Detachment

 

To My Readers: This week my guest poster, Dominic Caggeso, reminds us of  detachment from the world, and draws amazing parallels between King Solomon and St. Francis of Assisi. Feel free to comment as usual. If you have a specific comment or question for me, I will respond as always, but it may take me a bit longer to do so this week. 

God bless you all, my dear readers---Introibo

Detachment

By Dominic Caggeso

Many years ago, before I settled down to raise a family, I had the occasion to spend two years living in the Sahara Desert. I went there to escape the world and reflect on my life after having spent four years in the dregs and filth of an American University. I needed time to contemplate my life path, and re-evaluate my poor decisions. Despite my intention to self-reflect, I was unprepared for the profound impact this time in the Sahara would have on me, shaping my character and outlook even twenty-five years later as I write this.

I lived in a remote part of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, among Bedouins and endless sand dunes, under the relentless sun. Life in the rural Sahara moved at a slow pace, and as much as I tried to occupy my time, it largely proved a futile effort. Instead, I had little to do but sit alone with my thoughts, day after day, with no media, books, or places to go. It was initially a painful experience, as my mind craved the high level of activity and distraction that I grew up with as an average middle class American boy.

The prolonged emptiness made me realize just how much of my thoughts revolved around mundane and inconsequential things of this world. With very few externals to capture my attention, I was forced to turn inward and look at myself more deeply. As I sat endlessly, gazing at the barren landscape, large questions continually surfaced in my mind about the purpose of this life, the nature of God, and the question of true belief and religion. 

In the absence of the western world, I was surprised at the amount of joy I derived from the simplest of things. In that vast expanse of sand, I found immense happiness in small pleasures. A can of condensed milk or a care package from my mother, containing window screening to keep out the swarming flies, brought me great delight. This experience taught me an invaluable lesson about the desires for worldly things. I realized that I could train my mind to reassess what I considered necessary or desirable. Through this mental discipline, I learned to maintain a joyful attitude, even with minimal possessions. 

In hindsight, my time in the wilderness was a conditioning period in which God was emptying me of worldly attachments. After two years of materialism detox in the wilderness of Mauritania, I returned home. The stark contrast between living in the desert one day, boarding a plane, and landing in America the next day was a brutal shock. I was immediately overwhelmed by the abundance of “stuff” that suddenly surrounded me and struggled to reintegrate into a normal American life. 

I found that my heart and soul had much more room to pursue the higher goods I was longing for. While this fire was still alive inside of me, I immersed myself in the life of my local parish, where I was confronted with the contradictions of the Novus Ordo. This was a whole other struggle in its own right, but at least I was now capable of asking the right questions. With the intervention of Our Lady of Lourdes, this path ultimately led me out of the Novus Ordo and to the True Catholic Faith, where I would eventually drink deeply of the refreshing doctrines of the Catholic Church.

The Saharan Desert taught me a lesson that I wasn’t seeking, but was grateful to learn. This lesson of detachment gave me a much greater capacity to seek God. In the following years, I would learn of the lives of many saints who lived lives of intentional detachment from the world. Among these saints, perhaps none demonstrate this better than St. Francis of Assisi, who gave up the world and embraced poverty with a laser focused determination.

Parallels Between St. Francis and King Solomon

If you have read my articles before or seen any of my videos on YouTube, you might be aware of how I draw parallels between Church history and the Old Testament. I would like to share one example of this marvelous system of prefigurement by comparing St. Francis of Assisi and King Solomon, an unlikely counterpart. The great spiritual wealth that awaits us when we detach from the world and turn fully to God is magnified in this vivid prefigurement. 

Great Wealth and Wisdom

After the death of King David, Solomon was crowned king of Israel. As an inexperienced young man, he inherited a complex and thriving kingdom with numerous challenges. In a dream, God spoke to Solomon and asked what he desired. Aware of his deficiencies, Solomon requested wisdom. God was pleased with this request and granted him not only unparalleled wisdom but also unparalleled wealth. 

“And the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, saying: Ask what thou wilt that I should give thee. And Solomon said: [...]  ‘I am but a child, and know not how to go out and come in. [...] Give therefore to thy servant an understanding heart, to judge thy people, and discern between good and evil.’ [...] And the Lord said to Solomon: [...] ‘Behold I have done for thee according to thy words, and have given thee a wise and understanding heart, insomuch that there hath been no one like thee before thee, nor shall arise after thee. Yea and the things also which thou didst not ask, I have given thee: to wit riches and glory, as that no one hath been like thee among the kings in all days heretofore.’”

- 3 Kings 3

The wealth and glory that God bestowed on Solomon would later indirectly lead to his fall from grace. With such wealth and glory, he was able to attract and afford 700 wives and 300 concubines. Many of these wives were pagans, influencing Solomon to not only allow them to perform their profane sacrifices in the kingdom of Israel but also compelling him to do the same.

Like King Solomon, St. Francis of Assisi also faced an iconic and pivotal decision concerning wisdom and wealth. We all know the famous story in which St. Francis renounced his inheritance and even the very clothes he wore, choosing to stand without any possessions before his Heavenly Father. He embraced complete poverty and detachment from worldly goods. As a result, he was granted vast spiritual wealth, heavenly wisdom and the freedom to live totally for God. In contrast to King Solomon who gloried in his wealth and courted many women, St. Francis courted Lady Poverty and gloried in his spiritual wealth.

More Striking Parallels Between King Solomon and St. Francis of Assisi

To further round out the parallels between King Solomon and St. Francis, consider the following:

1.Great Builders: King Solomon was tasked by David and permitted by God to build the Temple in Jerusalem, God’s house on Earth in the Old Testament. Similarly, St. Francis heard the audible voice of God telling him, while kneeling before a crucifix, to rebuild God’s house. Initially, St. Francis took this literally, rebuilding the dilapidated church at San Damiano. Later, he realized that God was asking him to rebuild the entire Catholic Church, which had fallen into spiritual disrepair. With the wisdom and zeal gained from renouncing material possessions, he attracted many followers, and together they revitalized the Church, reorienting the faithful towards the riches of Heaven and away from earthly wealth and glory, the diametric opposite of King Solomon.

2.Divided Kingdoms: After King Solomon’s death, his high taxes caused unrest among the northern ten tribes of Israel. His arrogant son, Rehoboam, further inflamed their outrage, leading to a revolt and the formation of the northern kingdom of Israel, dividing the nation. Similarly, near the end of his life, St. Francis managed to quell disagreements within his Franciscan order regarding their vow of poverty. The Zelanti faction advocated for strict poverty, while the Relaxati favored a more pragmatic approach to accept donations they deemed necessary to accommodate the orders rapid expansion. After St. Francis’s death, these differences could not be resolved, leading to a division within the order.

3.Temporary Dwellings for Their “Brides”: While St. Francis did not have an earthly bride, St. Clare was deeply inspired by his example and teachings. She left her noble life to become his chaste counterpart, founding a sister organization to follow his example and pray for the Franciscan mission. When St. Clare fled her family, St. Francis placed her in the Benedictine Convent in San Paulo, Italy, while he and his brothers constructed a house for her and her sisters at San Damiano. Once completed, St. Clare moved into this new house, the first mother house of the Poor Clares. Similarly, King Solomon housed his most high-profile wife, the Egyptian princess, in Jerusalem while he completed her permanent residence in Mello.

These parallels, while not directly reflecting on detachment from the world, highlight the similarities between St. Francis and King Solomon and contrast the difference between the material wealth of one and the spiritual wealth of the other. Spiritual wealth is harder to gauge and perceive, making St. Francis’s detachment from earthly possessions more challenging to quantify. In contrast, King Solomon’s riches were easily counted. Nonetheless, spiritual wealth is a real and valuable concept, increasing in direct correlation to our detachment from this world and attachment to the riches of God.

Conclusion

I will leave you with these two quotes from Catholic Saints that speak of the need for us to detach ourselves from this world and depend upon the Providence of our Loving Father in Heaven.

“That thou mayest possess all things, seek to possess nothing.”

St. John of the Cross , Ascent of Mount Carmel,  pg. 58, 1922, London, Baker

“Complain not, then, Philothea, of your poverty; for we never complain but of that which displeases us, and if poverty displeases you, you are no longer poor in spirit.”

St. Francis De Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, pg. 144, 1885, M. H. Gill and Son, Dublin