Saint Francis Excluded No One

A Reflection by Fred Schaeffer, OFS

People who are living now, in this day and age, are having a great struggle with the concept of accepting everyone as their equal. A couple of years ago, I was at a prayer meeting and a man walked in who was months and months behind on his personal grooming, so it seemed. Immediately, the thought occurred to me, "what is he doing here?" As I thought that, I felt shame. I am a Franciscan, and if I would have listened to our Seraphic Father St. Francis, I would not be capable of issuing this harsh and unspoken criticism. I had a desire to go up to the man, and bid him welcome, but I saw someone else already talking to him, so I did not approach.

In this country, migrant workers are sometimes excluded from the mainstream. I've wondered why? Is it because they are (in this area) mostly Mexican and so they do not speak English? No, that cannot be, because many other people speak little or no English. Or is it that we do not dare shake hands with a stranger? Women, in my experience, are more likely to talk to other women, than men to other men. I helped out in a nursing home once, and the Activities Department asked me to moderate a conversation between men. I must say it was almost impossible. If we men have something in common, then maybe, but just being in the same place does not seem to be enough.

To a degree it is the same thing with refugees; they tend to stick with other refugees. But religion has a part in all this, too. People who are alone will often talk to Catholics in and around Church; they know they have their Faith in common.

Years ago, before 2020 when we had the COVID-19 pandemic, when I visited with my snowbird (seasonal winter residents) neighbors and all they do is speak in French (because most are from Ontario and Quebec, Canada, I feel excluded. So excluded, in fact, that I never attend their social functions. Who would I have to talk to? I don't speak French! Nor do I speak Spanish. So there are thousands of people in the same boat. They immigrate to a foreign country, but they just can't seem to learn the language in good time.

Years ago, I visited a Leper Hospital in Louisiana. Although Leprosy is under control these days, still the patients feel like outcasts of society. St. Francis would make a party of their gathering, and bid them welcome with his friars. Lepers were the social outcasts in Francis' day, but the strong attachment Francis showed to them and to all who are outcast and marginalized speaks for itself. We Franciscans have an obligation to freely mix with the outcasts of this day. So instead of avoiding that man with lots of hair, at least say "high" to him, and make small talk - if he feels welcome, the conversation will follow easily. Of course the conversation may turn to his needs, but just remember that he has much less than the rest of us do, so try to help him as best as you can.

The lepers of today are not just the homeless, but the sick, as well. As an only child, I experienced first hand with my mother, in the early 1980's that when it became evident she was suffering from Alzheimer's, all her friends left. They wanted no part of her. Because she no longer fit into their social norms. She was excluded. It was shameful and very sad. But this is a common occurrence. Any illness having to do with the brain, for example Alzheimer's, and also people who are spastic or get seizures, they often are excluded from social groups. That's not right.

If you see some of the holy cards of St. Francis, you see a friar with many birds listening to him, for example, and one gets the feeling that St. Francis was somewhat a sort of mellow and romantic figure. But he was tough and radical; those "sweet holy people" portrayed on holy cards or other images do not show exposure to the marginalized side of life. St. Francis was "rebuilding the Church" by showing us how he tenaciously identified with the poor and downtrodden. That's the side of him which the holy cards and statues do not show.

The legendary Fr. Benedict Groeschel, CFR, (1933-2014) is a good example of a modern-day Francis who got into the realm of the poor and downtrodden with both feet. His service to the poor of the East Bronx (NY) was by being right among them. There are a couple of other Franciscan priests of all branches who minister right among people with AIDS who really have no one else. They are excluded too. Why? Because we judge them, and Our Lord Jesus told us not to do this, to leave all judgment to the Father. When you judge people, negatively, you cannot forgive them for being different from yourself, and before long you'll find that you cannot forgive yourself for that negative attitude you bear to your brothers and sisters in Christ!

As followers of St. Francis, we make daily conversion to live his Rule he prepared for us. Even though St. Francis preached to the poor, he was very rich. And so are we. I'm not talking about social standing, breeding or having a lot of money. That "richness" is fleeting. You can't take it with you, and it most assuredly will not guarantee that you will be with Jesus until the end of time. I'm referring to an inner strength inspired by Jesus Christ through Baptism, the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the knowledge that Our Lord is close to your heart. Franciscans, when they follow their Rule day after day, will be with God until the end of time. But that takes daily work as you know. People who live in God's Presence are happy people (even though they might have much pain and suffering) and they are richer than people with a million dollars in cash! Such people have all this money to worry about, security, the economy, taxes, etc. - they spend so much time worrying about their wealth that they do not have time to do good to their brothers and sisters. Some are good and philanthropic but many others could care less what happens to anyone but themselves. I don't want to generalize. Poor people have that problem, too, but most of the poor people I've met will give you the last piece of bread out of their kitchen, and do without themselves. The poor are often meek and humble because they are not pretentious. Praise God for the poor and the humble. They are friends of Jesus!

Refugees, and I've met many in my life, are excluded from the mainstream too. I've met many people whose husband or wife were brought to death in a concentration camp in World War II. Those who were fortunate to live are the refugees. They abhor the country they lived in, because that's where all the pain was, and they feel often unwelcome anywhere else. I am abhorred by people who claim the Holocaust did not happen. I know it happened. I lost a great part of my family in those camps in Germany and Poland, so don't try to tell me the camps did not exist. They most certainly did and the suffering was real. And for many the suffering is still real after so many years because the wife or husband can never come back. They were killed and often killed brutally. But often the survivors are excluded because some people opine that they complain too much. Just put the shoe on the other foot, and think about your wife, child or husband, grandmother or grandfather as if they had been beaten to death.... you'll get the true picture very fast. You'll know that it is inhuman and immoral to exclude people who are suffering and grieving the loss of a soul mate. St. Francis, on the other hand, would envelop us in an embrace and cry with us at the loss we're suffering. That is the opposite of all the egotistical talk of "there was no holocaust."

I still hear a lot of people refer to Jewish people as being too much into American politics. Such a statement turns me off immediately. Also any off-center remark about people who are not Caucasian. I am totally color-blind and everyone whom I meet has equal dibs at becoming my friend, because we are equal as far as God is concerned. St. Francis was very much aware of that, too. St. Francis would hug people of another color. Maybe the rest of us should do so, too, given the opportunity.

True humility goes further than that. It cannot be artificial but it must be real. Humility is a gift of God, so take all filters from your eyes and respect everyone because he and she is our brother and sister, just as Jesus is our brother and sister. Who knows, the next person you speak to may remind you so much of our dear Jesus, that you wonder hours later if that was really Him. Then rejoice in the knowledge that you've seen a man or woman of God. We cannot exclude anyone. We do not have that right. It just isn't Christian and it certainly isn't Franciscan, either.

Be kind and charitable to all people you might meet. Show all people your best side instead of your worst. Be Christ to everyone you meet. May Jesus continue to bless you as you become richer in His Presence. Amen.

Fred Schaeffer, OFS

January 2010, rev. 12/26/2020 (file: FWriting15)

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