MICAH 6.8

COMMEMORATING ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI Patron Saint of Animals and the Environment October 4, 2021 St. Francis had a fear and abhorrence of lepers. Or at least he did before he became the saint we know so well. As a young man he used to run away from them at the mere tinkling of the bell they were forced to ring as they walked down the street. But, that all changed later. In his Testament, Francis wrote, “When I was in sin, the sight of lepers nauseated me beyond measure; but then God himself led me into their company, and I had pity on them. When I became acquainted with them, what had previously nauseated me became the source of spiritual and physical consolation for me.” Shortly after his conversion. He heard the bell that announced the coming of a leper, and he did what he normally did: he turned around and started to walk away. Only this time something stopped him. Perhaps that something was an inner prompting of his conscience. Perhaps it was the voice of Another. Whatever it was, it told him to turn back around and face his fear. He did. Instead of running away, he walked up to the leper, embraced him, and kissed him. In that moment he found that the object of his fear was not something to be afraid of, but a person deserving the same dignity and respect as all. Holy God, Holy Almighty, Holy Benevolent One:  grant your people grace to renounce gladly the vanities of this world; that, following the way of your saint, Francis,  we may for love of you delight in your whole creation with perfectness of joy.  O God, you have made us and all living things.  You are even more wonderful than what you have made.  We thank you for giving us the creatures who bring us joy.  As you take care of us, so also we ask your help that we might  take care of those who trust us to look after them.  By doing this, we share in your own love for all creation.  Blessed are You and blessed is your Kin-Dom. Amen. —adapted from the appointed collect for the day God, make me an instrument of your peace, where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. O, God, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;  to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; for it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.  Amen. —attributed to St. Francis of Assisi Almighty God, our great Creator, yours are the praise,  the glory, the honor and all blessings!  To you alone do all things belong.  Be praised for giving us the animals, birds and fish which fill your world. May we think of you and thank you when we play with and care for our pets.  Be praised for making us so happy to have our pets and to have them to play with.  We ask you, O God, that we may be good to our pets always,  so that they may be happy also.  Help us always to take care of them so that they will be healthy.  O God, your world is wonderful.  May we all come into your even greater world of the Kin-Dom of heaven  where we shall see even more wonderful things and where we and all shall live and love forever.  This we ask to your eternal praise, and to our blessing.  Amen.  —adapted from the Book Of Common Prayer, 1979 Gracious and merciful God, you kindled in the heart of Francis such a flame of love that he became wholly yours; increase in us a wholehearted trust in you and a humble love of all your creatures, that we may know the joy the gospel brings. —For All the Saints, © The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, 2014 Francis was born in Assisi in central Italy either in 1181 or the following year. He was baptised Giovanni but given the name Francesco by his father, a cloth merchant who traded in France and had married a French wife. There was an expectation that he would eventually take over his father's business but Francis had a rebellious youth and a difficult relationship with his father. After suffering the ignominy of imprisonment following capture whilst at war with the local city of Perugia, he returned a changed man. He took to caring for disused churches and for the poor, particularly those suffering from leprosy. Whilst praying in the semi-derelict church of St Damian, he distinctly heard the words: "Go and repair my church, which you see is falling down." Others joined him and he prepared a simple, gospel-based Rule for them all to live by. As the Order grew, it witnessed to Christ through preaching the gospel of repentance, emphasising the poverty of Christ as an example for his followers. Two years before his death, his life being so closely linked with that of his crucified Saviour, he received the Stigmata, the marks of the wounds of Christ, on his body. At his death, on the evening of 3 October 1226, his Order had spread throughout western Christendom. Dollie Jayne Maggie Lynne Webster Andrew