I love the connection of St. Francis with animals. He is the patron saint of animals after all. And I love animals, having two of my own! It is fun to hear the cute stories of St. Francis preaching to a school of fish or taming a vicious wolf. I love the blessing of the animals every year and I look forward to ours October 8 at 8 am and 10 am. I hope you bring your pets or stuffed animals for a special blessing on Sunday. My dogs had their blessing on Wednesday and loved coming to church!

All though this is good and holy, we do always focus on the St. Francis and animals and not all the other things that made him one of the most recognizable saints in the west. See, St. Francis and his followers were radicals. Francis started on his journey because he heard God telling him to fix the church. Francis took that seriously. So he sold some silks, which was part of his family business, and paid for repairs of his local church. Francis started his journey with charitable giving which made his father so furious, he disowned Francis. As a response to this, Francis took off the clothes on his back and tossed them at his father’s feet. From that point on, St. Francis took on a simple life, rejecting any material things. He only sought the basics of food and serving other.

To this day, Friars wear simple brown robes and attempt at possessing as little as possible. They rely on others and God to care for them as they care for spiritual matters. They use St. Francis’s life as an example to live the godly life.

Of course this, like with most other saints is not the only ideal for a godly life. It is one way people connect with God and that in itself is holy. Yet, the monastic life is not for everyone and everyone is not called to it though. What St. Francis can teach is though, beyond caring for animals, is the real struggle between the material and the spiritual which all of us face. St. Francis can show us how to be generous, loving, and live into a simple life. Which is radical in itself.