"Hey guys, God gave me a pet wolf!" - St. Francis (Zane Duke)

Hello friends, I gotta say there was some pretty good and interesting stuff in this reading from Aquinas. I particularly found one thing outstandingly interesting:

HOW ON EARTH DID ST. FRANCIS TALK TO ANIMALS??!!! 

LIKE... CAN I GET SOME OF THAT MOJO? 

So you're telling me that this man can talk to a whole FLOCK OF BIRDS and they listen and don't fly away without the man blessing them first??  Pause. Why can't I get any of the stray cats on campus to come up to me so I can show them the love of Jesus Christ huh??? I am legitimately and unfortunately frustrated. (not really, it'd just be cool.) 

What stood out to me the most about St. Francis and how he talked to animals was that he tamed a wild and "ravenous" wolf, who killed both animals AND people. This is crazy not only to the super scared people of the town but also to the Friar accompanying Francis, who literally just said "Come to me Brother Wolf. In the name of Christ, I order you not to hurt anyone." And the wolf obeyed him. A WOLF FOR GOODNESS SAKE. A HECKIN' FLOOFY  BAD BOI BECAME A FLOOFY GOOD BOI. 

Ugh. I am sad now. I want a pet wolf. 

If you read the reading, you know the rest that happened. Francis brought the wolf into the astonished town and made peace between the two, and this simply astonished me. The power and the presence of God that resided in Francis caused him to be some sort of Catholic Mowgli from the Jungle Book or Tarzan or something. That is literally more insane than some of the stories in the Bible. However, like most literary works of this period that we talk about, there is symbolism and greater meanings in everything. 

Here it is: When we are without God, scripture says that we become like beasts. One of the main themes of Daniel is that when we don't acknowledge God's kingdom, we are like beasts who are far from God, bringing destruction, disorder, and chaos into the world such as snakes and other wild and dangerous creatures like killer ants (oh gosh killer ants..). However, God promises that He will one day confront the beast and bring peace into the world. Now let's look at the similarities here. God through the St. Francis confronted the beast that was the wolf who was terrorizing the town, or in the metaphorical sense, the Earth, and brought peace unto the land. And he didn't even have to kill the beast to do it. So God sent His Son down to confront the beast within us, our sin. And in doing so made peace between us and His Father once and for all. Praise God. 

I'm gonna let that sink in. I'm amazed by it, which is probably why I'm talking about it right now. 

Be sure to drink a delicious non-alcoholic and preferably, chocolate beverage of your choice. Have a great night.

I commented on Moriah and Breanna's posts.