The Feast of the great St. Francis of Assisi is coming up this Tuesday. It is freshly meaningful to me this year, as I am now pastor of a church of which he is the patron. His life is worth getting to know better, as his holiness can still inspire us today (case in point: our present pope was so inspired by him that he took his name).
In modern times, St. Francis has been caricatured as a 13th century hippie, but we know that there is much more to this saint than meets the eye. He was the first saint in history to receive the stigmata -- the very wounds of Christ in his hands, feet, and side. This betrays the fact that, more than anything, St. Francis had an amazing love for Jesus -- the telltale sign of any saint.
Following this love for Jesus often takes us out of our comfort zone, as evidenced by this account of him kissing a leper. St. Francis found this disease to be repulsive and abhorrent. Yet love of Jesus caused him to dismount his horse one day and kiss a leper and give him alms. When he mounted his horse and looked around, the leper was gone. He took this to mean that it was Jesus Himself who was asking for his compassion. This is what St. Francis himself writes about going out of his comfort zone in this regard:“When I was in sin, the sight of lepers nauseated me beyond measure; but then God himself led me into their company, and I had pity on them. When I became acquainted with them, what had previously nauseated me became the source of spiritual and physical consolation for me.”
May St. Francis challenge us to have hearts on fire with love for Christ and to daily go out of our comfort zones to witness to this love.Happy Feast Day, St. Francis Parish in Thermopolis!
The Feast of the great St. Francis of Assisi is coming up this Tuesday. It is freshly meaningful to me this year, as I am now pastor of a church of which he is the patron. His life is worth getting to know better, as his holiness