He finally discovered his mission in life after hearing the priest recite the Gospel at daily Mass.
After renouncing his former way of life, St. Francis of Assisi began actively discerning what God wanted him to do. Initially he thought God was calling him to physically rebuild churches.
St. Francis ended up repairing three small chapels near Assisi, but after he was done, it still seemed like God was calling him to something more.
Then one day St. Francis was attending Mass at one of the chapels he restored, called the "Portiuncula" ("little portion.")
It was there that St. Francis' life took a radical turn that would end-up changing the entire world.
February 24, 1208
On the morning of February 24 (according to most Franciscan historians), St. Francis attended Mass inside the Portiuncula and was struck by the Gospel of the day, which at the time was for the feast of St. Matthias.
And preach as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without pay, give without pay. Take no gold, nor silver, nor copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor a staff; for the laborer deserves his food. And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it, and stay with him until you depart. As you enter the house, salute it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. (Matthew 10:7-13)
Afterwards, St. Francis proceeded to ask the priest who celebrated Mass about the Gospel passage. The priest explained it to him and immediately St. Francis knew what he had to do.
Up to this point St. Francis had a nice tunic, leather belt, sandals and a staff. He quickly divested himself of these things and made himself a new, rough tunic and tied a rope around his waist.
St. Francis felt God calling him to take Jesus' words literally, not taking any money, sandals, or even a staff on his journey.
He was to preach the Gospel to the world, but first he was to live it out.
After that day St. Francis went out into Assisi and began preaching to the people there. Men were inspired to follow him and similarly gave-up everything they owned to follow this new life of poverty.
