Homeless and hopeless no more
Eleven years after his Easter baptism, local man enters Franciscan third order
By Christina Gray
Longtime readers of Catholic San Francisco may remember my story on Michael Riddle, a homeless drug addict who found faith while taking shelter on the pews of St. Boniface Church in the Tenderloin. (read it here). I was among those who celebrated with him as he entered the Franciscan Third Order, known as the Order of Secular Franciscans (OSF), on Sunday, April 13.
Eleven years after he entered the Church on Easter 2014, Michael consecrated himself to the OSF during a Rite of Profession to the Gospel life Mass at San Damiano, a Franciscan retreat center in Danville. Two other local aspirants of the St. Thomas More Fraternity, a regional fraternity, were professed with him.
“I ask to be admitted to the profession of the rule of the Secular Franciscan Order, and to make a permanent commitment to the Gospel life,” he said, as he said during the rite in the retreat center’s San Damiano Chapel. “My experience in formation with the Franciscans has helped me to crystalize my faith and decision to continue to live out the Gospel in the footsteps of St. Francis.”
After the order accepted his petition, he made his promises.
“I, by the grace of God, renew my baptismal promises and consecrate myself to the service of his kingdom,” he said. “Therefore in my secular state, I promise to live all the days of my life, by the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Secular Franciscan Order by observing its rule of life.”
I interviewed Michael in the early spring of 2014, weeks before his Easter baptism. “When you are homeless, your days revolve around searching,” he told me. His rugged daily existence revolved around searching for food, a safe place to lie down at night, and peace.
He walked into St. Boniface Church the year before for one reason and one reason only: to close his eyes. At that time, St. Boniface was the host location for The Gubbio Project, a nonprofit that invited the homeless to sleep on its back pews between 6 a.m. and 3 p.m.
The pandemic shuttered the Gubbio Project, which has since moved to a nearby Episcopal church. St. Boniface and St. Anthony’s Foundation partnered to open St. Clare’s Care in 2021, offering the same “sacred sleep” and wraparound services to the homeless as The Gubbio Project did.
Michael told me that while he was only seeking shelter at the time, his eyes were “opened to the beauty of the Mass and the Catholic Church.” He found himself staying for daily Mass, then talking to people. He stopped a nun after Mass one day to ask a question about a reading. She directed him to the parish’s RCIA program where he met its coordinator, the late Tim Gallagher.
“I didn’t know what was involved or what a sacrament was,” Michael told me. Then pastor, Franciscan Father Tommy King, said his “sincerity, gratitude and spiritual focus” was impressive considering the daily burdens of being homeless.
When he entered the Catholic Church on Easter Sunday April 20, 2014, with Gallagher, a Secular Franciscan, as his sponsor, he was still living among the homeless, but the difference was that now he had hope.
“Don’t get me wrong,” he told me. “I suffer physically in much the same way they do, but my spirit is in a much different place now.”
Shortly after the publication of his story in Catholic San Francisco, a reader contacted me, hoping to help get Michael off the streets. He paid for the rent on a very basic room in a residential hotel, by an act of grace and coincidence, across from the National Shrine of St. Francis. He still lives there today, attending daily Mass at the Shrine, and still an involved parishioner of St. Boniface.
The decade between his baptism and his profession as a Secular Franciscan Sunday has been a series of blessings and challenges, he admitted. He worked and attended Laney College in Oakland to study electronic technologies. He suffered a work-related injury and lost his income. As devastating was the death of his sponsor, Gallagher.
During the pandemic he also had a short relapse. He got back on track with daily prayer and skill-building recovery program. His life today revolves around service to his parish and St. Anthony’s Foundation, as well as constant prayer.
“Before I even get out of bed, my thoughts are with God,” he said. He attends daily Mass at the Shrine of St. Francis, and spends time in frequent confession and adoration. He believes his “fall” brought him even closer to God.
“I can’t turn toward sin like I once did, because it offends both me and God,” he said. “The more purified you get the more intensely you feel the occasions of sin.”
About the Secular Franciscan Order
The three main branches of the Franciscan Order are the First Order (male friars), the Second Order, (nuns) and the Third Order (lay and religious men and women). The Third Order, or Order of Secular Franciscans, is a world-wide order within the Catholic Church, founded by St. Francis of Assisi during his life time, and canonically established in 1221 by Pope Honorius III.
The Secular Franciscan Order is made up of women and men, single or married, or members of the diocesan clergy. They do not live in community, but come together on a regular basis with local Franciscan communities call fraternities to pray and share their lifelong journey of formation. Both individually, and as fraternities, Secular Franciscans engage in apostolic work and various ministries, with a particular outreach to the poor and marginalized, and a focus on peace, justice and care of creation.
For more information on the Order of Secular Franciscans, visit secularfranciscansusa.org/
Read the original Catholic San Francisco story at issuu.com/productioncsf/docs/web_csf4-11-14
Photos: Then and now: Michael Riddle was the subject of a popular Easter baptism story in Catholic San Francisco in 2014. Struggling with drug addiction and mental illness, Riddle slept in the pews of St. Boniface church while going through RCIA. He was baptized and confirmed on April 20, 2014. After a decade of formation and healing, he formally entered the Secular Franciscan Order at San Damiano Retreat center on April 13, 2025. (Photos by Christina Gray)
Christina Gray is the lead writer for Catholic San Francisco.