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Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
One of the most remarkable episodes in the life of Saint Francis of Assisi took place not in Assisi, but far from home, in the middle of a war.
In 1219, while Christians and Muslims were fighting during the Fifth Crusade, Francis crossed the Mediterranean and entered the Muslim camp in Egypt. He went to meet Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil.
His courage was amazing and a gift of his faith. Francis crossed more than a sea. He crossed a boundary between peoples who had been taught to see one another as enemies.
As Adrian House recounts in Francis of Assisi: A Revolutionary Life, Francis was certainly a man of his own medieval world, but he was also willing to do something extraordinary within it: to encounter the person on the other side, seeking peace. He went not with an army, but as a friar. He spoke about his faith, listened, and remained with the Sultan for several days before returning safely to the Christian camp.
Eight hundred years later, that encounter still has something to say to us.
Our public life is filled with boundaries, more like walls between nations, political parties, neighborhoods, and generations. Sometimes the boundaries run right through our families. It has become easy to speak about people we have never actually spoken with.
Francis shows us another way.
Following Christ sometimes means crossing the distance that separates us. It means encountering rather than avoiding, listening rather than assuming, and seeking peace without surrendering what we believe. Francis did not leave his Christian faith behind when he crossed into the Sultan's camp. His faith was precisely what sent him across the boundary.
That may be one of the most revolutionary things about Francis—and one of the reasons he remains so important today.
During this 800th anniversary year of Francis's death, I hope you will join us on Saturday, October 3, at 10am in the Parish Center (JCPC) for a special presentation by Dr. Roberta Morosini, a parishioner and Professor of European Languages at UCLA, “Saint Francis, the Itinerant Saint: A Saint for This Millennium.”
Dr. Morosini will help us rediscover Francis as a saint continually on the road: following Christ, crossing boundaries, encountering others, and carrying the Gospel with him. Her presentation will explore Francis's journey to the Sultan and what his willingness “to move, to encounter the other, and to enter into dialogue” can teach us eight centuries later.
This is how Francis sought to rebuild the Church, the command he heard while praying before the crucifix at San Damiano: to cross a boundary, meet the person on the other side, and become instruments of Christ's peace.
And, of course, bring your pets for a blessing tomorrow!
Peace and blessings,
Father Gil
P.S. See at the Festival!
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