St. Francis experienced the love of God in nature. Earth and sky, Brother Sun and Sister moon, creatures and creation all revealed to him a loving and benevolent God. This Sunday we will share in a time for the Blessing of Animals at 5pm and in our worship services you will hear more of how Francis was deeply connected with both his Creator and creatures.
Here is an article from the Humane Society about St. Francis whose impact has been far reaching. All of October we will be exploring "outreach". What does it mean to "do outreach" in a way that is reaching out to share the love we have so generously received? When might it be that your act of kindness, your word of comfort, your expression of compassion is God working in you and through you to love one of God's beloved creatures?
Building upon last month's theme of service in September, I encourage you to risk reaching out- being open to how God might use you to bring comfort, peace and joy into the life of another. We will be using some of the music and liturgy from the 2020 hymnal All Creation Sings Caring for creation and all of God's creatures is a holy calling to which we are all invited.
I hope you will join in living out the legacy of St. Francis who sought peace and connection, honored creation and our Creator, and lived out his calling to reach out to share the good news of God's love. While the "Peace Prayer of St. Francis" wasn't written by St. Francis- the writer of prayer is unknown and it first started circulating around 1915- it speaks to the spirit of his mission and ministry to bring comfort and peace. May peace and comfort surround and sustain you.