A Short Reflection for the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi
By Austine J. Crasta, STL
October 4, 2022: It was in reading Francis that I was first inspired by the ideal of evangelical poverty in a very gripping way. It was an ideal of detachment, of non-conformity with the world, of radical inner renunciation, and even, of a certain distrust and hatred of wealth! Those ideas have long since been reformed and purified in many ways.
But one thing continues to stand out – Francis’s ability to make God the absolute anchor of his life, the bedrock of his existence, the very core of his being. In Him, Francis discovered his new life, his wealth, his security, and everything that held any value for him.
It was thus that the ‘Mirror of Christ’, could become a living paradox of a crucified savior finding his true joy in utter rejection, including, from his very own, and his true wealth in the renunciation of all earthly posessions, in a ‘naked’ embrace of ‘Lady Poverty.’
Unwittingly, the Poverello (‘poor little person’) reveals to us a grounding secret that can help free us from all anxieties – an unshakeable trust in Divine Providence!
Austine J. Crasta is a theologian, visual artist and a catholic communicator from Bangalore, India and currently based out of Belgium.