Badal: St. Francis of Assisi
It is enough to utter his name and everyone
knows who he is. St. Francis was a man of God. And because he
was a man of God, he always lived what was essential. So he was a simple, courteous and gentle to everyone,
like God in his mercy.
The Phenomenological Manifestations of
our epoch…
·
Emptiness. It is born of a feeling of
impotence. There is very little we can do to change our life, our
community and society. Finally there is really nothing important…
·
Loneliness. It is an experience of loss of contact with
nature and others in terms of friendship and gentleness. There is the lack of
courage to commit oneself.
·
Fear. It is the fruit of objective
threats to life, to employment, to collective survival of humanity in general.
·
Anxiety. It has its origin in imagined fear,
ignorance as to what one ought to do, in whom to trust, and what to
expect. When anxiety grips an entire society it means that the whole
society feels threatened and senses its approaching end.
·
Aggressiveness
without objectives. It
reveals a rupture with the norms of relationship without which a society cannot
be built or defended. What results is anonymity and the loss of the
meaning of the self, that is, the worth and sacredness of human person.
From
the above, Two consequences ensue: first is Emptiness and second is Loss.
It is the loss of language of everyday communication, the loss of meaningful
relationship and the lack of vital relationship with nature and habitat.
The New Ethos… It is a
new way of life with many and varied relationship to nature, to others, to
religion and to God. In St. Francis, it was through Pathos (Sympathy)
and Eros(fraternal communication and tenderness). The manifestations
are the following:
·
His
Innocence
·
His
enthusiasm for nature
·
His
gentleness to all beings
·
His
capacity for compassion with the poor
and “confraternization” with all elements and even death itself.
To Be Saint … in the case of Franci, is…
·
To
be Saint, it is necessary to be human.
·
To
be human, it is necessary to be sensitive and gentle.
“A person knows as much as he/she does.”
Francis’s gentleness was demonstrated, especially in his human relationship. He
broke the rigidity of the feudal hierarchy and called all persons as brothers
and sisters. He himself was called “little brother” (fratello). He wanted to unite great and
small, to treat the wise and simple with brotherly affection, to bind with tie
of love those who were held at a distance. He treated everyone with
outmost courtesy, even Saracens, Infidels and thieves.
Francis of Assisi and Islam
In 1219 a meeting took place between Francis
and Sultan al Malik-al-Kamil of Egypt at Damietta (a Northern City in Egypt).
It took place over a period of three week during the fifth
Crusade. The encounter had deep impact on both (Francis and the
Sultan and his Vizier).
The original call of then 5th Crusade
in 1213 came with the Encyclical – Letter, Quia Maior. The letter established a comprehensive practical as
well as religious framework for the new crusade – support the Crusade material
and spiritually. The Letter and 4th Lateran Council and the
Crusade presented Islam as the enemy of God; enemy of the faith and it was
evil. This was in keeping with then approach taken by Bernard of Clairvaux in
his call for the 2ndCrusade.
Francis arrived at the Crusaders’ Camp and he
tried to dissuade the soldiers to engage in combat. He foretold their defeat at
Damietta.
There
are two strands in the desire of Francis to meet the Sultan. First
was Francis’ FERVOUR OF CHARITY and 2nd was his DESIRE FOR
MARTYRDOM.
The
Sultan and his Vizier recognized in Francis the HOLINESS akin to the Muslim
Sufi. The Vizier of the Sultan was a well-known and respected Sufi -
Fakr-el-Din-Farsi (in his tomb were written these words: “this man’s virtue
is known to all. His adventure with al-Malik al-Kamil and what happened to him
because of the monk, all that is very famous”). They listened to him as
Francis proposed to undertake the test of faith by fire to which Francis, the
Sultan and his Vizier would endure. The Sultan refused the challenge
but continued to respect Francis who eventually returned to the Crusaders’
Camp. In the final farewell, the Sultan asked Francis to pray that
he might receive from God a revelation as to which faith is most pleasing in
God’s sight.
The Impact of the Encounter on Francis, the
Sultan and the Vizier?
The encounter between Francis, the Sultan and
his Vizier was a powerful foundational experience that FREES both of them from
the limits of one’s vision and understanding of life. This foundational
experience allows the possibility of movement from one horizon to another. And
movement into a new horizon may involve what Fr. Lonergan speaks of as an “about face” – a new sequence that can
keep revealing ever greater depth and breadth and wealth. Such an “about face”
and new beginning is what is meant by a conversion. Fr. Lonergan
describes Conversion in Method in Theology as a “process of sublation that
keeps all the essential features of what is sublated but carries these forward
to find FULLER REALIZATION WITHIN A WIDER AND RICHER CONTEXT”.
·
The
meeting or encounter between and among the ‘friends’ of God;
·
Appreciating
the value each represents and criticizing their defects, yet allowing one’s
living to be challenged at its very roots by their words and deeds;
·
Such
an encounter is a way in which self-understanding n and horizon can be put to
test.
Francis
was never the same again after the encounter at Damietta…This found expression
when he re-wrote Chapter 16 of the Rule. He did NOT speak anymore of
martyrdom but told his brothers who wished to go as missionaries to the Muslims
“to heal the violence of the world;
testify to their Christian faith by a simple, peaceable presence and a
disposition to service”. He
left respectful of Muslims to the point that he encouraged Christians to emulate
them in prayer and prostration, and to join Muslms — and others — in service to
all despite their different religions, and he specifically told his followers
not to try and convert them.
Having
seen Muslim prayers while in Egypt he declared for his followers: “You should manifest such honour to the Lord
among the people entrusted to you that every evening an announcement be made by
a town crier or some other signal that praise and thanks may be given by all
people to the all-powerful Lord God.”
And,
“At the mention of His name you must
adore Him with fear and reverence, prostrate on the ground ... so that in word
and deed you may give witness to his voice and bring everyone to know that
there is no one who is all-powerful but Him.” And instead of seeking
converts among Muslims, in missionary work he charged his followers: “[The brothers] are not to engage in
arguments or disputes, but to be subject to (serve) every human creature for
God’s sake.” Those words calling us all — Christian and non-Christian
alike for the sake of our shared humanity under God-Most-High — to service Him
alone. Based on all that, I think it’s pretty obvious that in those
three weeks St. Francis learned that Muslims were God’s people too.
And
what did knowing St. Francis of Assisi do to Sultan al Malik al Kamel? Ten
years later, in 1229, by diplomacy alone and by no act of warfare, he ceded
control of Jerusalem, Bethlehem and a corridor from there to the sea to the
Christians, saving only the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque for the
Muslims, and the temple area for the Jews.
Peace… One of the global values
lived by Francis was Peace.
·
The
World is the “regio dissimilitudinis” and behind these dissimilarities
are camouflaged injustices and violence.
·
Every
time Francis began his preaching, he invoked Peace… saying: “the Lord gives you
peace.” It is Peace and all good (Pax et Bonun). His
group carries out a true mission of peace – “Legatio Pacis”.
·
The
peace that is proclaimed in word ought always to be present in the
heart. Let no one be provoked by us to anger or scandal, but rather
let all through your gentleness, be led to Peace, Tranquility and
agreement. “BE KINDER WITH YOUR NEIGHBORS.”
The Role of Mediation…
During the Crusades, Francis had a profound
impact on the Sultan and owing to his sympathy, tolerance and respect and love
for peace. Francis gave a vote of confidence to the liberating
capacity of kindness, gentleness, patience and understanding. Peace in his
own PERSON manifested in his words, poetry and song.
PEACE IS NOT ONLY A GOAL THAT MUST BE REACHED, IT IS ALSO A
METHOD.
Final
Note: Francis was able to transform enmity to friendship; revulsion
to love. The stigmata was also intimately tied to his experience at
Damietta. When Francis heard of all the preparations for yet another Crusade
and the mighty army of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in 1224, Francis
with few close companions went to La Verna to do a ‘Lent of St. Michael’ –an
intense prayer and fasting on behalf of his brother al-Malik
al-Kamil. The mystical experience of Francis at La Verna is called
the ‘Soul’s journey into God’. The Stigmata of Francis was his
identification of what signified in the Cross of Jesus. St. Paul’s
writing to the Ephesians says: “for he
himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh
the dividing wall of hostility… that he may create in himself one new man in
lace of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one
body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came
and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near”.
(Ephesians 2: 14 – 17)
Bapa
Eliseo “Jun” Mercado, OMI
#
Badaliyya – Philippines
October
4, 2019
Note: Sublation may
refer to:
• Sublation, a translation of the German
term aufheben
• Ritual purification, the purification or exaltation of matter by
its negation or redirection (Source:
Wikipedia)
