Book Minute

Three men gathered seeking wisdom from God for how to live their lives. After a prayer for divine guidance, they opened a volume of the Gospels three times: first to Matthew 19 (“go sell everything youhave and give it to the poor”), then they opened to Matthew 16 (“take up his cross and follow me”), andfinally they opened to Luke 14 where Jesus gives another radical calling for his disciples.The three men were Brother Bernard, Brother Peter, and Francis . . . from Assisi. Like many of the early Franciscans, they came from prominent families. Deciding to live like Jesus, Francis and his friends gave away everything they owned. They asked people to allow them to complete small jobs in return for food. The Franciscan movement was born around 1209 and was soon after recognized by the church leadership. Within a short time, there were tens of thousands of Franciscans. Franciscans, along with Dominicans, were unlike most monks of the time, who lived cloistered in monasteries. They participatedin community life. They aided the sick and the poor and taught the Bible. Their motto was “not to live for themselves only but to serve others.” Because they were busy teaching and serving the needy, it became impractical to earn their food by working. As time went on, they increasingly relied on begging or receiving alms for sustenance. These wandering friars became known as mendicants, from the Latin word mendicare, meaning “to beg.”