A second profile for this month points us to the life of an ordinary man who is still remembered for his extraordinary compassion nearly eight hundred years after his death.

I am no extreme contributor to the modern environmental protection movement, and I don’t think that the lives of animals are any more valuable than the lives of humans. But I do appreciate how Francis placed great emphasis on showing compassion to every living thing whenever possible.

I do not believe that every follower of Jesus is called to live in abject poverty without a single added worldly belonging. But I do appreciate how Francis placed great emphasis on living a simple life so that we might have clearer vision with which to follow our compassionate Savior and see the needs of our fellow humans.

I am not thrilled over the fact that some people have had to languish in prison, especially as prisoners of war. But I do appreciate how Francis’ own experience as a prisoner of war likely contributed to his deeper compassion for others and his tender heart being open to God’s leading afterward.

In the life of this man, so many centuries later, I see several lessons. True compassion is not based on the size or popular worth of the being to whom it is extended; rather, it is based on the degree of pure generosity flowing from the feeling soul of the giver. Such compassion springs up in the eyes and hearts of those who know Jesus and love Him. And it is so often borne more deeply out of the heart which has suffered, grieved, and known true darkness.

When we face trouble or when we have less, we always have a choice: will we lay down and give up, march on while stewing in anger and bitterness, or turn our face to the Son and reflect His light of empathetic goodness into the world?

Let us be like Francis in how he was like Jesus. Let us choose the way of love-fueled compassion whenever possible.