Oct. 4: Saint Francis of Assisi

Whilst Francis was praying before an ancient crucifix in the forsaken wayside chapel of St. Damian's below the town, he heard a voice saying: "Go, Francis, and repair my house, which as you see is falling into ruin." (Catholic Encyclopedia)

One thing I always get from the story of Saint Francis is a lesson on renewal in the Church. The authorities of a corrupt church, like authorities everywhere, tend to worry about structures and organizations and control and property. Schisms come from the top down, when the leaders decide how they are going to divvy up the goods. Reformations come from the bottom up, when people decide they’re just not going to follow anymore.

When the current crisis in ECUSA first reached a head, someone asked a dear friend of mine, “Do you know who St. Catherine is?” When she said she did, they asked, “So – who was pope when St. Catherine was alive?” She didn’t know. “See, everyone remembers the saints; nobody remembers the bishops.”

If Anglicanism is going to have a future, it doesn’t need a pack of squalling bishops; it needs a Francis.

Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let us sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, union;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.

Grant that we 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

(And a plug for St. Francis Episcopal Church in Austin, Texas. Episcopal Missionary Church (not ECUSA); 1928 prayer book; nice bunch of orthodox people, 8:30 and 11:00 AM Sundays.)