Finding God in creation

 Francis recognized the presence of Jesus in the sacrifice and sacrament of the Eucharist. But he also found God and the Lord in other people, in the world and in animals. This is a significant element of Franciscan spirituality and it is the reason why Francis has been declared the patron saint of ecology, of the care of the earth. Francis met the Lord in a special and personal way when, standing before the leper, he realized that how he reacted to the leper indicated how he reacted to the Lord. He found the sight of lepers quite sickening just as all people feel about embracing the cross of the Lord. But when Francis generously kissed the leper and so responded to the Lord in the leper, he found that what had seemed bitter to him was turned into sweetness of soul and body for him. After this experience he began his religious vocation and retreated from his usual pattern of life. In a remarkable way he also found images of God in fire, water, the sun and the moon and in the whole world that God has given us. He also found a peace with wild animals. On one occasion Francis was able to tame a wolf that had been attacking the people of the town of Gubbio. This showed that within his lifetime Francis had come close to becoming one with Christ. He was marked with the stigmata, the marks of the passion of our Lord to show that he had carried his cross to his Calvary; he showed that he had reached a state of peace in the kingdom of God. Long before in history, the prophet Isaiah had foretold this peace, namely, that the lion would lie down with the calf in the kingdom of God [Isa 11:6].