Francis – A Man of Radical Faith

 October 4, 2017

Francis of Assisi, October 4

They come bringing their animals, pets, farm animals, that they might be blessed on the feast of St. Francis, but Francis is about so much more than blessing animals. He is a saint of radical poverty, radical abandonment to God, giving all he had to the poor and sharing their lot. He also is a patron for all of us who hear God’s voice and get it wrong.

“Build my church,” Francis heard God say. And so he assumed God meant a church of rock and stone, a building, not the people of God. We, too, are often mistaken in our understanding of what God wants of us, which is why we need guides to help us.

With his usual, radical abandonment, Francis proceeded to lay stones for his church. Eventually he got it right. If Frances can be mistaken, how much more so can we be mistaken. But if we listen and are patient and humble, we can get it right, too, like Francis.

Lord, give me the humility to admit and correct my mistakes until I get them right.

But may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.    Galatians 6:14

This post is part of a series of reflections on the Church year.   click here to follow blog