Brother Juniper and Brother John the Simple I was to the Franciscan court a jester and fool of whom Father Francis onc 　　 e said , “ If onl 　　 y I had a whole forest of such junipers ! ” Mine was the wisdom of Masseo stripped down to its most primitive , unadorned from . In me there was no comeliness , no imposing figure like Masseo ’ s . In me there was the raw holiness of one 　　 who onl 　　 y liked at God and did not see the consternation his bizarre antics was causing , as I sought to please onl 　　 y the Lord of Heaven . I cared nothing for human wisdom and caution and prudence ; I had let it all go years earlier when I fell in love with God . Nor did I change when I joined the Order . I simply remained who I was . And I was not so simple as I seemed . My simplicity was well intended to mask the powerful work of God in my lifeBut to really understand the kind of man I was , you have to know the story of another brother , the one 　　 we call John the Simple . This John was a farmer , a man who had walked behind a team of oxen all his life , never complaining , faithfully working to support his aging parents and his younger sisters . One day when Francis passed through his region , the farmer , John , who had heard much of the great penitent from Assisi , sought Francis out , He revealed to Francis what no one 　　 had ever suspected of this seemingly contented farmer who appeared destined , like his ancestors before him , to work the soil , to follow the pull of the oxen , to marry and have children and be laid to rest in the very soil made fruitful and rich by his labors . What a surprise it was to everyone around , when this seemingly unthinking man returned from his conversation with Francis and unhitched one 　　 of the oxen and brought it to him . It was all he had of his inheritance , his onl 　　 y possession to give away before joining Francis and his brothers as a Lesser Brother of Penance . His parents and sisters began to wail and wring their hands , and they came running to Francis and their brother John because they were very poor and their own brother had just reduced them to destitution by presuming to take as his own one 　　 of the oxen they needed to till the land . They all began to talk at onc 　　 e and to gesticulate with great weeping movements of their arms and hands as if Francis were too great and noble to understand their poor words . But Francis calmed them with the sign of the cross and assured them they could have the ox . Their brother ’ s intention had been good , for to become a Lesser Brother one 　　 must give one 　　’ s all to the poor . However , since he had nothing of his own to give , their brother had presumed to take one 　　 oxen as being justly his for all the work he had done to keep the family alive . Now , whether the ox was his or not , these people were no doubt among the poorest of the poor , so who better to give it to than to his own family ? And his family , when they heard the last sentence , began to rejoice , but onl 　　 y briefly , for now they realized they were losing his who alone knew the oxen . Their son and brother ’ s whole life had been to know best how to make the oxen walk straight rows and preserve their strength and keep the pace even and unhurried , that they might live long , productive lives . Now they were losing his without whom the oxen were onl 　　 y animals to feed and care for , a further drain upon the family ’ s meager resources . And they began to wail aloud onc 　　 e more . Francis , however , assured them that God himself had summoned the man of the family off the land he had worked so long . And God would surely see that they would do right well if they gladly let him go into the service of God , who alone could make the wheat and grasses grow . John ’ s parents said it was easy for Francis to say that , because he didn ’ t have to work the fields when he was too old or a frail young girl , but they agree that no one 　　 dare oppose the call of God . And so they went back to their home reluctantly , trying to have faith , prodding the reluctant ox away from him who had understood the way it is with oxen . And so Brother John became one 　　 of the Lesser Brothers ; and as it was with Francis himself , nothing further is known of his parents and how they fared without their son . Faith says they received a hundredfold for such a sacrifice . But that as it may , their son was now so grateful to Francis and so eager to imitate him , that he began to ape every act and gesture of the saint . If Francis would spit or cough , Brother John would do the same . Or if Francis would begin to pray or weep over the Passion of Jesus , so would Brother John , until finally Francis had to gently reprimand him and explain to him that he must not imitate him but , rather walk as his own man in the footsteps of his Lord Jesus Christ . Just as John had followed behind the oxen and had come to know and understand their every movement , so now he must follow in the footsteps of his Lord , letting him lead , coming to know every signal he have along the way . Brother John was very grateful for these words and asked forgiveness for being so simple as to follow the wrong ox . And he thanked Francis for making everything so clear . Now he would not need to imitate , which , he admitted , had been very hard for him because he did not know how to do anything but follow . And follow is what Brother John did from then on . He followed in the footsteps of Jesus without swerving from his row and so became known as John the Simple , the Lesser Brother who knew best what Jesus meant when he said , “ My yoke is easy and my burden light . ” He knew well his Lord , and oxen , and other beasts of burden . ♣♣♣♣ Lord , as St . Francis did not imitate you but followed in your footsteps , teach me not to imitate St . Francis or any of your saints , but to follow in their footsteps following you . They must become transparent that I might see you . It is your footsteps that they lead me to , and they are useful onl 　　 y when my foot rests in their footprint resting in yours . You alone , Lord , lead us to the Father .