Freedom for a Fuller Life
Friday, October 3, 2025
Richard Rohr explores how Francis of Assisi understood the meaning of words like “sin” and “penance”:
For St. Francis of Assisi, “penance” was not some kind of avoidant asceticism but a proactive, free leap into the problem. It’s the same freedom that we see in Jesus when he says, “You are not taking my life from me; I am laying it down freely” (John 10:18). In the opening words of his Testament, Francis brilliantly says:
The Lord gave me, Brother Francis, thus to begin doing penance in this way: for when I was in sin, it seemed too bitter for me to see lepers. And the Lord himself led me among them and I showed mercy to them. And when I left them, what had seemed bitter to me was turned into sweetness of soul and body. And afterwards I delayed a little and then left the world. [1]
Francis’ phrase, “left the world,” didn’t mean leaving creation. It meant leaving what we might call the “system.” Francis left business as usual, and he began an alternative lifestyle, which at that time was called “a life of penance” or abandoning the system. He decided to focus on alleviating the needs and the suffering of others instead of self-advancement. Most of our decisions are usually based on personal, egoic preference and choice. This is the life that we are called to “leave,” the self that Jesus says must “die” to fall into our Larger Life or True Self. Freedom for both Jesus and Francis was purely and simply freedom from the self, which is precisely freedom for the world. This is so utterly different than our Western notion of freedom. In order to be free for a full and authentic life, we must quite simply be free from our smaller selves.
Francis knew that Jesus was not at all interested in the usual “sin management” task that many clergy seem to think is their job. He saw that Jesus was neither surprised nor upset at what we usually call sin. Jesus was upset at human pain and suffering. What else do all the healing stories mean? They are half of the Gospels! Jesus did not focus on sin. Jesus went where the pain was. Wherever he found human pain, there he went, there he touched, and there he healed.
Francis, who only ever wanted to do one thing—imitate Jesus—did the same. We can’t do that, or even imagine it, unless our first question is something other than “What do I want?” “What do I prefer?” or “What pleases me?” In the great scheme of things, it really doesn’t matter what I want. We are not free at all until we are free from ourselves. It is that simple and that hard.
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John Chaffee 5 On Friday
1.
“Do not be discouraged. The Holy Spirit is not asleep.”
– Thomas Merton, Trappist Monk
There are days when I am optimistic, and others when I am more pessimistic. This week has been a mix of both.
When I think about the Spirit/Holy Spirit/Holy Ghost/etc, what comes to mind most often are the words: life, movement, growth, and wind.
On my more pessimistic days, it is helpful for me to look around and be grateful for life, for the movements that are going on, for the growth I am choosing (or being subjected to), and for the gentle (or firm) breeze that reminds me that most things are utterly out of my control.
Even when I fail to notice these things, they never stop happening, and keep going about their work until I can get out of my anxious thoughts and be present to the Mystery “moving the Spheres,” as Dante writes so poetically.
2.
“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”
– Jane Goodall, British Primatologist and Anthropologist
Jane Goodall passed away this week at the age of 91.
I remember growing up and watching the occasional documentary or recent update from the forests of the world about her work with primates, specifically, with chimpanzees.
It is remarkable to me that by such close observation of primates, she was also honing her thoughts and insights about anthropology. I wonder what it is that working with animals helps people become so very wise about how we humans live, move, and interact.
Initially, this spot was taken by another quote, but it felt right and appropriate to highlight a quote from the good doctor Jane.
3.
“A religion that professes a concern for the souls of men and is not equally concerned about the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them, and the social conditions that cripple them is a spiritually moribund religion.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr., Civil Rights Activist
There is no “conservative” or “progressive” Gospel. There is not an “evangelical” one or a “social” one. There is one Gospel that has much to say about our inner soulscapes as well as what is happening in the world around us. To separate the two from one another is to cause a diabolical and unfortunate split where there was never supposed to be one.
4.
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen (θεαθηναι/theathenai) by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”
The Greek word Θεαθηναι (theathenai) is connected to the same etymological root as the English word “theater.”
This adds a whole other side to this verse for me from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus tells the crowds and the disciples to “not practice your righteousness in front of others as if putting on a theater production.”
Dang, that’s quite a punch, isn’t it?
Jesus is not in favor of people who practice their piety, their religion, or their “faith” in a way that is applauded for their “acting the part.” Perhaps this is the cynical side of me, but when I read these words of Jesus, I think of social media influencers and YouTube celebrities (which are our modern-day equivalent to televangelists). I struggle with the fact that when I watch them (and yes, I sometimes do), my BS meter sounds off, and I can’t watch anymore. Then, I can just as easily turn the microscope on myself and ask if I am ever doing performative religion as well.
My God, is there any truth in any of us?
Of course, there is truth in all of us; it is just that we have to protect it, become devout stewards of our own sincerity, honesty, and vulnerability.
5.
“Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either—but right through every human heart—and through all human hearts.
This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. And even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained. And even in the best of all hearts, there remains … an unuprooted small corner of evil.“
