Brother Ass

Learning to live like St. Francis of Assisi

10/04/2017

Luke 9:57-62 As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding on their journey, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus answered him, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head." And to another he said, "Follow me." But he replied, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father." But he answered him, "Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God." And another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home." Jesus answered him, "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God."

            Boys and girls, a big reason why your parents send you to Trinity Junior High is to help you not only to be good pupils, but also be a good person, not only to learn about chemistry, but also to learn about Christianity, not only to make it to Harvard, but also to make it to Heaven. In short, they send you hear to learn not only how to be a scholar but also to be a saint. And there is no better student in this “classroom of Christ” than St. Francis of Assisi. In three surprising ways, St. Francis shows us how to be more like Jesus and a little less like everyone else: first, in that silence is louder than yelling; second, that poverty allows you to possess more than prosperity; and third, that discipline unleashes your desires better than debauchery (laziness and lust).

              How many of you like to read? Raise your hands. The best little book on St. Francis of Assisi was written by G.K. Chesterton. Here’s a quotation that sums up what I want to tell you today. Chesterton wrote: “The poet who praised his Lord the sun often hid himself in a dark cavern…the saint who was so gentle with his Brother the Wolf was so harsh to his Brother the Ass (as he nicknamed his own body)…the troubadour who said love set his heart on fire separated himself from women…the singer who rejoiced in the strength and gaiety of the fire deliberately rolled himself in the snow…the very song which cries with all the passion of a pagan, ‘Praised be God for our Sister, Mother Earth…ends almost with the words, ‘Praised be God for our Sister, the death of the body” (St. Francis of Assisi, 194). In other words, St. Francis was a sign of contradiction, just like Jesus was, you couldn’t put him into a box. Let’s learn a little silence, poverty and discipline from Brother Ass (St. Francis said it first, not me!).

              First, speaking softly, and even silence, are louder than yelling. Do you know how smart teachers get control of their class when everyone is talking? They start to speak more softly, like this, and students start to quiet down and listen. Mrs. Bedell does that to me all the time! Do you have parents who are “yellers” and yell at their kids to get their attention? Does that inspire you to listen, or turn you off? By the way, it’s completely okay for coaches to yell at you. When you’re in a group of friends and someone starts criticizing and gossiping about another person, just remaining silent and not sharing in the gossip sends a strong message that you disagree. I’m not sure St. Francis said this, but it’s popularly attributed to him: “Go to all the world and preach the Gospel, and if necessary, use words.” In other words, actions speak louder than words. Silence and love speak louder than yelling.

             The second lesson from Brother Ass is to love poverty. No one wants to be involuntarily poor, but it is a great virtue to be voluntarily poor. St. Francis said he was in love with Lady Poverty, and she was a more beautiful bride than all his friends had. I heard of one student who, for her birthday, asked that all gifts be a donation to the Fort Smith Animal Shelter. She was falling in love with Poverty. I try to help some of our Trinity students with their tuition, and so do lots of other people in Fort Smith. There’s something very beautiful about Poverty. Teachers put money into a box to make sure every student gets to eat lunch. But notice what’s happening: by making ourselves “voluntarily poor,” we become “involuntarily rich.”

              And third, disciplining your body unleashes your deeper desires. Boys and girls, if you want to live life with passion, and drink from the well-spring of your deepest desires, then learn to discipline your own body, Brother Ass. Why does David Menjivar excel in football, why is Zander Lelemsis a man among boys in cross country, why are Zoe Hobson and Anna Anders and Julian Martinez always tops academically, why is Nicole Jeter fearless with her violin, why does Mary Alex Cole dominate on the tennis court? It’s not because they’re lazy or take the easy way, or watch T.V. and play video games all day. No, it’s because they have disciplined their own Brother Ass, and live life with passion and purpose. They say “no” to small desires, so they can say “yes” to greater goals, their deeper desires which lead them to their destiny.

             Boys and girls, every time you walk into this chapel you walk into another classroom. Here, Jesus is your Teacher, and his lessons will teach you about happiness and holiness. One of his best students was St. Francis of Assisi, who called his own body, “Brother Ass.” And this chapel better be the only place we hear that word.

Praised be Jesus Christ!