A Humble Man

January 16, 2014
A Humble Man Over many years a number of people have influenced the world through their peaceful and humble movements. Each one has inspired another to spread their word in a similar way. Saint Francis is known for his humbleness and the way he was able to expand the church. Saint Francis was able to take a church that was collapsing and bring it back to life. He showed that wealth didn’t mean anything, and there were more important things in life. Things like beliefs, and that even those in poverty could have a wonderful life. He lead by example rather than just preaching. He would later be named the patron saint of animals and influence the church’s current pope in a way that will most likely change the Catholic Church forever. First and foremost, Saint Francis made a major contribution into reforming the church through his “humble movement.” He made the Catholic Church look at the way it was teaching the religion. He was able to find what was wrong, go in, and fix the problems. The problem was there was corruption in the Catholic Church, and Christians were getting mad at Christians and killing each other (Moore). The Catholic Church at the time was having trouble and needed someone to bring it back together (Moore). St. Francis was told by God to “go repair my house, which as you see, is falling completely to ruins,” (Bleem). Basically God told Francis to go repair the church because it was beginning to fall apart. After this dream he left his family and gave away his father’s textiles because they weren’t necessities (Bleem). He also stripped and gave away his clothes in the middle on town (Bleem). Francis answered continued answering this dream by bringing a group of followers together that would help him carry out his mission of reforming the church and converting many people to Catholicism (Bleem). St. Francis lived a life of humility and poverty after leaving his wealthy family. His humility would set an example for how others should live their lives and restore faith in the church by bringing in many new members. In order to spread and reform the church, Francis decided to approach the pope of that time, Pope Innocent III. He went To Innocent to share his ideals and beliefs that he thought would bring the church back together. Francis knew a man who worked in the church and was able to set up a meeting with Innocent. The friend wrote him a speech to give, but Francis decided not to read it. Instead he spoke from the heart. The other priests and bishops there were furious at him (Kung). They were furious because Francis insulted the pope for not speaking for the people, and said that he was not really doing anything to help the church come back together (Kung). He, his followers, and his friend were all arrested for speaking against the church (Kung). However, Innocent decided to let them go, because “Innocent knew urgent reform was needed…” (Kung). Innocent had a dream of a small man lifting up a broken church and recognized that Francis was the man from his dream (Kung). When Francis came back into the church to see Innocent, Innocent asked him how to fix the church (Kung). Francis told him they must spread the word and appeal to the people (Kung). He also said that instead of living a life of royalty, they should lead with a life of meekness (Kung). After hearing this, Innocent bent down and kissed his feet, believing Francis was their only chance (Kung). Even though he handled the situation unconventionally, he managed to successfully make an impact and get the pope to agree with him. This only happened because of the dreams God had put into their head. Later, he formed a group of men that would help him carry out his ideas and beliefs, and spread the Word of God. “His magnetic personality and sermons delivered in the vernacular, not Latin, attracted enthusiastic followers,” (Treble). Francis fascinated many people to join through his kindness towards everyone (Treble). “It is all about three basic concerns…it is poverty, humility, and simplicity,” (Kung). These were the basic principles the group lived by. They also had to shave the top part of their heads, give up all material possessions, and they only wore robes, no shoes (Treble). They did this to show materials weren’t everything and lead their teachings by example. This impacted people to look at the bigger picture in life and try to be more spiritual in life (Treble). His group lived a simplistic life in order to stay close to God and impacted people to go to church more and even convert to Catholicism. Even after Francis’s death his legacy lived on. He was named patron saint of animals and has greatly impacted the current pope who even took his name. “Francis believed all nature whether human or not was a mirror of God,” (Treble). He thought all of God’s creatures were alike. Francis was able to communicate with animals, which is why he got to be the patron saint of animals (Treble). The current pope, Pope Francis, also believes all God’s creatures are a mirror image of God (Treble). Before Pope Francis no one had taken the name because they didn’t think they could live up to his humbleness (Kung). His modesty is drastically influencing the current pope. Pope Francis refuses to live in the palace and instead lives in an apartment and drives just a normal car, something no pope has done before, and shows he is trying to live a life similar to that of Saint Francis (Kung). Also that he is just a regular human being, and no one special, and should not be held to a higher standard than anyone else. Due to Francis’s humbleness he was thought to be able to communicate with animals and influence the modern day Catholic Church. Francis was more than just another saint, he was a reformer, a man who wanted change. He successfully reformed and saved a church collapsing. He did this by appealing to Innocent, and forming a group of loyal followers. He made such a great impact not only was he rewarded sainthood for his achievements, but also continues to affect the church to this day. A life of humility and holiness is an ideal model of how all humanity should live their lives. Because when people live a humble life, some of them may realize everything they truly have and cherish in life. Then maybe someone else will even find it in themselves to aspire to also make a difference for the better of all humanity.

Works Cited
Bleem, Jerry. “Home improvement.” U.S. Catholic Oct. 2013: 50 Student Resources in Context. Web. 8 Nov. 2013.
Kung, Hans. “The paradox of Pope Francis.” National Catholic Reporter 24. May. 2013: 1+. Student Resources in Context. Web. 8 Nov. 2013.
Moore, John C. “Be Innocent too.” National Catholic Reporter 16 Aug. 2013: 23. Student Resources in Context. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
Treble, Patricia. “The poor man pope: the name ‘Francis,’ after the beloved founder of the Franciscans, came to the new pope in Sistine Chapel, after an admonishment from A cardinal to never forget the needy.” Maclean’s Apr. 2013: 28. Student Resources In Context. Web. 8 Nov. 2013.

Cited: Bleem, Jerry. “Home improvement.” U.S. Catholic Oct. 2013: 50 Student Resources in Context. Web. 8 Nov. 2013. Kung, Hans. “The paradox of Pope Francis.” National Catholic Reporter 24. May. 2013: 1+. Student Resources in Context. Web. 8 Nov. 2013. Moore, John C. “Be Innocent too.” National Catholic Reporter 16 Aug. 2013: 23. Student Resources in Context. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. Treble, Patricia. “The poor man pope: the name ‘Francis,’ after the beloved founder of the Franciscans, came to the new pope in Sistine Chapel, after an admonishment from A cardinal to never forget the needy.” Maclean’s Apr. 2013: 28. Student Resources In Context. Web. 8 Nov. 2013.