Hello Faith Pals,
Welcome to Friday, a day ready to be embraced, enjoyed, and lived through. There will be no other day quite like today. I know I have included this before, but it is worth repeating:
Sunday is the Feast of St Francis. The sermons and prayers reflect that theme. Please pray your own prayers as well, remembering especially Alan and Fredrica, Rohini and Jaya, Shirley, Russell and Joan. It is a shame that we won’t be in church, accompanied by our pets, but they can still join us to watch church services on-line (my cat Leaf does not like my singing!)
It seems appropriate to include the story of St Francis and the wolf. There are a number of different versions, but this one is well written:
St. Francis and the Wolf
‘Perhaps the most famous story of St. Francis is when he tamed the wolf that was terrorizing the people of Gubbio. While Francis was staying in that town he learned of a wolf so ravenous that it was not only killing and eating animals, but people, too. The people took up arms and went after it, but those who encountered the wolf perished at its sharp teeth. Villagers became afraid to leave the city walls.
Francis had pity on the people and decided to go out and meet the wolf. He was desperately warned by the people, but he insisted that God would take care of him. A brave friar and several peasants accompanied Francis outside the city gate. But soon the peasants lost heart and said they would go no farther.
Francis and his companion began to walk on. Suddenly the wolf, jaws agape, charged out of the woods at the couple. Francis made the Sign of the Cross toward it. The power of God caused the wolf to slow down and to close its mouth.
Then Francis called out to the creature: “Come to me, Brother Wolf. In the name of Christ, I order you not to hurt anyone.” At that moment the wolf lowered its head and lay down at St. Francis’ feet, meek as a lamb. St. Francis explained to the wolf that he had been terrorizing the people, killing not only animals, but humans who are made in the image of God. “Brother Wolf,” said Francis, “I want to make peace between you and the people of Gubbio. They will harm you no more and you must no longer harm them. All past crimes are to be forgiven.”The wolf showed its assent by moving its body and nodding its head. Then to the absolute surprise of the gathering crowd, Francis asked the wolf to make a pledge. As St. Francis extended his hand to receive the pledge, so the wolf extended its front paw and placed it into the saint’s hand. Then Francis commanded the wolf to follow him into town to make a peace pact with the townspeople. The wolf meekly followed St. Francis.
By the time they got to the town square, everyone was there to witness the miracle. With the wolf at his side, Francis gave the town a sermon on the wondrous and fearful love of God, calling them to repent from all their sins. Then he offered the townspeople peace, on behalf of the wolf. The townspeople promised in a loud voice to feed the wolf. Then Francis asked the wolf if he would live in peace under those terms. He bowed his head and twisted his body in a way that convinced everyone he accepted the pact. Then once again the wolf placed its paw in Francis’ hand as a sign of the pact.
From that day on the people kept the pact they had made. The wolf lived for two years among the townspeople, going from door to door for food. It hurt no one and no one hurt it. Even the dogs did not bark at it. When the wolf finally died of old age, the people of Gubbio were sad. The wolf’s peaceful ways had been a living reminder to them of the wonders, patience, virtues and holiness of St. Francis. It had been a living symbol of the power and providence of the living God. ‘
Source : Retold by Sharaon Callahan http://www.whitewolfpack.com/2011/07/st-francis-and-wolf-myths-legends.htmlIn other versions the legend states that the wolf only killed because it was hungry.
In 1872, during renovations at the Church of St Francis of Peace, in Gubbio, an old skeleton of a large wolf was discovered outside near the foundations. The people of Gubbio decided to bury these remains inside the church. Brother Wolf of Gubbio now rests in peace.
As well as the service-sermon, I have included two other attachments. These are from my time at Synod, when I worked on animal matters. I wrote an animal breviary (though by Week 27 it had been changed to animal compendium, because my boss though ‘breviary’ was too confusing for people). Anyway, I wasn’t sure what to include for extra reading, so thought I’d include the writings about sloths and butterflies. It was written to be a multi-faith resource, hence the inclusion of prayers from other faith traditions, and a prayer that all could, probably, pray.
News: Alan’s psa has increased 3.5 points from his previous blood result. His oncologist says he is not to worry about it, it should start to decrease by the time of the next round of chemotherapy (21st October). Alan has been told that as long as he feels well, he need not be concerned. Alan’s integrative medicine diet has made some difference to some of his results too, which is good news. Please keep them, and Adrian and Sherine and Elijah, in your prayers.
Shirley : still in hospital, but I spoke to her niece just before, who thinks she may be discharged either today, or over the next day or two.
Doug: he sends his regards. He is doing okay, but he is very tired.
Joan and Russell are progressing quite well.
Janet visited Joan this week, and says that Joan was pleased to have a visit (at long last), and that she is well cared for by the staff.
It was Ed and Lyn’s wedding anniversary this week.
This is one of my favourite Bible passages. One day I might say more about ‘the peaceable kingdom’:
‘The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox…
They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.’
-Isaiah 11: 6-7, 9
Not many of you sent me your thoughts about animals/pets. I could write many words about mine, but here is the condensed version:
I have a black, blind 7 year old dog named Harry, rescued by us 2 years ago. He is now an accredited Story Dog (he goes into the local primary school to help reluctant readers-he has had a boring life at home during lockdown!), a very elderly cat named Pigeon (because she sounds like a pigeon), who had been rescued after being thrown out of a moving vehicle, another cat named Leaf who had been thrown off a balcony (she had sustained neck injuries-so would shake, and is the colour of autumn leaves-she can now jump and move around with very little shaking, but distrustful of those outside her family). Both cats were re-homed by me when I was chaplain at the Lort Smith Animal Hospital. We also have 4 white doves, and six fish. I have included part of Janet Soo’s contribution as the final part of this email:
'No.1 of course is Raavi the cat...I always say he’s an L.V.Bengal.People usually nod in a knowing way,when actually he’s a rescue cat from the Latrobe Valley.He has beautiful symmetrical markings which just stole my heart! We’ve named our last 5 cats and dogs after well known musicians/composers.This cat is named after Ravi Shankar the sitar player.(One of our dogs was Johann Sebastian Bach,another was Jacob Offenbach) Cat has the run of the house and we live with him!Wake up time each day is about 5:00a.m. ....fractionally early! At my breakfast time he DEMANDS tummy rubs...which of course he gets.Much of his day is of course spent sleeping and when night falls there’s even more sleeping,usually in the middle of what used to be MY bed. He’s loved muchly - even though he’s a terrible time waster and very demanding! There are so many creatures I have a soft spot for,but I’m fortunate that a great array of birds call regularly to our garden. A pair of Pacific Black Ducks have been coming here for a number of years and are always a delight.They waddle about searching for bits and pieces to eat from the garden.There’s a little pool in the garden and they take turns having a swim. One winter I looked out the window to see the ducks with very puzzled faces...the pool was frozen! For the last few days the ducks have stayed until it is almost dark before flying off to their unknown place they call home.' Blessings and love Barbara Allen
