Week 11: Francis on spreading the gospel message

From St Francis’ letter to the whole Order
Listen with all your heart, children of God and my brothers, and do what the Son of God commands. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, and praise him through everything you do. This is why he has sent you all over the world – so that by your words and by the way you live you might proclaim his message and convince everyone that there is no-one who is all-powerful except our Lord.
Question: how can we proclaim the message by the way we live?

From St Bonaventure’s Life of St Francis
[Francis’ father had dispossessed him in front of the bishop of Assisi and Francis had even taken all his clothes off and been clothed by the bishop in old clothes]
Now that by rejecting the world he was freed from any desire for earthly things, Francis left Assisi with a light heart and looked for somewhere he could be alone, so that in silence and solitude he could listen to the mysteries of God. Then as he was walking through the forest joyfully singing in French and praising God, suddenly he was set upon by robbers who asked him who he was, to which he fearlessly and prophetically replied, ‘I am the herald of the Great King!’ With that they beat him up and dumped him in a ditch which was full of snow, telling him, ‘Stay down there, you peasant of a herald of God!’ Then they made off and Francis jumped out of the ditch, full of joy, and made the woods re-echo with his praise for the Creator of all.
Question: Would you consider yourself a herald of the Great King?
Question: If you do speak, are you prepared for abuse, and to receive it joyfully?

From The (First Order) Rule of 1221
The Lord says: “I am sending you out like sheep with wolves all around you. Be wise like snakes and gentle like doves”. And so brothers who are inspired by God to work as missionaries among the Muslims and other unbelievers must get permission from their minister, who is there to serve them, and should give them permission, and not raise any objection if he sees that they are suitable for this work; the minister will be held to account before God if he has gone ahead without proper discernment in this or indeed any other matter.
The missionary brothers can conduct themselves among Muslims and unbelievers in two ways. One way is not to get involved in arguments or disputes but instead “for the Lord’s sake accept the authority of every institution put in place for human beings” (1 Peter 2:13), thus bearing witness to the fact that they are Christians. The other way is to proclaim openly the Word of God, when they see it pleases the Lord, in order that unbelievers may believe in almighty God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Creator of all, the Son, the Redeemer and Saviour, and be baptised and become Christians because no one can enter the kingdom of God without being reborn of water and the Holy Spirit.
Question: what do you think Francis meant by accepting authority from institutions, and can we use this first way today?
Question: Do you think people should get agreement from their church or community before evangelising?

From the first biography of St. Francis by Thomas of Celano
In all of his preaching, before he presented the word of God to the people he first prayed for peace, and said, ''May the Lord give you peace.'' He always reverently announced peace to both men and women, to everyone he met and those who came to him. Because of this, many who did not want peace, and rejected the idea of their salvation, were with the Lord’s help changed so they welcomed peace with their whole heart. They became themselves children of peace seeking for eternal salvation.
Question: Is this an unusual way of evangelising in your experience? Can Francis teach us something here?