Saint Francis of Assisi

Francis was born in 1181 in Assisi, Italy. He had an easy and rich life growing up because his father was wealthy. As he grew older, he wanted to be a knight. Francis got the chance to fight in 2 battles. The first time, Francis was taken as prisoner and ransomed a year later. The second time, as he was leaving Assisi, he had a dream from God telling him to go home and he obeyed. 

Upon his return, Francis spent many days alone in prayer. One day, while praying in a church, Christ spoke to him telling him to fix his church. Francis thought he meant the building so he stole his father's fabric and sold it to make money to repair the church. His father found out, dragged him in front of the bishop and the entire town, demanding he return the money and renounce all rights as heir. Francis returned the money and stripped off all the clothes he was wearing. He told the crowd that his father was no longer his father and went into the woods saying the Lord's prayer. 

 
Francis became a preacher, preaching about returning to God and obeying the Church. He lived a life of sleeping on the streets, begging for scraps to eat and loving God. Many people decided to follow his lifestyle. Francis was a lover of all God's creation, including animals and plants. He once preached to flock of birds. Another time, he saved a town from a wolf that was eating the townspeople. Francis convinced the wolf to never kill again and he became a pet of the town. During his final years, Francis received the stigmata ("bodily marks, sores, or sensations of pain in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ") in his own body. Soon after this, Francis became very sick. Unfortunately, he never recovered and died on October 4th 1226.

Francis was canonized by Pope Gregory IX in 1228. He is recognized as the patron saint of Italy, the environment, animals and merchants.

I think St. Francis of Assisi's story is relevant because he showed amazing love and respect for the world and all its inhabitants. Not only did he care for human beings, he also deeply cared for animals and nature. Today, the environment is becoming more and more destroyed because us humans have become more and more wasteful, neglectful and selfish. We care only for ourselves and not about what surrounds us. St. Francis realized the importance of all creation and had immense respect for it. He was never wasteful, neglectful or selfish. Francis did not see himself as above the environment, but as a part of it. He referred to animals as his brothers and sisters. He believed they were his equals, he was not superior to them. He respected them and the world that they lived in.

I think the overall message that we can take from St. Francis is to be respectful towards the world we live in as well as everyone and thing that we share it with. We must show love for all of creation instead of neglecting it. We have to realize that everything in our world is here for a reason and treat it with respect. There are many small things we can do each day to fulfill this. Buy a reusable water bottle instead of packages of plastic water bottles. When you see garbage on the ground, pick it up and throw it out. If you are thinking about getting a pet, always check out the humane society first to provide a home and love to animal that truly needs it. Whenever possible, walk or ride your bike instead of taking a car. Buy only from makeup brands that do not test on animals. There are endless ways that we can make our world a better place to live in for all its current inhabitants, and its future ones as well! :)   

Resources:
http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=50
http://www.catholic.org/saints/stigmata/