Jain Spirit 2004 03 No 18

Author(s): Jain Spirit UK
Publisher: UK Young Jains

Page 48

46 INTER-FAITH
FRANCIS OF ASSISI'S EVERGREEN
S
t. Francis retains a strange attractiveness. Those who read Jain Spirit might well be attracted to Francis as the peacemaker and an advocate of a path away from the violence of his day (and also of ours). Perhaps no one from the Christian tradition has such a universal appeal, save for Jesus himself, who remains detached from institutionalism and sectarianism. In our days of concern about the environment and the misuse of financial power, Francis' story is inspiring. With the religious structures of the West deeply shaken, the power of a single light bearer becomes more and more attractive as we realise that it is not the sheer numbers that will change the world but the quality of life. In inaugurating a campaign to rebuild the St. Francis Basilica, the earliest known memorial to man, the Pope invited leaders from many faiths. With the Pope in Assisi there were Islamic muftis, Hindu gurus, Jewish rabbis, Protestant leaders and Buddhist monks. During the conference, the Pope and local Catholic authorities invited the Dalai Lama, and his monks conducted a Buddhist worship service.
DENNIS OLIVER
EXPLAINS WHY
HIS MESSAGE
WAS UNIVERSAL
GOODED COS
ADCC
XXXK
EX
Since his death and quick canonisation, Francis has provided an image of spiritual vitality for people of all centuries and for many cultures and faiths - especially for those who can find a way to scrape away the layers of legend and sentimentality that inevitably surround such a man. When Christian religion seemed to be dying on the vine, Francis of Assisi remained 'evergreen', perhaps because of the freshness and independence of his spirituality. Even the traditional 'life of a saint' approach could not suppress his radical attractiveness. No one has more biographies written about him and nobody seems to be so universally appreciated: he was a man of goodwill, joy and spontaneity, a man of prayer, attuned to nature, looking out for others - especially those whom others feared or despised to approach. Above all, he is perhaps known as a man of peace. Many people would not share the particulars of his spirituality but have been entranced and even romanced by the famous Prayer of St. Francis.
"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light
and where there is sadness, joy.
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."