St Francis Assisi, who founded the religious order the Franciscans in the 13th century, has had a huge impact on Christianity in his day and on the history of Christianity. Pilgrims still flock to the small town of Assisi in Italy on pilgrimage to visit the places where he lived and where his ministry started. The Catholic faithful know about Francis’ great love for animals and for all of creation, of how he reached out to the lepers living outside of Assisi, even though their sickness and their sores revolted him. It is easy to view his life and his ministry in simplistic or romanticized terms, so not see it in its true radical nature. Lawrence Cunningham, professor emeritus of theology at the University of Notre Dame, sees St Francis of Assisi as a “man who was consumed totally in the desire to live a radical life following Jesus—a life shining forth the radical poverty of the Incarnation and the conviction that everything from creation to our redemption comes as sheer gift.” We are going to have the blessing of the animals at our parish in conjunction with his feast day, which is a special tradition associated with St Francis of Assisi.
We hear Jesus calling the people to repentance in the Gospel today, as he is shocked at their lack of repentance and at the way they are ignoring the message he is preaching to them. Francis repented from his worldly ways and called the people of his day to repentance as well. It is a message that is still timely for us.
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