building a house with St. Francis

Today as we gather together, we remember of one of my favourite saints;
St. Francis of Assisi. This humble man was absolutely astounding.
Most of us know St. Francis from the statues that we see in gardens, you know the ones – like the one on the cover of our bulletin today. He often has outstretched arms and a bird perched on his hand, and I bet if we could see he feet, there would be more animals gathered around there. He’s known as the patron Saint of animals and ecology.

But the story of St. Francis is so much bigger than that. St. Francis was a radical.
He took on the Gospel message with such passion and enthusiasm that he gave away all of his clothing, all of his possessions, even all of his fathers possessions.
He sought to live a life inspiring kindness in others, and offering Christ’s life-giving compassion to everyone he met.

There is one quote that when we only remember St. Francis as the guy with the animals, that we might forget about. St. Francis said:
Proclaim the Gospel always, and when necessary, use words.
AND WHEN NECESSARY USE WORDS.

Today, in this congregation we are gathering to do a rather remarkable thing.
We are gathering to proclaim the gospel with our action.
We are gathering to do something that doesn't require words.

I know in my own life, there are times when a hug can do more than words ever could.

There are times when a casserole can say I'm sorry for the loss of your loved one, but I'm here for you.

And there are times when having breakfast can build a house.

And that is what we are doing today, today we are gathering to build a house.
It’s absolutely amazing!

We are making God’s love known in a very intimate way for a family who is struggling and we are doing it together, simply by sitting down together to share a meal.
And you know what that makes it? a sacred meal.
Sacred because this morning is more than just breakfast.
We are gathering as a community to BE God’s love in a physical, tangible way.
We are sharing breakfast so we can build a house.
This is going to be a house that Anglican's built.
A house that will become more than just a house, it will be a place of rest for weary souls to lay their head, a house that will become a home for a family.
A home will be built because right now, this very morning, in this place we are choosing to live out the Gospel message of compassion and love with more than our lips, but with our hearts and with our hands.