Francis of Assisi paid attention to different things than the Catholic Church of his time. Eventually, his prophetic witness and emphasis on living the gospel became an “alternative orthodoxy” through the Franciscan tradition. Richard writes:
In one of the earliest accounts of his life, Francis offers this instruction to the first friars: “You only know as much as you do.” [1] His emphasis on action, practice, and lifestyle was foundational and revolutionary for its time and remains at the heart of Franciscan alternative orthodoxy. For Francis and Clare of Assisi, one of his closest spiritual friends, Jesus became someone to actually follow and imitate.
Up to that point, most of Christian spirituality was based in ascetic and monastic discipline, theories of prayer, or academic theology, which itself was often based in “correct belief” or liturgical texts, but not in a kind of practical Christianity that could be lived in the streets of the world. Francis emphasized an imitation and love of the humanity of Jesus, and not just the worshiping of his divinity. That is a major shift.
Throughout history, the Franciscan School has typically been a minority position inside of the Roman Catholic and larger Christian tradition, yet it has never been condemned or considered heretical—in fact, quite the opposite. It simply emphasized different teachings of Jesus, called for new perspectives and behaviors, and focused on the full and final implications of the incarnation of God in Christ. For Franciscans, the incarnation was not just about Jesus but was manifested everywhere. As Francis said, “The whole world is our cloister!” [2]
Francis’ starting place was human suffering instead of human sinfulness, and God’s identification with that suffering in Jesus. That did not put him in conflict with any Catholic dogmas or structures. His Christ was cosmic while also deeply personal, his cathedral was creation itself, and he preferred the bottom of society to the top. He invariably emphasized inclusion of the seeming outsider over any club of insiders, and he was much more a mystic than a moralist. In general, Francis preferred ego poverty to private perfection, because Jesus “became poor for our sake, so that we might become rich out of his poverty” (2 Corinthians 8:9).
I sincerely think Francis found a Third Way, which is the creative and courageous role of a prophet and a mystic. He basically repeated what all prophets say: that the message and the medium for the message have to be the same thing. And Francis emphasized the medium itself, instead of continuing to clarify or contain the mere verbal message; this tends to be the “priestly” job, one which Francis never wanted for himself.
Both Francis and Clare saw orthopraxy (“correct practice”) as a necessary parallel, and maybe even precedent, to verbal orthodoxy (“correct teaching”) and not an optional add-on or a possible implication. “Why aren’t you doing what you say you believe?” the prophet invariably asks.
References:
[1] Paraphrase of “A person is only as learned as his actions show; and a religious is only as good a preacher as his actions show.” See The Assisi Compilation, 105, in Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, vol. 2, The Founder (New City Press, 2000), 210.
[2] The Sacred Exchange Between Saint Francis and Lady Poverty, no. 63, in Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, vol. 1, The Saint (New City Press, 2001), 552.
Adapted from Richard Rohr, Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi rev. ed. (Franciscan Media, 2024), 81–84, 86, 87.
Image credit and inspiration: Tom Swinnon, untitled (detail), 2019, photo, Unsplash. Click here to enlarge image. A weathered table, humble in its presence, bears witness to Francis’s kinship with the poor, his simplicity of life, and the quiet prophecy of poverty lived as solidarity.
Story from Our Community:
My parents divorced when I was seven, and I moved from a middle-class life to one of poverty in the forest near Lake Superior, where I lived until going to university. “Going to church” meant walking in the remote wilderness and feeling fully accepted by God as a fellow-creature of a beautiful, natural world. I developed an uncanny ability to talk with flora and fauna. The companionship of a chipmunk can be wonderful therapy!
—Sean K.
