Turning Points

When he was a young man, the future Saint Francis of Assisi made a pilgrimage to the Church of Saint Peter in Rome. Inside the church, Francis joined the throng of people there to see Saint Peter’s burial crypt, and he watched his fellow pilgrims make monetary offerings at the saint’s tomb. Born into a family of wealth, Francis couldn’t help feeling that many of the people were leaving rather small donations. Certainly, he thought, the Prince of the Apostles deserved a greater show of reverence.

Trying to make a point, Francis tossed a handful of coins onto the saint’s altar. As the money clattered to the floor, the noise caused people to turn in curiosity to see who the donor was. Hopefully, Francis thought smugly, his conspicuous act would inspire the masses to be more generous with their gifts.

Back outside, a flock of beggars had descended upon the church’s portico. They mobbed the visitors in desperation, tearing at their clothing, and pleading for money. The sight unnerved Francis, and he wondered how the rich and holy citizens of Rome could leave their poor neighbors to beg.

Francis noticed a lone man who, rather than approaching pilgrims in the frantic manner of the other beggars, stood quietly off to one side, holding out his hand. As he watched churchgoers walk obliviously past the man, Francis tried to imagine being dependent on handouts from strangers, and the sense of helplessness as people pretend not to notice. But at this point in his life, Francis was still a wealthy man – who just moments earlier, had tried to demonstrate his righteousness by tossing a fistful of money onto Saint Peter’s tomb. How could he ever begin to understand a beggar’s plight?

Acting on impulse, Francis approached the poor man and proposed a trade: his own fine clothing in exchange for the man’s torn and dirty rags. Then, for the rest of the day, Francis took up the beggar’s role on the portico of Saint Peter’s church. Dressed in tattered clothes and standing with his hand held out, Francis did not look like the man of wealth that he was. And for the first time in his life, Francis experienced the indignity that people forced to beg for help must suffer. And it changed him — forever.

Franciscanomics is a book about everyday people who imagine themselves in the positions of desperate strangers — and who, while often acting on Francis-like impulses, decide to do something to help. And in the process they, too, are changed.

I can’t wait to introduce you to them.