26th Week in Ordinary Time : Saturday 4th October 2025

One of the things that we admire about St Francis of Assisi is not so much that he was a nature lover but that his radical trust in God allowed him to be free of the concerns of life that focussed on himself rather than on God. He trusted God to provide literally everything needed for him to carry out God’s special mission for him: to rebuild God’s Church which was falling into ruins. This is the critical state of the Church that continues to be true today. “Church” of course means not so much the physical houses of God but more importantly, the People of God, Body of Christ and Temple of the Holy Spirit. All are falling into ruins on account of sin and need to be restored.

Jesus sent out seventy-two of His disciples to do exactly this. Restoring God’s Church means to “trample underfoot serpents and scorpions and the whole strength of the enemy.” It means to avail ourselves, our physical bodies, mind and spirit for the Holy Spirit to enable us to carry out God’s eternal plan of salvation.

To do this, we, like St Francis, need to radically turn to God with the humility of children who look to their parents to provide everything needed. And the key to attaining this is through, with and in Jesus Christ Himself. Jesus, to whom everything is entrusted by God the Father.

PRAYER Lord, imbibing Francis of Assisi as Your instrument of peace, bless our efforts to build bridges and trust.