Poor - at the centre of St. Francis Assisi's Heart

We are living a time which is critical in all areas of human life, Covid has left us economically, spiritually and emotionally weak and fragmented. The pandemic has affected the poor and weak the most as many of them have no hope of getting back what they have lost. But the society and world at large seems to be silent and not worried what is happening to these poor ones. There are no debates, discussions, protests and dissents from any corner of the society. It looks like that it does not bother or affect us so why do we need to raise a voice. Let us be deaf and mute. St. Francis of Assisi showed in life through words and deeds that the poor were the central focal point of concern and love. Through his powerful preaching and presence in the society demanded a social equity and justice. The problems and concerns that he encountered and experienced in his time are the same ones we are grappling and facing in our advanced and technological world. The money spent in wars is amazingly high, poverty has crossed all borders of the world, corruption seems to be not disappearing from the society and politics and people are excluded, banned and boycotted for stupid reasons. St. Francis also had to tackle these problems which he did with concern and getting involved in the lives affected by the evils of the society.

Francis, son of a rich cloth merchant decided to live a poor and simple life in identification with the poor of Assisi. He saw them as the Mirror of Christ and loved and served this face of Jesus in them. His life is a strong message to us who would like to compromise with all the Gospel values and principles in order to be happy and wealthy at the cost of the poor. The sufferings and pains that we see today in the society is caused by ever increasing greed of some few super rich. The famous and rich take a big cake piece away and those who slog, struggle and work hard to money get peanuts. St. Francis is inviting us to live a life that is spiritually, morally and emotionally uplifting and promoting gospel values in the society.

War and infighting was also common during the time of Francis and he experienced the reality of war. He saw the negative and destructive effects of the war with his own eyes. He felt the strong urge and need to stop these mindless wars were thousands were killed and rendered homeless. He was courageous in undertaking the journey to meet the sultan and stop the crusades in harming the humans. He made an impression on those who met him and there was a change of heart and mind. Can we as sons and daughters of St. Francis go to the war torn countries where millions are rendered homeless, jobless, killed, looted, raped and left orphans go with the gospel values as Francis went? It is a big challenge to put our words into actions.