BROTHER ASS
Many of you may know this phrase, which comes from St. Francis, speaking about his own body, which he admitted on his death bed (actually death--earth as was lying on the soil) he had not cared for very well. He had terrible eyes, after an infection, and was almost blind; he had trouble walking; and his body was afflicted with numerous aches and pains. He died at the age of 45 they believe, which in his times was not too bad. Nevertheless! Some of you may know that we are celebrating the 800th anniversary of St. Francis, one of the most visible and beloved of the Catholic Church's saints. He reaches out to so many, not just Catholics, and has become the patron of ecology and for some, environmental justice. I think of him as actually an Indigenous person in the guise of a Medieval man. Who gave up everything to become a poor friar, evangelizing people, preaching, writing his inspiring Canticles of the Sun and the Moon, inventing the first live C...
