Becoming a Fool for Christ

The Franciscan Charism impacted me in countless ways this year, but one moment at Greccio sticks out above the rest for me. It was there that I realized the importance of how St. Francis made the Gospel tangible for people that otherwise would have never heard, let alone understood, the Good News. He brought live animals, people, and hay to recreate the birth of our Savior, all of which we still do today because it makes that event real and understandable. That’s what Francis did with his whole life. He made the lofty concepts of the faith simple and showed them how to live it. I’ve experienced that same way of living the Gospel through the friars, sisters, and lay Franciscans that I’ve met this year. They all embody the same mission with humility and simplicity. They were always quick to welcome us like family, showing genuine care and interest in our lives, but most importantly they were ordinary people simply living out their faith as they felt called.

Watching them live out the Gospel in such an ordinary yet intentional way gradually changed how I understood service itself. The simplest lesson I’ve taken away has been that the service and the impact I made this year never had anything to do with what I actually did. Instead, it had everything to do with how I did it. The way I treated others around me and showed up every day with a smile and a desire to love like Jesus, that was what the staff and mothers I served remembered. I was raised knowing the importance of treating others with the love and respect that they deserve, but when thinking about “making a difference in the world” or “serving the poor” it was easy for me to let those small daily acts of love be overshadowed by such a large end goal. I was surprised after returning home and debriefing the year with friends and family that this simple lesson kept resurfacing. I think, once again, I expected to come away with more dramatic or profound realizations, but instead it all boiled down to love. After all, God is love (1 John 4:8), and we are called to love like Christ, which means loving when it is scary, difficult, and especially when it isn’t reciprocated.

That realization is one that I hope to carry with me far beyond this year of service, especially in my next chapter at Xavier University as I pursue a Doctorate in Occupational Therapy. This year has helped me grow in many ways, particularly my problem-solving skills, my ability to build interpersonal relationships, my confidence, and my experience leading diverse groups. While all of these will certainly help in my studies and future career, my biggest takeaway comes from what I learned from Sts. Francis and Clare. Like them, I hope to make Christ’s love tangible through simple, ordinary acts of love for all those I encounter, especially as an occupational therapist. I want to be a fool for Christ in all that I do, trusting in His plan and direction for my life, responding with a heart eager to love and serve, and courageously believing that what I do, and even more so how I do it, truly matters and can make a difference.

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