This is part one of a two part series on St. Francis of Assisi’s connection with the missions printed in the December 2026 issue of Catholic San Francisco magazine.
By Father Bobby Barbato, OFM Cap.
In 2026 we celebrate not only the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis, but also the 250th anniversary of the founding of the church named after him, Mission San Francisco de Asís. The California missions are identified with the Franciscan order; St. Junípero Serra was a friar who wanted to honor the founder of his order by naming one of the missions after him. In this and subsequent reflections we will explore St. Francis’ own vocation as a missionary, the missionary work of his friars throughout the ages and the specific Franciscan role in the missions of California.
Very soon after Francis of Assisi experienced Christ’s call to follow Him, he was walking through the woods, singing. Some robbers confronted him and asked who he was. He told them, “I am the herald of the Great King.” They laughed and threw him into a ditch filled with snow. The young man got up, brushed off the snow and went on his way. The incident only strengthened Francis’ resolve to be a good messenger of his true king, Jesus Christ.
All his life, Francis had heard Jesus’ words to His apostles, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Mt. 28:19), and that He had told them: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). A pivotal moment in Francis’ own search to find God’s will for him was discovering the Gospel passage where Jesus sends out the apostles without money or walking stick to preach the good news in every town and village. (Mt 10:5 ff; Mk 6:7ff)
Francis not only treasured and reflected on Jesus’ words; he knew he had to put them into practice. The saint was convinced that Jesus’ commission to spread the good news was not only for the Church of ancient times; that commission applied to Francis personally. So, from the beginning of his religious life, preaching and proclamation were integral to Francis’ living out the Gospel. In a letter he wrote to all the faithful, he stated: “I am obliged to serve all and to administer the fragrant words of my Lord to them. …. I decided to offer you in this letter and message the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Word of the Father, and the words of the Holy Spirit, which are spirit and life.” (Letter to all the faithful II, 45).
Francis spent many years walking throughout Italy and other Christian lands, proclaiming the Gospel in towns and villages and urging his brothers and sisters to live their faith. However, the poor man of Assisi was not content with speaking of Jesus just to his fellow Christians. He longed to share the same Lord’s words of life with those who did not believe in Christ, and who had perhaps not even heard of the Savior and His Gospel.
Because of this desire to evangelize beyond his own world, Francis made several attempts to leave Europe. He wanted to take his mission to the Muslims and others who did not believe. Although he knew such an undertaking would be dangerous, and perhaps even lead to
martyrdom, Francis burned with zeal to let the whole world know the goodness of God. He had found the pearl of great price and wanted to tell others about it.
In 1219, Francis finally got his chance when he traveled to Egypt. Once there, he left the safety of the Crusaders’ camp to preach to the sultan, Al-Malik al-Kamil. He hoped to convert the ruler or perhaps be martyred for his faith. This did not happen, however, as Francis’ sincerity and Christian love impressed the sultan. Although he did not convert, he asked Francis to pray for him and allowed the saint and his companion to visit the Holy Land and venerate the places where Jesus had lived.
When Francis began to organize his followers, the Friars Minor, he decided to incorporate the Church’s mission of evangelization into their religious lives. He was sure that the Holy Spirit would inspire some of them to follow his own example and that of Christians throughout the ages and ask to go into mission lands. Because of this, he included in the Rule of the Friars Minor this important provision: “Let those brothers who wish by divine inspiration to go among the Saracens and other nonbelievers ask permission to go.” (Rule of the Friars Minor, Chapter XII, 106)
Francis had learned, however, that to preach the Gospel effectively, those who proclaimed it had first to show by their lives that it was truly “good news.” He told the friars going to live among the nonbelievers: “They can live spiritually among them in two ways. One way is not to engage in arguments or disputes, but to be subject to every human creature for God’s sake and to acknowledge they are Christians.” (Earlier Rule, XVI, 74) Francis wanted his followers to live among the nonbelievers in a way that would witness to their Christian faith: “Let them not quarrel or argue or judge others … but let them be meek, peaceful, modest, gentle and humble, speaking to everyone courteously.” (Rule, III, 102)
Francis believed that once friars had witnessed to the truth of the Gospel by their lives, the Lord might then also call them to preach the Gospel in a clear and compelling way. He told the friars who were missionaries that they could “announce the Word of God when they see it pleases the Lord.” (Earlier Rule, XVI, 74) (By the way, this is probably the origin of the quote misattributed to St. Francis: “Preach the Gospel always; use words if necessary”).
It was St. Francis’ missionary zeal, along with that of his friend, St. Dominic, which inspired many of their followers, the Friars Minor (Franciscans) and Friars Preacher (Dominicans) to leave their homes and go to foreign lands to tell the good news. Many historians say this zeal helped revitalize the Church’s mission of evangelization, to carry the faith beyond the bounds of what was then “Christendom.” In our next reflection we shall see how the friars participated in this mission in many different foreign lands.
Father Bobby Barbato, OFM Cap. is the rector of National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi in San Francisco.
