Start:Stop-Celebrating St Francis of Assisi

The San Damiano Cross, the image of which inspired Francis of Assisi

Introduction

Hello and welcome to this week’s Start:Stop reflection from St Stephen Walbrook, when we stop for a few minutes and start to reflect on a passage from scripture. My name is Phillip Dawson. You can hear an audio recording of this reflection at this link. 

Last week the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee published its report on ‘The UK's footprint on global biodiversity’ which highlighted the growing number of animal and plant species that are threatened with extinction. The UK’s consumption patterns, the report concluded, remain unsustainable and overseas development assistance that seeks to integrate poverty and environmental objectives remains rare. 

Someone who understood all about the integration of poverty and the environment   was Saint Francis of Assisi, who was remembered by the church this week. The spirituality that Francis embodied; one which integrated justice, peace and ecology, was unique in European Christianity at the time. Today Francis is inspiring a renewed focus on the relationship between humanity, its Creator and His creation, not least by the current Pope, who took his name.

Renouncing the riches and prestigious clothes of his merchant father, Francis of Assisi embraced a life of material poverty, working for food or begging for alms. He didn’t leave an environmental footprint of his own because he was always walking in the footprints of Christ.

The reading for the Feast of St Francis of Assisi is taken from the Gospel according to Saint Luke. 

Bible Reading - Luke 12.22-34

He said to his disciples, ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

‘Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.


Reflection 

These words of Jesus encourage us to stop and question our obsession with the transient, material things of this world. What we wear, what life enhancing thing we can buy next. Making sustainable choices about our personal consumption is of course important; but systemic change is also required to slow the rate of environmental damage we are now witnessing.

We saw an illustration of this during the lockdown, as reports emerged of signs of a renewal of biodiversity in the oceans and the sky. These “open access resources” have been the most plundered by human patterns of consumption. 1.6 earths are now needed to cater for current levels of demand. Care for these open access resources has fallen outside the reach of territorial boundaries and market economics. Systems which have brought many benefits but which have also separated us from truly appreciating how embedded we are in the natural world - and distanced us from the impact of environmental damage on our brothers and sisters, particularly in poorer countries.

The UK is leading the formation a new system; a Global Ocean Alliance of a growing number of countries, which aims to create Marine Protected Areas across at least 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030. If successful, the Alliance will be a beacon for co-operation and relationship building but, as recent reports highlight, more needs to be done.

Francis of Assisi is perhaps best known for his close relationship to the natural world - but to focus on this alone is to misrepresent his radical message; which was to reveal the interconnection between every living creature and our divine creator. Francis considered all of creation to be our brothers and sisters; and understood that it was through our relationship with them that we see and reflect the image of God. 

Francis wasn’t born a Saint - to paraphrase an early biographer, he wasted the first half of his short life chasing girls and glory in the wars between the Italian city-states of the time.   

His spiritual conversion is thought to have begun while a prisoner of war. After being ransomed by his father and spending some time recovering from illness, he set out to seek glory in battle once again, but turned back after experiencing a vision. He stayed in the ruined church of San Damiano, contemplating an image of the cross, which had an unusual design. Behind the image of Christ were representations of the nativity, the resurrection and Christ’s ascension into heaven.

This image of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit had a powerful effect. Francis developed an awareness of the sacredness of and compassion for all sentient creatures, a reverence for life and the bond of our common humanity, and a welcoming of death as part of the natural order; all bound up in one package; as in the image of the cross.

Francis saw that life is more than food and the body more than clothing. He returned home and stripped away his status - publicly renouncing his inheritance from his cloth-merchant father, by removing all his clothes and embracing a life of poverty and humility. 

Living as a nomad, Francis did not see the natural world from a utilitarian perspective; as a resource to be exploited, but as the dwelling place of God, radiating and reflecting divine glory. Walking in the footsteps of Christ, he sought to leave behind no footprint of his own. 

Francis quickly gained followers, eager to eschew lives centred around material possessions and battles for earthly glory and power. He was granted permission to establish a religious order by the Pope, based on a simple rule. Unlike other orders, some of which had become influential seats of wealth, Francis’s original vision for his order was that brothers should be forbidden to hold positions of authority, to save money or own property - even to receive it as a gift. His radical - and some believed revolutionary - approach was watered down after his death. 

Following in the footsteps of Christ meant seeking reconciliation and relationship not only with the natural world but between the nations of the earth. Francis crossed enemy lines and met with the Sultan in Damietta, Egypt, during the Fifth Crusade, to seek peace.

Francis’s radical integration of justice, peace and creation care is summed up in his Canticle of the Creatures, composed while he was losing his sight towards the end of his life. The words are best known to us today as the hymn ‘All Creatures of our God and King’. In the Canticle, Francis sees all of creation as intimately connected to us - even ‘Sister Death’ who is to be welcomed as part of the natural cycle of life, which has been blessed by the incarnation, death and resurrection of Christ, in whom the divine compassion and love of God for all of creation is revealed.  

A crucial moment in the conversion of St Francis came while he was living in the ruined church of San Damiano. As he contemplated the cross, the lips of Jesus appeared to move and said “Francis, repair my house which, as you see, is completely in ruins.”

May the faith of Francis inspire us to do the same.


Silent Prayer 


Blessing 

God our Creator, whose love and compassion for all the world was revealed in the life, death and resurrection of your Son,

Help us to walk in His footprints so that we leave behind none of our own;

May we seek peace and justice between all our brothers and sisters as we journey towards your Kingdom.

Speak to us, refresh us, astound us,

that we may grow to love you

and your world more deeply,

And may the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be among us this day and always.
Amen.

Thank you for listening to this week’s Start:Stop reflection. Do join us in church on Thursday for Choral Classics at 12.15pm and our Business Harvest Festival at 12.45pm and from 5.30pm Rush Hour Jazz. I hope you have a wonderful week.