How would I describe Christian spirituality and ethics? It is an experience through which a person enters into a process of relationship with God and forms a bond with him. The Word of God reaches a better definition and power when we listen and act as Christians. This can be achieved through prayer, contemplation, and actions. We should not view Christian Spirituality and Ethics as an experience for few people with superhuman qualities, or something that is common among heads of the Church, such as the Pope, a Cardinal, or even a Priest. Christianity is not limited to the practice of faith in a mediocre or reduced way, which would imply things such as praying only once in a while or not attending Mass every Sunday or the Holy Days of Obligation. Two exceptional examples of people who carried out an ethical and spiritual Christian life are Saint Francis of Assisi and Dorothy Day. St. Francis renounced everything he had except his Christian faith, and Dorothy day is a more modern example of what it is to live an exemplar Christian life, as she overcame many uncertainties and obstacles in her early life and ultimately converted to Catholicism. I will be analyzing what carrying out a Christian life should look like, with the help of examples from the lives of Dorothy Day and St. Francis, which set out a foundation for me to explain what is most central ethically in the Christian life.
Saint Francis of Assisi took Christian action and approached the people by living in poverty, with simple preaching and with full respect for the hierarchy of the Church. Let’s just remember for a moment that it was Saint Francis’ choice to live in poverty, which speaks great volumes of how much he was committed to living a Christian life. He insisted on the central vision of Christ as the sole mediator of nature, of grace and of glory. His spirituality spreads a deep sense of pacifism and love, being inspired with great optimism. His observance of the Gospel and his imitation of the crucified Christ is fundamental in Francis’ spirituality. St. Francis’ devotion to the humanity of Christ in its fundamental mysteries such as the Crib, Cross, and the Tabernacle are important elements in his spirituality. The identification with Christ is insisted upon, thus obtaining conformity with the will of the Father, in a supreme gesture of love and abandonment. In the introduction I said that many people think that a Christian life can only be carried out by people with superhuman gifts and how they think it is not something simple, but Saint Francis proved us wrong hundreds of years ago by living a very simple life, in which he dedicated every second to Jesus Christ. In The Life of St. Francis, on chapter 9, St. Bonaventure asks: “who can describe the fervent charity which burned between Francis”. He then asks if that person is the friend of the bridegroom. Bonaventure is quoting John 3:29, which says: “He that has the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled”. The bridegroom of whom John is speaking about is Jesus Christ, and the friend of the bridegroom is John himself, so what Bonaventure is saying at the beginning of this chapter is that John’s writings can describe that compassion and tenderness that lived upon Saint Francis. We can learn a lot from Francis’ way of life and apply it into today’s world because we could really benefit from how he lived out an exemplar ethical and spiritual life dedicated to Christ. Saint Francis said that “to offer the love of God in exchange for an alms (a charity) was a noble prodigality and that those that valued it less than money were foolish, because the incalculable price of divine love alone was sufficient to purchase the kingdom of Heaven”. This is important because many of us expect something in return for us living a Christian life, but that is not the way it should be and Francis lets us know that by saying that the price of love is enough to purchase the kingdom of Heaven. Francis also says that our love of God should be great because he loves us greatly. It is very improbable to see people carrying out a lifestyle like Saint Francis used to do. Francis renounced all things but his faith and love of God, which sounds like a lot to offer today due to our commitment to materialistic thoughts and things. Just as Jesus Christ, who spent forty days and forty night in the desert of Judea battling the devil’s temptation, Saint Francis would seclude himself through the feast of Epiphany by devoting himself to God and fasting for the entire forty days (pg. 263). “In the fervent fire of his charity he strove to emulate the glorious triumph of the holy martyrs in whom the flame of love could not be extinguished nor courage be weakened. Set on fire, therefore, by that perfect charity which drives out fear, he longed to offer to the Lord his own life as a living sacrifice in the flames of martyrdom so that he might repay Christ, who died for us, and inspire others to divine love (pg.266)”. Saint Francis was willing to give his lie for the Lord, who gave his life for us, because he had to redeem himself for Jesus Christ. Francis would go and preach the gospel of the Lord to places like Syria, Spain and Morocco. During those voyages, Francis “hoped to shed blood for the spread of faith”, which means that he hoped to become a martyr and die so faith could be spread among the people. St. Francis challenged the Soldan of Babylon and his worshippers to pass with him through a fire, saying that if they come out unharmed, they would abandon the law of Mahomet for Christ’s faith. They did not accept this offer due to fear of revolt among his people, but offered several gifts to Francis for them to be given to the poor. Francis obviously declined these gifts, as he “was accustomed to flee from the burden of money and did not see that true pity had taken root in the Soldan’s soul (pg. 270)”. He would head back to the land of the faithful, as he could not convert the people of Babylon. The story of St. Francis and the Soldan speaks of the passion St. Francis had for spreading the Gospel of Christ and how we wouldn’t accept the gifts the Soldan offered because he saw it as something that would be materialistic, which is the complete opposite of what St. Francis lived for, which is a humility and complete devotion to God, as a living sacrifice, these being the pillars of a Christian Life of spirituality and ethics. In the way St. Francis lived his Christian life, I don’t believe that there is something that is the most central to it, I think it is a combination of many things but especially: love, contemplation, prayer, and humility.
Dorothy Day might not be a Saint (yet), but she has all the qualities of one. She survived a very tough childhood, and converted to Catholicism when she was 30 years old. Her family wasn’t very fond of religion, and that was also the case with her during her early life. She recalls that she discovered God while playing in her attic. She was reading the Bible out loud and felt a “new personality had impressed itself on her”. Dorothy Day mentions that she had heard of God before, while attending school in Brooklyn, but it didn’t leave much of an impression on her. She also says that God’s named was never mentioned in her family, that she wasn’t baptized, and that they never attended Church. Also saying that to speak of the soul, according to her family, was to speak immodestly, because it was uncovering something that “might better remain hidden”. Dorothy Day describes the events of the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, and how everyone in the Bay Area acted with warmth and kindness in response to the tragic event. She says that her mother always complained about how Californians were, but after the tragic earthquake “everyone’s heart was enlarged by Christian charity”. Dorothy Day says that “people could, if they would, care for each other in times of stress, unjudgingly, with pity and love”. This is a true statement by her and we see a lot of that today. When a tragic event happens, we as people unite and forget our differences, with the goal of achieving a common good. What I dislike is how we only act with pity and love when an unfortunate event occurs, because that is how we should act in regard to anything. Later in the same paragraph, Dorothy Day recalls some words by her professor, who said that religion is something that has brought comfort to people throughout the ages, and that it was better to not criticize it. She also says that because of the way the professor spoke, the class inferred that the strong people did not need religion or things like it. That was the moment when Dorothy Day, still at a young age, felt that religion was something that she had to cut out of her life immediately. “She felt it to be an opiate of the people, so she hardened her heart”. By saying she hardened her heart, Dorothy Day means that she decided to become a stronger, colder person, but that made her feel alone, as she was distanced from her family and God. Although I am a religious person, I somewhat agree with the previous saying of how religion serves as an opium for people, and this is due to the fact that some people use religion as a mean of feeling more wholesome themselves but at the same time ignoring most God and most of what religion is, which is unacceptable in order to live a Christian life. Dorothy Day had to renounce many things in order for her to convert to Catholicism. To convert to Catholicism, she would have had to renounce her family and her husband so she and her daughter could convert. She decided to wait for a while and attended Catechism in order to prepare the embracement of a Catholic life. Dorothy Day ultimately converted to Catholicism, and had her Baptism, Confirmation, and First Communion. In pages 38-39 she says: “I had no particular joy in partaking of these three sacraments, Baptism, Penance, and Holy Eucharist. I proceeded about my own active participation in them grimly, coldly, making acts of faith, and certainly with no consolation whatsoever. One part of my mind stood at one side and kept saying, “What are you doing? Are you sure of yourself? What kind of an affectation is this? What act is this you are going through? Are you trying to induce emotion, induce faith, partake of an opiate, the opiate of the people?” I felt like a hypocrite if I got down on my knees, and shuddered at the thought of anyone seeing me”. Converting to Catholicism was not an easy task for her. Dorothy Day was very much against capitalism and imperialism at that time, and she was joining the Church which is “lined up with the wealthy, with the state, with capitalism, with all the forces of reaction.” She wanted to be poor, chaste, and obedient, to die in order to live (Heaven), and to put on Christ. She was also very much in love at the time with a man, but she said that “in the eyes of God, any turning toward creatures to the exclusion of Him is adultery. At the end of her book, Dorothy Day says: “We cannot love God unless we love each other. We know Him in the breaking of bread, and we know each other in the breaking of bread, and we are not alone anymore. Heaven is a banquet and life is a banquet, too, even with a crust, where there is companionship. We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community”. After analyzing Dorothy Day’s writings it stands out to me that the most central ethically thing in her Christian life is love. After all, it was love which made her strong and guided her into converting to Catholicism. Love is what defeated all of her early life doubts about religion, and brought her closer to God.
In conclusion, after having analyzed both Saint Francis of Assisi’s and Dorothy Day’s Christian life, I have identified what is most central ethically in Christian life. For Dorothy Day, the most important thing is love, as she says: “We cannot love God unless we love each other”. It was also love which helped her convert to Catholicism. For St. Francis of Assisi it was different. There wasn’t something specifically that was most central ethically in his life, he carried out many stuff that could be the most central, such as: love, prayer, devotion, sacrifice, and humility. For me, there isn’t something that is the most central ethically in Christian life, and also think that St. Francis’ life is the ultimate example of what a Christian life should look like.