800 Years of St. Francis · Day 6 of 31 · Tuesday, October 6, 2026
Near the end of his life, Francis looked back and wrote about the leper in his Testament:
“When I was in sin, it seemed too bitter to 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.”
Notice the order. He did not first become a man who loved lepers and then go to them. He went to them, and the love followed. The doing came before the feeling.
I have come to think this is one of the most hopeful things in the whole Franciscan story. Most of us assume we must sort out our interior life before our behavior can change. Francis suggests the door sometimes opens from the outside. Act with more mercy than you feel, and one day you discover you actually feel it.
Francis didn’t begin with a theology. He began with an embrace, a revulsion he chose not to act on. The action opened the door, and the transformation followed the doing.
Notice today: What once repelled you that has since become a gift? And what small act of mercy might you offer before you feel ready?
You don’t have to find a monastery. You are already standing in one.
Tonight is the Spiritual Break Gathering on Zoom. Register once, and the link works every month: register here
Day 6 of 31 · 800 Years of St. Francis: A Daily October Companion · spiritualbreak.com
Reflection © 2026 Michael J. Cunningham OFS.
You’re welcome to share this reflection — see how to reprint it.