(The Nationalist, 09 Sept. 2005)
Some eight hundred years ago, a young Italian called Francis went out one day for a walk. He was widely-known and well-liked by the people. When he came to a village called Gubbio, the villagers told him of a wolf living nearby that sometimes killed their lambs, and threatened them when they tried to defend them.
‘What did you do?’ asked Francis. They answered, ‘We tried poisoning it; when it came near, we stoned it, threw spears and shot arrows at it. We did everything we could think of, but we failed. It’s too clever for us, and tough as well’.
‘Where does the wolf live?’ asked Francis. ‘Over there’, they said, and pointed to the woods on the nearby hillside. ‘I’ll go there’, said Francis, ‘and talk to my brother the wolf’. The people told him he was mad even to think of such a thing. They said the wolf was angry and aggressive and would surely attack him. He was very strong, they said, and could overpower any man. Francis simply repeated, ‘I’ll go’, and off he went. The people expected never to see him again.
Francis approached the wood openly, looking out for tracks as he went. After a while he saw the footprints of a wolf on the soft ground. They were large and deep. He kept going, following the prints until he came to a clearing in front of an opening in the rocks on the hillside. There he sat and waited, quietly humming a tune to himself.
After a long time, Francis thought he heard a sound. He looked up and saw that the wolf had emerged from the opening and was looking straight at him. It looked angry, and growled threateningly. Francis stayed where he was, then slowly reached into his pocket and took out a piece of food he had brought with him. He held it out towards the wolf.
The wolf backed further away and growled louder, baring its teeth. ‘It’s frightened’, thought Francis, so he broke off a piece of the food and laid it on the ground in front of himself. He then moved back a little and waited.
Slowly and hesitantly, the wolf was drawn by the smell of the food. It edged nearer to Francis, eyeing him carefully all the time. Then, in a sudden dash, it grabbed the food and ran back. Francis stayed where he was, and waited. The wolf re-appeared. This time Francis held the remaining food out in front of him and kept it there. The wolf, suspecting a trick or trap, crouched and watched him, ready to run. Then, drawn once again, it came forward again and snatched the food from Francis’ hand without harming him.
Francis got up slowly, turned around in front of the wolf, and walked back to the village. The people there were amazed to see him, and even more to notice that he was completely unhurt. ‘What happened?’ they asked, ‘Did you see the wolf?’ So he told them, and then said, ‘Brother Wolf was hungry. That was why he stole your lambs’. When you attacked him, he became angry. When you tried to kill him, he defended himself. Give him food and you’ll make a friend of him.’. He asked people to collect the scraps of food left over from the village each day and to bring them to the wood. They did so and the wolf no longer attacked them. The villagers and the wolf of Gubbio became friends, and they grew in respect for the young man, Saint Francis of Assisi. ‘If your enemies are hungry, feed them’. (Romans 12.20)
For those in a hurry: ‘Abandonment to God’s will is not simple resignation but positive willing of what God wants’. (G. Roger Huddleston)