27th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Isaiah 5:1-7)

800 years ago, this weekend the death of St. Francis of Assisi occurred.  The scripture readings seem most appropriate for this anniversary.   

We have two readings referring to an allegory involving a vineyard.  The vineyard, in Old Testament times, alluded to the land of Israel.  God had led his people to the promised land.  The land was a gift from God. The Nation of Israel was supposed to be an example to the world of how a nation could be holy.  But things didn’t go as God would have hoped. 

The People of Israel didn’t take care of the land of Israel.  Isaiah didn’t criticize Israel for not physically taking care of the land.  But Isaiah was unhappy about the spiritual attitude of his country.  Israel didn’t trust in the one true God, but the people reached out to other gods as well as earthly powers for security. 

Jesus uses the vineyard allegory as well, but in a slightly different context.  Jesus says that the religious leaders hadn’t taken care of the spiritual needs of their people.  Not only that, but they had rejected the prophets who came as reformers.  And ultimately, they were snubbing the Son of God. The leaders of Israel were leading the people toward ruin. The religious leaders weren’t listening to the Spirit, but they were following their own desires for power, wealth, and security. 

When we remember Francis of Assisi, we have the story of a prophet of a later time. We do him a disservice if we relegate him to our backyard garden where his likeness might stand in the middle of our bird bath.  The Feast of Francis of Assisi can be fun.  We will have the blessing of animals at this time.  We bless our four-legged friends.  At its simplest level, we give thanks to the Lord for pets who bring joy to our life. But the deeper meaning of the blessing of animals is that we remember Francis, the environmentalist, who called on people to take care of mother earth.  Francis would certainly remind us today that our earth is in danger because of pollution.  Our world is suffering from climate change, which we ignore at our own risk.  The world is failing to combat global warming. The results are all around us from glaciers collapsing to coral reefs dying. 

But Francis was also a church reformer.  He was good at this. And he achieved his ends in an unorthodox way.  The clergy at the time of St. Francis was very ineffective.  Preaching was done by bishops who gave sermons in Latin. The parish clergy would read the bishop’s sermons on Sunday.  Common people couldn’t understand and weren’t being spiritually nourished.   The clergy had lives that were comfortable. And they were out of touch.  Poor people were neglected so that the rich would be served. Francis became involved in non-violent resistance to the sins of the Church.   

He didn’t verbally criticize the Church, but he chose to model how ministry should be done.  He worked outside the institutional Church. He preached in the street using the language of the people. He chose to be a minister to those who had no status in society.  He lived as a vagrant in the street. He tried to live the Gospel from hour to hour loving God and his neighbor. He also lived a vow of obedience.  Francis submitted to Church authorities showing humility.  He treasured the sacramental life of the Church, never rejecting it. 

Francis was a living, breathing icon of Christ.  Church leaders were embarrassed to criticize him because they realized if they reprimanded Francis, they were rejecting the Gospel. 

Francis is a model for every age.  He is a teacher for we who live today.  Our task is the same as Francis of Assisi’s.  We are to help others encounter Christ.  We do that by engaging in Christlike actions that prick people’s consciences. Francis’ ministry was one of the most successful reform movements in history.  The poor ragged man from Assisi taught the world that anyone has the choice to live out the Gospel in all its fullness.