Today we honor St. Francis, one of the most well-known Saints. Because of his love for animals, we traditionally have the “blessing of the animals” today. I get a kick out of the kids dragging their animals to the church grounds to be blessed. It can be a scene of chaos and fun and excitement. We have a statue of St. Francis in our entry way, but no animals live with us full time…just the occasional dog visitor. St. Francis is said to have sometimes preached to the birds. There are lots of birds in our neighborhood, including osprey, eagles, egrets, geese, ducks and more.
St. Francis is credited with the saying that goes something like, “Preach the Gospel at all times. And when necessary, use words.” For some, this is an excuse to NOT talk to people about God, Jesus, religion, and faith, because lack of words is seen as a positive in the quote. However, I think his intent was to use our actions to show our faith, and to be good examples of what we all should be doing. There is nothing wrong with talking about those topics, either.
Being kind and merciful, staying on the straight and narrow path, and showing love for others are good places to start. We do not necessarily need to give fancy sermons or quote long pieces of scripture. Putting Faith in Action is part of what we do at GVM, and you will see some examples soon, as we post some videos. Thank you for your continued support as we strive to do more.
Difficult to Do, But Easy to See
The first reading is about Jonah, as he tries to escape God, gets swallowed by a whale (gross!), but finally puts his Faith in Action. Jonah had a clear mission from God and he should have acted on it. However, he thought it would be too much for him. His struggles led to the struggles of others on the ship, and finally the desperate move of the crew to throw him overboard got Jonah’s mission started. Sometimes it can seem that difficult, or take such desperate measures, to get us pointed in the right direction. We can be afflicted with things or situations we do not understand, but they are probably done to cause a change of course. When we meet Jesus, we will know if we succeeded.
The Gospel is the well-known story of the Good Samaritan. This is another example of a course of action that is easy to see, but difficult to do. Several travelers see a fellow traveler in desperate trouble on the side of the road. It is obvious that he needs help. However, it was simply too difficult or too unsavory for the first few travelers to stop and help. These travelers were of the class of people who should have stopped, based on local norms and customs. The Samaritan, one of the “bad guys” of that era, took the bold step to nurse the traveler back to health, and to follow up to make sure the recovery was going well.
I pray that if you have a calling from God, that you do not shy away from it. If an opportunity arises today to say a few kind words, to do a small favor like offering a place in line or help with a minor task, take that opportunity and do it. Do it for Jesus’ sake, or in honor of St. Francis. Perhaps give the animals in your life a blessing and thank God for their companionship. When you see birds today, think of St. Francis.
