Readings for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Jesus praises a poor widow who gave more to the temple treasury “than all the other contributors” because the rich ones “have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had." The poor widow is generous because she is free. And she is free because she clings to nothing. The most famous saint ever was just as free: St. Francis of Assisi. People called him “il poverello” or “the little poor man.” The secret to his sanctity was not clinging, otherwise known as poverty.

Francis was born in 1181 in Assisi in central Italy. Some outstanding scenes from the life of Francis include stripping naked in the town square of Assisi to declare his dependence on God and embrace poverty, preaching to birds and fish, taming the wolf of Gubbio, and receiving the Stigmata. The stigmata are the wounds of Jesus Christ Crucified. Francis died in 1225 lying naked on the ground. Francis lived for God alone in pure freedom and perfect joy.

Francis lived without any possessions. That was his secret. He lived poverty with joy, for all his joy was found in God. He taught his brothers to do the same, all because they wanted to follow the poor Jesus. In his Rule for the friars, Francis says they are to live without anything of their own. He means for them to be happy and content with owning nothing. On the surface, this is a very insecure life. Francis and the brothers had no possessions and were utterly vulnerable physically. Francis even had to let go of his life's work in handing over his dream of the lesser brothers. In truth, though, they lived a most secure existence because each was anchored in God.  So anchored they were free from the possession obsession, which typically imprisons us and sets us against each other. The following story reflects this insecure-secure existence: “The brothers often asked the advice of the Bishop, who received Francis with kindness, but said: ‘It seems to me that it is very hard and difficult to possess nothing in the world.’ To this blessed Francis replied: ‘My Lord, if we had any possessions we should also be forced to have arms to protect them, since possessions are a cause of disputes and strife, and in many ways we should be hindered from loving God and our neighbor. Therefore in this life we wish to have no temporal possessions’” (The Legend of the Three Companions).

If we own material goods, we need to protect them through law and through arms. We move into gated communities. We get an alarm system. We pay for insurance. There is even an inherent connection between weapons and possessions. Defending our things means we need something with which to defend them. Of course, for Francis this implies we're attached to our possessions.

Living without anything of one’s own is more than physical poverty, it is to be poor in ego. Francis knew the secret of Christianity, which is when ego diminishes new life emerges. The more you possess things, people, the good things God does in you, and your reputation the less you are centered in God. The less we possess, the more we are free. The more we possess the less we are possessed by God. Whether physical things or mental things, possessions leave little room for God, love, and relationships.

Francis shows us joyful poverty.  Those words should not go together, and they may strike us as incongruent if we live in the first world and enjoy a rather comfortable lifestyle. He says a simple life is freer and more open to God. A life willing to bear trials with good cheer and patience finds itself rooted in God. To practice joyful poverty is to center our hearts on God. It is to allow the ego to be reduced through happily bearing whatever happens in the moment. It is to declutter or simplify our lives. Francis counsels us not to be attached to things or to our reputation by launching ourselves into the goodness of God. The generosity Jesus praises in the poor widow will then spring up in our lives.