Hello All.
I would like to talk a bit about saint Francis.
Most people know Francis and animals and nature.
And he did love that, but he really rebuilt the church.
Francis first heard God at a small church in San Damiano Italy.
And he heard God tell him to rebuild his church. Like most guys he took it literally. He went and got the supplies to fix the church he was in since it was so broken down, he also fixed some other churches also.
Eventually he realized that rebuilding the church was just not fixing them but making the church better and more people following the Lord. He started the Friars Minor and he and the brothers, they were also called the brothers of penance. They also devoted themselves to poverty and God. They Preached to everyone and begged for the poor. Soon many people wanted to follow him a. A woman named Clare wanted to follow him also so they were called the Poor Clares. Soon many people followed him and several were family people and couldn’t leave them to follow Francis so he created the Secular Franciscan Order or Third Order back in his time. It was made of people like you and me, people that didn’t want to be Brothers or Sister and just wanted to live out the Gospel but within family.
Jesus was a true rebel, he did things very differently than any one else.
St.Francis of Assisi was also a rebel. The Franciscans tag line is
we bring the Gospel to life.
Being a Franciscan is fun and rewarding. Our fraternity has ministries we follow. One is helping the poor, we do that several ways. One by giving money, another by filling grocery bags for a food shelf that give people thanksgiving day food. Another is helping get things for a homeless place for people to stop in and get out of the cold and have something warm to drink and get new socks and such. There are many more. Saint Francis’s spirit is everywhere. My hope is I become a better Franciscan and person. Luckily I have my Franciscan family to help me.
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