St. Francis’ Radical Call to Conversion

Shauna’h Fuegen calls on readers to embrace praying, fasting, and almsgiving this Lent in the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi.

As a professed member of the Secular Franciscan Order, I have been learning from St. Francis of Assisi for years. Francis’ radical call to poverty and conversion is particularly relevant to all Christians during Lent as we examine ways to incorporate prayer, fasting, and almsgiving into our daily lives.

St. Francis famously experienced a dramatic conversion of heart, in which he stripped naked in the public square in order to physically cast off his possessions and give himself over to a new life with God at the center. He clearly felt strongly about renouncing his old life in order to embrace his calling. What does Francis’ witness mean for those of us who are not called to such dramatic displays of conversion?

What I have come to see is that we’re all called to a conversion of heart. For some of us this happens suddenly and dramatically, and for others it is a much quieter, subtle process. But we are all called to draw nearer to Him our entire lives. Sometimes we will experience moments of epiphany (I’ve had a few of these “Holy Spirit moments” in my life so far), but largely our faith deepens (or stalls out) incrementally over the course of decades. We wake up one day and realize how much we’ve changed, even though at the time we didn’t see it happening.

The way Francis lived his life seems extreme, and it was. Thank goodness he was extreme, because it mobilized a following and eventually started a movement that has come to be beloved by Catholics and non-believers alike. Francis “astounded and inspired the Church by taking the gospel literally—not in a narrow fundamentalist sense, but by actually following all that Jesus said and did, joyfully, without limit, and without a sense of self-importance.” I’d argue that we need Francis now more than ever. We need Christians that are radicalized by love and self-abandonment. Franciscans have a reputation for being warm and snuggly, strumming guitars and petting dogs. (Which is fair—have you ever seen a friar running the annual Blessing of the Animals in the church parking lot? He is living his best life.) But they are so much more than that.

old person's hands holding an empty metal bowl

During my five years of formation with the Secular Franciscans, I came to realize that minimalism was the least of the gifts I’d received by virtue of diving deep into Franciscan spirituality. I’ve made a lot of donation runs, but the way I live out my faith has been completely transformed. Francis has radicalized me with love and devotion to the poorest and most marginalized in our societies. My relationship with God has gone from one of polite and reverent attachment to two best friends getting along like a house on fire. Francis will sweet talk a wolf into not eating any more townspeople, but he will also make you uncomfortable. He will make you reexamine the way you treat your neighbors and, even worse, how you think about them.

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As we begin Lent, I challenge YOU to allow God into your heart through the lens of Francis. #catholicmom

I dare you not to become radicalized by the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, for example, searching police stations and morgues for the body of a local drug addict and prostitute who was also their close friend. She had no family and was not treated with dignity by the vast majority of people she encountered on the streets. And yet, the friars spent days searching for her body so that they could give her a funeral.

At the last police station, after the friars shared what they were doing and all of the different places they had looked, the police officer asked with deep interest, “Why are you doing this?” The friar answered, “Because she’s our sister, and she deserves it.” (Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR. Habits for Holiness: Small Steps for Making Big Spiritual Progress. Ascension, 2021)

St. Francis challenges me daily, and often not in the ways that I expect. As we begin Lent, I challenge YOU to allow God into your heart through the lens of Francis. Look for Him in the homeless shelter that your town is fighting against opening. See Him in the faces of asylum seekers and refugees fleeing their war torn countries for a chance to save the lives of their children. Hear Him as you lovingly wash and pack baby items from your home to donate to a local crisis pregnancy center, and know that He is with every mother staring with fear at a positive pregnancy test. He is everywhere, He just needs us to stop, listen, and lead with love.

Francis! Everything you have loved and desired in the flesh it is your duty to despise and hate, if you wish to know my will. And when you have begun this, all that now seems sweet and lovely to you will become intolerable and bitter, but all that you used to avoid will turn itself to great sweetness and exceeding joy. (A VOICE HEARD IN PRAYER BY ST. FRANCIS, FRANCISCAN MEDIA)