St. Francis of Assisi loved nature and talked to birds, but is there more to him than that? Of course there is! The life of St. Francis of Assisi is filled with incredible examples of doing God’s will and emptying oneself for God’s sake. There is so much we can learn from St. Francis and Dr. Edward Sri outlines four of those lessons in this episode.
Snippet from the Show
It is essential that we set aside our feelings as we strive to do God’s will because more often than not, it will be difficult to do God’s will.
Shownotes
Dr. Edward Sri provides an easy-to-read overview of Catholic teaching on the Eucharist, taking readers through its key aspects in a simple and inspiring manner. Find out more here!
4 Lessons from St. Francis of Assisi
Beg God to Reveal His Will
It is very easy to become solely focused on our own wills for our lives. We can fail to even consider what God’s will for our life might be. St. Francis of Assisi teaches us through his life that it is essential to seek God’s will and even beg God to reveal his will to us. Doing God’s will is not easy, but it is the best way to live our lives.
Find Opportunities to Love
There are so many distractions in life and we may be unaware of the many opportunities to love that God is putting in our lives. We must seek out the opportunities to love. Sometimes this may require us to set aside our will so that we can love. It may require us to be uncomfortable or experience inconvenience. However, God calls us to love and so we must look for opportunities to love.
Break Away from What’s Holding You Back
Are you overwhelmed by your career? Are you watching too much Netflix? Do sinful habits imprison you? Break away. Tear yourself from the things that are holding you back from holiness. Break away from the things that are keeping you from being a good spouse, parent, sibling, disciple.
Rise Above Persecution and a Fear of Being Misunderstood
St. Francis experienced persecution from his own father. Rather than letting that deter him from doing God’s will, he dove headlong into his vocation. Jesus was persecuted. Jesus was misunderstood. It is expected that as his followers, we will experience persecution as well. Continue on in God’s will.
Resources
- Visit Dr. Sri’s website at www.edwardsri.com and to book online events with Dr. Sri email events.edwardsri@gmail.com
- Find more of Dr. Sri’s episodes at www.ascensionpress.com/allthingscatholic
- Ascension is pleased to offer our new and improved online bible study programs and sacramental preparation programs digitally to help you minister with flexibility. Go to www.ascensionpress.com to view all our offerings
Dr. Edward Sri is a theologian, well-known Catholic speaker, and author of several best-selling books. His work with Ascension includes study programs such as A Biblical Walk Through the Mass, No Greater Love: A Biblical Walk Through Christ’s Passion and Mary: A Biblical Walk with the Blessed Mother. Several of Dr. Sri’s programs were filmed on-site in the Holy Land, and feature immersive video explorations of the sacred sites where Jesus, Mary, and the Apostles lived and died.
Dr. Sri is the host of the acclaimed Ascension podcast All Things Catholic with Dr. Edward Sri. Together with Curtis Martin, Dr. Sri is a founding leader of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), of which he serves as senior vice president of Apostolic Outreach.
Dr. Sri lives with his wife Beth and their children in Colorado.
Years ago in one of the. books I read about St. Francis it stated that he inflicted pain on himself (chains around his ankles, cutting to the bone) so he could offer that suffering up to God. I do not believe that God wants us to intentionally cause physical pain to ourselves..