicates God’s love, beauty and interconnectedness.
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Both NT Wright’s parable and the story of Francis are examples of how fully accepting Christ into one’s life brings about changes. The changes happened over time and involved a number of successive steps.
It wasn’t always clear what God was asking or where the changes would lead. Francis had to discern God’s will for him at each step of the way. And the changes also involved sacrifice.
We do well to emulate St. Francis in trying to discern how each of us is to follow Christ’s instruction for our life.
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There is more to St. Francis than the 800th anniversary of his death. Francis’s legacy is part of our faith. Our baptism gives us a duty of care for creation. We promise...or our sponsors promise on our behalf...to strive to protect, sustain and renew the life of the earth.
In the vestry motion this year most churches in the diocese pledged to honour our baptismal commitment to “safeguard the integrity of God’s creation” and urge the Government of Canada to honour its commitments to the Paris Accord, 2015: to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 40-45% below 2005 levels by 2030 and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
Today, many churches will have a blessing of the animals.
This humble person has had ramifications that have echoed through the centuries since his death.
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If you want to see a good YouTube video on the life of St. Francis, check out “The Reluctant Saint” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hYMLmSeEXs&t=109s 55 minutes.
Peace,
Deacon Michael