St. Francis

Statue by Beniamino Bufano

It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching.

--St. Francis of Assisi

Jorge Mario Bergoglio and I have one very small feature in common.  Upon being confirmed as a youth, I chose St. Francis as my patron, and on being elected pope, Bergoglio chose the name "Francis" for his papal name.  Not "Pope Ignatius," as one might have expected of the first Jesuit pope, but the name of the founder of the Franciscan Order.

Today is the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi, and on this day I sometimes blog some observation about his life.  Today, I merely offer the quotation above, as a summary of his life.  He reminded his followers that, while religious exhortation and argument may at times be useful, the best sermon a preacher can offer is the example of his own life. 

Unsettling, because it's so much easier to tell folks to "do as I say, not as I do."  But as Pope Francis himself has exhorted his flock,

Take action! Live life to the full! And when others see the witness you give, they may ask: why do you live this way?

Easier said than done, but St. Francis would have agreed.  He would have insisted that the effort was worth making.