Oct 4, 2024 - The Feast of St Francis of Assisi

Good morning brothers and sisters.

Happy Feast of St. Francis of Assisi – a saint that has always been near to my heart, especially since I read The Perfect Joy of St Francis as a teenager.

Francis’ life has so many beautiful facets that each deserve its own homily. There is his love of the poor and outcast – as exemplified in the story of him kissing the leper.

There is his radical embrace of poverty – as exemplified by the humorous story of stripping off his clothes to give to his worldly father. He could then say, “You are my inheritance, o Lord”, as we heard in the Responsorial Psalm.

There are the impressive miracles, like when the cross of San Damiano spoke to him, or when Francis received the stigmata – whereby he could echo the words of Paul from our First Reading: “From now on… I bear the marks of Jesus on my body.”

There is his bold evangelization – even crossing the crusader battlefield to preach to the Muslim Sultan. This story stands athwart the terrible misquotation given of Francis: ‘Preach always, when necessary use words.’ Of course words are necessary. Evangelization means ‘good news’ – news needs to be announced.

I want to dwell for just a moment on one way in which Francis preached… namely, with song. Before he heard the crucifix of San Damiano speak, and before he kissed the leper, Francis was a troubadour. The name ‘Francesco’ means ‘French boy’, and he embraced the tradition from Southern France, of wandering minstrels and musical poets, who composed songs and poems about courtly love and chivalry. Francis played the lyre and sang love longs about his ideal lover… a bit like the Taylor Swift of his day.

After his conversion, Francis did not abandon his musical talent. Instead, he sang about his new love: Lady Poverty. He continued to sing even when he underwent extreme physical suffering. For example, he composed the ‘Canticle of the Sun’ precisely when he was suffering terribly from his eye ailment and his stigmata. In this canticle, he praises God with words similar to our Gospel: “"I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth…”, and praises God through Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Brother Fire, and so on. Francis requested that his fellow brothers sing the song daily, and on his deathbed he added the final stanza about Sister Bodily Death.

We sometimes forget that this was a Canticle – a little song. Indeed, we Catholics – especially those of us here at this parish who appreciate a solemn, reverent liturgy – forget how important song is in our liturgy. The words ‘psalm’ comes from an etymology from ‘to play and sing harp music’; the word ‘antiphon’ comes from ‘repeat songs.’ Much of the Mass is meant to be sung; and indeed, historically, the entire Mass used to be sung. Singing is all over the Bible, with Paul instructing the Colossians to sing ‘psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.’ Even Jesus sang, at the end of the Last Supper: “Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. .” This is the only recorded instance of Jesus singing- at the end of the First Eucharist.

We Catholics should not shy from singing. Obviously, time constraints in a daily Mass make it impractical to have lots of singing, and certainly some of us are better singers than others… so prudence for each individual is more important than volume. But the ideal is to have singing at multiple parts in the Mass.   

I know that I used to be irritated during the Communion Hymn, when people around me were singing when I silently went to receive Communion and came back to my pew to pray– I thought this should be a moment of silence between me and God. But actually that’s wrong, according to the General Instruction on the Roman Missal (or GIRM) - singing emphasizes the ‘communitarian’ nature of this Sacrament.

I think too often we Catholics let ourselves get divided into camps: either solemn liturgy or joyful singing. Either pro-life or pro-immigrant. But the right answer is almost always ‘both/and’ not ‘either/or.’ Yes, we can have a reverent liturgy, but also joyful song – whether in Gregorian chant (which is given pride of place in the GIRM), polyphony, or even tasteful Praise and Worship or contemporary music.

So, on this Feast of the ‘Jongleur de Dieu’, the ‘Jester’ or ‘Troubadour of God’, let us embrace the Church’s rich tradition of song. Even if you’re having a bad day, even if you’re undergoing some of the suffering that St Francis endured, sing the praises of God and his creation. Force yourself to sing Salve Regina or Immaculate Mary in the car by yourself or with your family. Show those around you that you are joyfully, head over heels in love with Christ, and you can’t help but sing his praises.

‘Preach always, when necessary, use songs.’

So be it.