Saint Francis' life is not just an ordinary one but an extraordinary one. He gave up all his wealth and embraced a life of poverty that is the life that most of us do not want to have. Basically, it is not just poverty as in being economically poor but it is more on the total denial of one's self. This way of life is the Franciscan way of life and this is to follow the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ and to walk in his footsteps as in this Gospel reading "Take no gold, nor silver, nor money in your belts, no bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor a staff; for the laborer deserves his food. And whatever town or villa you enter, find out who is worthy in it, and stay with him until you depart" (Matthew 10:9-11). No one ever has followed Christ's way of life as Saint Francis did. Before he could continue his chosen way of life, obstacles have come on his way. One of which is his father's refusal that has lead to Saint Francis' father calling him before the bishop. He even took off his clothes as a sign of being firm with his decision and he uttered, "Until now I have called you my father on earth. But henceforth I can truly say: Our Father who art in heaven." See how strong-willed Saint Francis is. I hope that this would serve as an inspiration to all of us to continue believing and following what is really right and also to achieve true happiness in life like Saint Francis did.

He took care of ill people, like lepers as in the movie. We all know that lepers at that time were considered sinners for they are filled with wounds. Thus, they are an outcast in the society. Saint Francis never took his back on them. Instead of siding with the majority, he sided with the so-called outcast. He took great care of them together with his followers. He cleaned their wounds despite of the fact that he may have leprosy too. If I am going to ask you if you could do what Saint Francis did, I'm very sure that you would say that you would not do it.

Saint Francis is likewise a nature lover. Being a nature lover, he considered other creatures as God's very own reflection. With that, he calls them as brothers and sisters as said in his Canticle of the Creatures popularly known as Brother Sun, Sister Moon. I think that nowadays, we tend to forget to protect Mother Nature. Look at the pollution here in Metro Manila. Everywhere you go you will inhale the exhausts of monster vehicles and you will get to tour the mountain of unpleasant sight and smell of garbage. Look around you, and you will see in the broad sheets the listings of animals that would soon become part of the extinct species. Let us not forget this characteristic of Saint Francis. Let the life of Saint Francis be a reminder to us to take care of God's creations because nothing in this world is permanent.

As in the Franciscan songs, let us make ourselves a channel of Your peace and let's help build our church for it might collapse down. Let us become strong pillars of the church as Saint Francis has been.