St. Francis

 

St Francis started off like most people.

He was popular

Liked to hang around with his friends.

He was Middle class and his dad owned a business

And he wanted glory and fame as he went off on the Crusades.

And then one day

He knelt in front of a cross

And Jesus said to him,

“Go repair my Church, which is falling into ruin.”

And the way he tried to repair the Church and the people in it,

Was not by telling everyone what they should be doing,

But by trying to be more like Jesus!

All St. Francis wanted was to be like Jesus.

To Imitate Jesus;

Act like Jesus;

Think like Jesus;

So St. Francis gave away everything he had to the poor.

He took care of lepers and the sick.

And he loved creation and everyone and everything in it.

If we want to repair and restore our church

Then we must become more like Jesus.

What are we willing to give up?

What do we need to change so that we can be like Jesus?

After a lifetime of striving to be like Jesus,

There was one last thing for Francis to do.

Share in the sufferings of Jesus.

So one day Jesus appeared to him again,

And gave him His wounds.

Francis then had the nail marks of the cross in his hands and feet,

And the wound of the spear in his side.

Do we dare kneel in front of a cross

And wait for Jesus to speak to us?

And offer us His wounds and His suffering.

If we do,

Jesus will speak to us just as He spoke to St. Francis.

Then we too can become like Jesus.

And share His cross,

Just like he shares ours!

God Bless