St. Francis of Assissi: Beautiful Homily

I was profoundly moved by Fr. Jantz' homily on the Feast of St. Francis. It is approximately from 14:15 to 31:10. Here are my notes from it:

Three lessons from Francis's Canticle of the Creatures

1. Gratitude and poverty (Brother Sun, Sister Moon)

St. Francis wrote the Canticle near the end of his life, when he was almost blind. He praised the beauty of the heavens even though he could no longer see them.
St. Francis was the son of a wealthy merchant. He sold some of his family's goods to repair a run-down church, and after a fight with his family over it, he renounced his inheritance in front of the bishop, even handing back his clothes.
Fr. Jantz tied this to the first reading from Deuteronomy: the tribe of Levi got no land because "the Lord is their inheritance."
Each evening St. Francis gave away anything extra, so he had to rely completely on God the next day.
Takeaway: letting go of things sets us free. Worry about possessions, relationships or "what would happen to me" often keeps us from doing what we know is right.

2. Stewardship (Brother Wind, Sister Water, Brother Fire, Mother Earth)

All of creation is meant to serve God and neighbor. Today we'd call this stewardship.
Fr. Jantz named three ways we fail at it: hatred between neighbors in our political culture, addiction to technology, and damage to the natural world.
Fr. Jantz kept the message hopeful: every person can become a good steward. October is the parish's stewardship month.
Fr. Jantz told the story of the stigmata at La Verna, on September 17, about two years before Francis died. Fr. Jantz tied it to the second reading from Galatians: "I bear the marks of Jesus on my body."
Takeaway: good stewardship ultimately means taking on the shape of Christ's love.

3. Peace and "Sister Bodily Death": building a civilization of love

Fr. Jantz cited St. John Paul II: a "culture of death" can only be overcome by a "civilization of love."
St. Francis welcomed death as a door to eternal life. Our culture, by contrast, often puts personal gain first, sometimes at our neighbors' expense.
Fr. Jantz said abortions in the U.S. have risen since Roe v. Wade was overturned. In his view, the pro-life movement won the political fight but hasn't yet built a culture of love.
That culture starts locally, with welcoming every moment and every person with joy. He linked this to the Gospel line that God's truths are hidden from the wise and revealed to the childlike.

Lord, show me what I can surrender, what I can give, and whom I can love more deeply today.

St. Francis did not simply admire the teachings of Christ; he allowed them to completely transform his life. He surrendered his wealth, his reputation, his comforts, and his own plans to follow Jesus without reservation. Fr. Jantz's homily challenges us to ask a difficult question: Are we truly living for Christ, or have we simply made room for Him within the lives we have already chosen?

What would it look like to follow Christ radically in our own lives? Perhaps it means:

Give until it costs something. Not merely from our excess, but sacrificially. Give away something we value, simplify our possessions, or use money intended for a personal comfort to meet someone else's need.
Choose dependence on God over security. Identify something we cling to for comfort or control and deliberately surrender it to God's providence.
Love someone who is difficult to love. Not simply tolerate them, but actively seek their good. Pray for them, serve them, or take the first step toward reconciliation.
Embrace inconvenience for the sake of another. Interrupt our plans to help someone, spend time with the lonely, or serve those who cannot repay us.
Renounce the need to be right, recognized, or understood. Accept a slight without defending our pride. Choose humility over winning an argument, particularly when political or personal differences divide us.
Make Christ the center of our days, not an addition to them. Arrange our schedules around prayer, the sacraments, and service rather than giving God whatever time remains.
Take one courageous step of faith. Is there something Christ has been asking of us that we have resisted because of fear, comfort, or uncertainty? Do it.

Radical discipleship does not necessarily mean abandoning our homes, families, or responsibilities. It means abandoning the idea that our lives belong to us. St. Francis embraced poverty because he had discovered a treasure worth more than anything the world could offer. St. John of the Cross teaches this same freedom through detachment: we relinquish lesser things so that our hearts may belong entirely to God.

Perhaps the challenge this week is not to do all these things, but to choose one that genuinely costs us something. Not for the sake of sacrifice itself, but for love of Christ. If following Jesus has become comfortable, perhaps we need to ask whether we are following Him wherever He leads, or only where we are willing to go.