St. Francis of Assisi

When you come to St. Andrew's for mass, there's a statue of a man in the middle of our courtyard.

Some people think it represents St. Andrew, since he's the patron saint of our parish, others have guessed it to be Jesus. By the title of this post, you already know that it is a statue of St. Francis of Assisi! If one were to have a top-ten list of generally popular saints, he'd be on it for certain. We know this Italian man as the patron saint of animals and ecology, and you'll find many churches (not just Catholic) will have a "Blessing of the Animals" service on or near his feast day (October 4). At St. Andrew's we'll have a Blessing of Animals service at 10AM on Saturday, October 2.

I encourage you to read this brief description of the life of this man. Raised in a wealthy family, he gradually realized that his lifestyle was not bringing him real joy, and he accepted poverty as a dramatic witness to his (and our) fundamental dependence on God. Mother Teresa of Calcutta was rightly recognized for her care for the sick and poor. Centuries before, St. Francis also embraced a man with leprosy as his 'brother', breaking cultural taboos in the process of recognizing that as sons and daughter of God we are all related and deserve respect and love. St. Francis further recognized that in some real sense we as created beings are related to all of creation. See here for the beautiful Canticle of Creation.

But still, you may wonder: why a statue of St. Francis in our courtyard?
Our parish is served by three priests. Two of them (Fr. David and Fr. Tom) belong to the religious order called the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement, the order that has been with our parish since its founding over 25 years ago. Our third priest (Fr. Joseph) is a Conventual Franciscan. There are many, many religious orders, male and female, founded under the guiding principles of St. Francis, who called his followers the "Friars Minor".

As you point out the statue of St. Francis to your children, see if they can find both birds (and let me know if there are more than two!), share with them what you know about him, and if you have pets, please be sure to put October 2 on your calendar!