Today we celebrate the life and witness of St. Francis of Assisi, our patron saint. Most people when they consider St. Francis associate him with a love of animals. In fact, he was a complex individual with qualities that continue to endear him to many different kinds of people for many different reasons. Stephen Reynolds writes in his book For all the Saints, "He came as close as any Christian to fulfilling the gospel saying about 'everyone who is born of the Spirit'. He was like the wind; and, as the gospel suggests, who can catch the wind except the One who sent it?"

Our relationship to Francis is certainly one of the things that drew me to this parish. As I begin my third year here I have been reflecting on our journey together. While it is true that as a parish we have come through some difficult times, we need to acknowledge that it has also been a time of deepening spirituality. I am very grateful to be discovering more and more about St. Francis. Through his witness he has much to teach us of the power of God, of the beauty of creation and of our need to live out the great commandments to love God and to love neighbour. Most of all we could learn from him what it means to be the Church. It is a vision of Church that we need as we face the daunting task of becoming all that God intends us to be. It is a vision of Church that we need to grasp as we journey together. How do we become a vital and alive presence in Meadowvale? Can following in the footsteps of Brother Francis lead us in new and exciting directions?

Francis was born in 1182. He was the son of a wealthy cloth merchant. He grew up with a life of ease and privilege. A time of sickness and a period of military service led him to reflect on his life. One day he was in the church of San Damiano. He heard Christ saying to him, "Francis, build my church." He took the words literally. He sold a bale of silk from his father's warehouse to pay for repairs to the church. His father was irate. He confronted him and disowned him for what he had done. Francis in turn renounced his father's wealth. He left his home and his life of luxury wearing only the clothes on his back. There is even a story that he took off all of his clothes so that he would take nothing with him of his old life. He declared himself "wedded to Lady Poverty", and devoted himself to serving the poor.

The message about building the church wouldn't go away. Isn't that often the way when we don't quite get it about what God is asking us to do? He moved in with the priest in the town and began to do the repairs to the church himself. He had to beg for stones and building materials. He begged too for scraps of food. He worked as a labourer asking to be paid in bread, milk, eggs or vegetables instead of money.

It gradually dawned on him that God's call was not about physically rebuilding the church of San Damiano. His job was to be much greater than that. His ministry was to reach out to the poor, the disenfranchised and to embrace Lady Poverty. His job was to rebuild the people of God.

It is a paradox of living the Christian life that so much of our time, talents and treasure are spent on bricks and mortar. And there is no doubt that we do need a base from which to do ministry. The problem is that so much of our energy is spent on simply keeping a roof over our head that the real work of the Church goes undone. What ministry goes undone in this congregation because we are struggling financially?

What would it mean if we were to respond as Francis did to God's call to "build my church"? I have a vision of what this place could be if over the next five years we could finally take hold of our finances, pay off our debt from the past and become financially viable. We would be a spiritual centre for all of Meadowvale, a haven for people in need, a place of healing and comfort for people of all ages, and a place of nurture for children and young people. Our church would be filled with people who would then go out to be the Church in the world. We would be a community who follow God's law to love God and to love neighbour, a place where we always do the loving thing. We would be living out our mission statement: "Together we are walking with and celebrating the spirit of St. Francis on a journey of worship, service, fellowship and peace."

Our mission statement was the work of our Advisory Board and is intended to capture who we are as a parish. It reminds us that we never walk this road alone. God walks with us. There are many who share the road - family, friends, neighbours. And Francis is a model for us, offering us guidance as we follow his example and live our lives seeing Christ in others, reaching out to a needy world, recognizing all of nature as part of God's magnificent creation and having 'peace' as our watchword. With Francis we celebrate the Good News of Christ. We worship God and strive to be instruments of peace.

Today we have the joy and privilege of welcoming two new members into the body of Christ through Baptism. It is a reminder to us of what Baptism entails in our lives. In the New Testament reading for today Paul says, "for I carry the marks of Jesus branded on my body". Perhaps he is thinking of the scars borne as a result of his suffering for Christ's sake. Francis, we read in accounts of his life, carried the marks of Jesus in a physical way. He bore the 'stigmata'. We too are called to carry the marks of Jesus branded on our body, not in a physical way, but in a very real and meaningful way nonetheless. In Baptism we are signed with the cross and marked as Christ's own for ever.

As we celebrate the Sacrament of Baptism we have an opportunity to renew our Baptismal Covenant. It begins with a reminder of what we believe as we recite the Apostles Creed. It reminds us too of our need to feed ourselves spiritually, to come to church, to pray for one another. It is a reminder of our need for repentance. It is a reminder too of our need to share our faith, to bear witness to how God is working in our lives. It is a reminder that we are to see Christ in those we meet. It is a reminder that we are called to be instruments of peace in a needy world. May we see the face of Christ in all we meet! Amen.