A Short Sermon for the Feast of St. Francis
My sisters and brothers in Christ, these pass few days we have heard about many tragedies that have occurred in the world and w ith in our own city: acts that are so senseless that our communities are often left in suspicion of each other. It is during these times, we need to look at the heroes of our faith in order to learn how to handle such devastation. And today we commemorate and learn from such a hero in St Francis of Assisi. A man whose remarkable life is celebrated by how he embraced poverty to become closer with God in Jesus; he was renowned for his preaching and knowledge of holy scriptures; and, of course, his love for creation and animals—we are reminded of the latter as our furry friends are blessed today. But, dare I say, S. Francis’s greatest gift is often overlooked, his ability to broker God’s peace during an extraordinary war. St. Francis’ world was filled with uncertainty and violence. He was a former war veteran in his youth and he was a prisoner of that w