June 5

FREELY YOU HAVE RECEIVED, FREELY GIVE

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.

As you go, preach this message: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts, take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep.

Matthew 10:5-10

Growing up the son of a prosperous textile retailer offered young Francesco di Pietro di Bernardone a privileged lifestyle with plenty of opportunity for leisure-time activities. He studied French and Latin in school, but was far more interested in spending money and socializing with his friends. His one fascination in life was the adventure of military conquests, and he looked forward to the day when he would become a soldier himself.

At the age of twenty, his dream came true. But the excitement of a military campaign quickly dissipated when he was taken a prisoner of war. He was released after two years, and he vowed that he would return to complete his mission. On his way to the battlefront, however, his mission suddenly changed. A voice in a dream commanded him to serve God and not man. His marching orders were very clear as he later related:

“When I was yet in my sins it did not seem to me too bitter to look upon the lepers, but the Lord Himself did lead me among them, and I had compassion upon them. When I left them, that which had seemed to me bitter had become sweet and easy.” His response to God was volunteer work at a leper hospital.

Soon after this he heard a voice from God charging him to repair the house of God, which he interpreted as being St. Damien’s Cathedral. How could he take on such a momentous task? The most obvious means was to appropriate expensive cloth from his father’s warehouse. His father was furious and the local bishop ordered him to return the goods. With that, he renounced his wealthy upbringing and his own fine clothing and donned a hair shirt and began living the life of a solitary hermit.

For two years he lived by himself spending his energies repairing the old church. Then in 1209, at the age of twenty-eight, he heard a sermon from Matthew 10 about Jesus sending out his disciples with no money or belongings. That was just the inspiration he needed. He would spend his life preaching the gospel and helping the poor.

As he traveled around, others joined him—many of them like him, sons of middle-class merchants. They took a vow of poverty, and used an old cow barn as their headquarters. It was the beginning of what became the Franciscan order headed by a man who would later be canonized in the Roman Catholic church—St. Francis of Assisi 5