I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
~”The Road Not Taken”, Robert Frost, 1915
Today, October 4, Saint Francis Ministries joins Christians, and many others, around the world in celebrating our namesake and patron saint, St. Francis of Assisi, on his annual feast day. The story of St. Francis is a truly remarkable testament to a life committed to God and serving those in the deepest need. It is a story about the roads we might choose, the false starts and occasional retracing of steps, and the ultimate destination where we hope to arrive.
Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken,” is not about St. Francis. But it does provide an interesting lens through which to view his life. One of the most quoted poems at high school graduations and other such seminal life events, the poem is also one of the most misunderstood!
Based on just the final few lines, the poem is often thought to be an encouragement to take the less traveled road as a way of launching into a more singular, adventurous, and fulfilling life. Frost admitted that this reading surprised him as he had written the poem and sent it to a friend who was notorious for being indecisive about which path to take on walking trips—and then regretting whichever path he went down, imagining the other way he could have gone as probably the better choice. It’s a gentle bit of teasing from one friend to another. And yet, it still contains sage wisdom.
We must choose some path to travel—and every path has its pluses and minuses, ups and downs. Every path will make some sort of difference to us. We can see this in the life of St. Francis, who was born in 1182 in the Italian town of Assisi. Francis’ father was a prominent and prosperous silk merchant who took to calling his son “Francesco,” rather than his baptismal name of Giovanni, due to his love of all things French. The first intriguing step on young Francis’ journey.
As the privileged son of a wealthy businessman, Francis’ youth was marked by harmless revelry and vain attempts at military glory. Another step. Encounters with the poor and vulnerable pricked Francis’ conscience and led him to a period of disillusionment with the way his life was going. Another step. During this time, he began to reevaluate the path he was on and decided to make something of a course correction, embracing poverty as a way of life in imitation of Jesus Christ. Another step.
Soon, the path of Francis’ life began to look something quite different from what his parents had hoped for him. One day it led him to the ruined church of San Damiano where, while meditating before the crucifix, he heard the voice of Jesus say to him, “Francis, repair my church!” At this step, Francis heard the call and responded literally, using money from his father’s fortune to repair the damaged church. His steps strained as he himself dragged the stones for the repair work. After the work was done, Francis took another step in the direction of a clearer understanding of his vocation when he realized that his call wasn’t to merely fix up one dilapidated church building. Rather his path would wind in the direction of a deeper spiritual commitment to renewing the souls of those who seek to follow Jesus.
An unforeseen step along the way of Francis’ journey was that many of the young people of Assisi were attracted to his devotion to Christ and joined him in his service of the poor. Together they created a new form of mendicant religious life. Ever since, Franciscans, as members of the Order of Friars Minor are colloquially known, have sought to follow Francis’ footsteps on this path. Where did they all think they were traveling?
At one point that journey led Francis to try to literally follow Jesus’ footsteps in the Holy Land and even attempt to broken peace between Christian and Muslim armies fighting over Jerusalem. Sadly, the Muslim leaders were more inspired by Francis’ example than the Christian leaders. A misstep with long lasting consequences.
Francis died in 1226, at the age of 44, surrounded by his Franciscan brethren with whom he’d shared the journey of poverty and service. Two years later he was canonized as a saint, a recognition that the path he’d trod all the years of his life had resulted in reaching his hoped-for destination—eternal life in the loving embrace of God!
There is no real use in trying to conceive of a different road Francis might have chosen. Had he gone in the direction that so many others would have chosen for him, it’s likely we’d not remember this 13th century character. Moreover, without St. Francis to inspire him our own founder, Fr. Bob Mize, might never have taken the journey to creating Saint Francis Ministries to provide healing and hope for children and families.
Fr. Bob’s initial circuit of ministry encompassed ten counties and 10,000 square miles of rural, western Kansas. It is not too hard to imagine him making his pastoral rounds among six small churches, noticing the delinquent boys no one wanted to take a chance on, and realizing that the path he was on would result in the formation of the first Saint Francis Boys’ Home in Ellsworth. Another step. The milestones of Fr. Bob which we continue to follow across a geographic footprint of seven states are unconditional love, unrelenting forgiveness, and unswerving faith.
Today at Saint Francis Ministries we remember the remarkable life of one who took a brave step in a new but unknown direction. We step into the challenging circumstances of children, families, and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities—and walk alongside them down the road to healing and hope. We seek to transform both individual lives and entire systems so that others too may find a new and better path to walk. And, indeed, it makes a profound difference.
May you have a most blessed St. Francis Day!
Most high, omnipotent, good Lord, grant your people grace to renounce gladly the vanities of this world; that, following the way of blessed Francis, we may, for love of you, delight in your whole creation with perfectness of joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
~The Collect for the Feast of St. Francis, Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2022
