A Saint For All

I remember going to Sunday Mass and there would be lots of dogs, cats, snakes, birds, fish, and hamsters outside of the church with our priest praying over the pets to bless them.  How cool is it that we have a special day to have our pets blessed?! This was St. Francis' feast day! He was known mostly for his love of animals but had so many other qualities that radiated the love of Christ.  St. Francis was born in 1181 in Assisi and died in 1226.  I used to think it would be impossible to follow in the footsteps of someone not from our time! I mean they had it easier than us right?  They didn't have the distraction of TV, guns, internet, etc...  How can I look up to a guy who wore a brown robe?  It occurred to me that I don't have to put on a brown robe, or give up all of my money to look up to St. Francis and to use him as a model to become like Christ! It is the principal of what he did that I can use as a guide in my life. I am going to go over a couple key qualities of things I love about Saint Francis and why he is one of my favorite saints. I am currently reading a book about him which is listed in my reading list at the bottom of my blog if you are interested.


1. Relatable: St. Francis' story made me realize it is possible for me and anyone else to meet our goal of becoming saints.  Now many people think that to be a saint you have to be canonized, the Church declaring a dead person is in heaven, but that is not true.  There are many saints in heaven whose names may not be known to us.  For instance your Grandma or Grandpa who died could have gone through purgatory or straight to heaven even though the Church has not declared them a saint. St. Francis was a young man who was said, by himself and those around him, to have lived in sin.  He was the leader of a group of young people who stayed up all night to party and would surround himself with people who liked living their lives in sin. Although not everyone stays up all night to party there may be other types of sin in your life where you can relate to St. Francis and his story . I think it is hard for young people to be close to God because they don't know Him and therefore don't have a relationship with Him just like St. Francis in his youth. Just as St. Francis did, you can turn a life of sin into a life of love and holiness. For people that are not so young anymore they can reflect on St. Francis' life and compare it to their own life.

2. Humility: There is a story of St. Francis riding a horse when he came upon a leper.  St. Francis was repulsed by the smell and looks of the leper.  He jumped off of his horse and kissed the lepers hand and when the leper returned the kiss to St. Francis' hand he was immediately filled with happiness. As St. Francis rode off on his horse he turned around and the leper was no longer there.  St. Francis felt this was a test from God. Leprosy was a disease that was not curable at the time. People with this disease were shunned from society because of their looks and smells. Is leprosy still around? Yes.  Are you likely going to see someone with leprosy? Probably not.  But this got me thinking of when I'm driving or walking down the road and I see someone who doesn't look clean, and whose smell takes my stomach for a turn. I thought of all the homeless people in every city and state!  This story isn't saying you should go and kiss every homeless person's hand but it is great way to show how you should treat those around you; with the same love you would give Christ.  This may not be the easiest thing to do but if you see someone with a sign asking for money and you have a dollar or some extra food from the grocery store just think of St. Francis and what he did for the leper. Show love for everyone.

There are so many more lessons from St. Francis that we can use in our daily life! I am sure he will come up in another blog post or I may write about some more of his awesome lessons another week.  As always if you have any suggestions please feel free to email me!

Ad Jesu Per Mariam,

Chris
christopheragarn@gmail.com

Edited by: Natalie Cloney