Afraid to be like Francesco Bernardone

The other day Sandy, Hannah and I took a long 2 hour bus ride to Umbria, the province just to the east of Tuscany. We visited the pretty little hilltown, with pink and cream stone buildings, of Assisi. You may have guessed by now that Francesco is known to us as St. Francis. Yes, he's the guy who started the monastic community of Franciscans. They are the monks who wear sandals and brown tunics with ropes tied around their waists.

I hope you don't mind a little history lesson about Francesco Bernardone. The story begins eight hundred years ago. He was a privileged young man whose father was a wealthy cloth merchant. Francesco had a few negative experiences in his life and as a young man was searching for something more. The culture at that time was centered around the church. Everyone in the community participated in church life whether they believed in their hearts or not. It was the thing to do. God spoke to him in 1206 AD, at the age of 24 (don't know if it was audible or in his heart). From that point on he decided to live as Jesus did, literally. His conversion started a process where he became totally devoted to following Jesus, and lived simply with few possessions. He gave everything away, and focused on sharing the good news to all, caring for the poor and loving all, whether friend or enemy. 

 He preached using the local language, so people could more easily understand the Bible, rather than in Latin. He created the manger scene, which was useful to explain the Christmas message to an illiterate population. He preached outside, not just in elaborate churches, pointing to God's creatures and His creation as examples of God's love and blessing. In short, he came up with ways to share the good news of Jesus in understandable ways. Most of all, he lived what he preached.

He inspired many to follow him and so at the age of 40 (1220 AD), five years before he died, a community was started dedicated to following the way Francesco lived. We know these brothers as Franciscans. They have gone around the world since then and shared the good news of Jesus to many. If you are from California, you probably know that many of the missions (which eventually became towns and cities) were established by Franciscans. And of course, we all know about the City of San Francisco (St. Francis in english).

It is amazing what he did as a mere man in 20 years of commitment to God. He changed the world around him.

I ask  myself  the question after seeing what someone like Francesco did, "How can my life make a difference in the world around me?