Love that Changes the World
“Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” —1 CORINTHIANS 13:8-13 (NIV)
Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone was born in central Italy in 1181. His father nicknamed him Francesco (“Frenchy”). Frenchy lived the carefree life of a rich man’s son. That is, until he had a life changing experience that led him to give up everything. As the story goes, he was walking in a forest outside of Assisi and came across people who suffered from leprosy. They were made to live outside of the city due to their contagious disease. At first he was afraid. But he was so moved by God’s compassion and love that he went and hugged the leper. In doing so, he felt that embracing those who are suffering is to embrace Jesus himself.
Frenchy would go on to follow in the footsteps of Jesus by denying himself and embracing everyone (including animals) with love and compassion. He embraced a life of poverty, giving everything he had to those in need. His love and compassion would translate into changing the lives not for just one leper, but for many generations of people. He would become known to the world as St. Francis of Assisi. Generations of people would go on to be compelled by his teachings, spreading love and compassion to a weary world.
REFLECT
1. When have you experienced or witnessed acts of compassion this week?
2. Frenchy was afraid of the stigmatized people. What has kept you from sharing love or compassion with others?
RESPOND
Compassion takes not only courage but also time. God might be calling you toward acts of costly compassion in the coming weeks. Are you ready to answer that call? Start praying right now about how you might share more love with the world. Be honest with God about what might hold you back.
The Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi
Lord, make us instruments of your peace:
where there is hatred, let us sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is discord, union;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
[A Prayer attributed to St. Francis” in The Book of Common Prayer. (New York: The Seabury Press, 1979). 833.]
GOING DEEPER
In 1223, in the town of Greccio, Francis set up the earliest living nativity scene. It had been customary for centuries for churches to set up a model of a crib near the altar during the Christmas season, but Francis was the first to use real animals. The living Nativity scene is a long-enduring tradition that is still carried out 800 years later. Another Christmastide example set by Francis is the custom of giving animals a special feeding on December 25. He begged farmers to give their livestock extra food at Christmas in memory of the ox and donkey between whom the baby lay. The Franciscan brotherhood is also responsible for the idea of Christmas carols. Before the 1200s, most songs celebrating Advent and the Nativity were solemn, theologically-dense hymns in Latin, but members of the order took popular tunes—often dance music—and wrote lyrics in the local language.
Are you interested in learning more about how to cultivate a culture of empathy in your own life and in others? Our team has put together this page of resources for you on practicing empathy.