Memorial of Saint Pontian and Hippolytus, priest-martyrs

Lectionary: 414

In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.

As he studied the gospels Saint Francis became convinced that the easiest, fastest and surest way to heaven is to become like children. He and his disciples should trust in God as children trust in their parents, implicitly and entirely. He called this principle minority, and described his followers as Friars Minor.

 At that time in Italy, society was divided into two broad classes, the majors and minors – like American baseball leagues. The majors ruled by military and religious power; they were the aristocratic families, their soldiers and sycophants. The majors ordinarily had military, economic and religious power. They were all the branches of government in one, plus the authority of the church.

The minors were peasants. They lived and worked on someone else’s land, surviving on what scraps the majors didn’t take from them. There were few opportunities for upward mobility.

But the emerging middle class was driving a wedge between those two groups. If they weren’t aristocrats, neither were they poor. Sometimes, to finance their wars, the aristocrats had to borrow from the merchants. Or they might sell their privileges of land and title. Saint Francis’ father, a cloth merchant, intended to purchase major status for his son.

When Francis read the scriptures he realized that the Son of God renounced wealth, luxury and ease. As Saint Paul said, “He did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but emptied himself and took the form of a slave.” So Francis scrapped his father’s dream and chose minority. He was certain that God would keep his promise: not one of these little ones will be lost. 

If you aspire to peace and security don't look for shelter among the safe and protected, they have sealed their Ark with tar pitch a long time ago. Rather, make friends among the poor and the outcast, that they will speak for you on the Day of Reckoning.