Status Updates From Francis of Assisi: Performi...

“Francis saw poverty as a self-emptying whose meaning had to be anchored in the reality of the gospel message whose center is the cross. That self-emptying began, of course, when the Word became flesh, when the Son of God was born of Mary in a simple stable in Bethlehem.”

It is that same Christ who lived a life of poverty, who further humbled himself in the sacrament of the eucharist and through the cross, who is the exemplar for us. Francis…invites people to convert to Christ and, in that conversion, fruits of penance will come. Those fruits are love of neighbor, alms for the poor, charity to all, and a spirit of humility.

“Francis's emphasis on poverty and non-possession was a prophetic rejection of the nascent capitalism of the late twelfth century symbolized by the success of his own father.”

“If one does not see Francis within the stream of Catholic reform one does not see him clearly at all.”