As soon as Francis got well, he informed his parents of his determination. They were disappointed. They became angry with Francis. Francis gave up his old ways and habits and set up to serve God. He distributed clothes, goods and money to the poor. His father was very much annoyed towards his son. He said, "Is this the gratitude you show to me? I laboured hard and amassed wealth. You are lavishly wasting it on these miserable wretches". Francis' friends mocked at him and teased him. His father turned him out of the house. Francis lived like a beggar. His old friends even pelted him with stones and mud. He bore everything with patience. He wore a coarse dress and ate simple food. Francis lived in a cave in the mountains of Assisi and spent his time in prayer and meditation for two years. Some kind people gave him food, but very often he had to starve. Francis called the body 'brother ass'. He kept this brother ass under perfect discipline and control. Sometimes he kept this brother ass without food and water and denied it some special food that it liked very much. Francis was humble. He loved God's creatures. He loved birds and beasts. He loved the depressed and the outcastes. He treated the birds, the beasts and all beings as brothers and sisters. Francis went from village to village preaching the love of God. He invited people to join him in his life of service if they were willing. Bernard, a rich man of Assisi, was very much attracted by the saintliness of Francis. He joined Francis. He was the first follower of Francis. He placed all his wealth at the altar of God. Eleven others also joined Francis. They distributed all their wealth to the poor. Francis and his followers went all over Italy preaching, teaching, healing and blessing wherever they went. The gospel of kindness and love of Francis soon spread all over Europe and earned for him the name of St. Francis. People called him the little poor man of Assisi. He lived for ever in the hearts of all men. St. Francis collected many followers and founded the Order of Mendicant Friars or Franciscans. The members of this Order have to take a vow of poverty, chastity, love and obedience. St. Francis gave up his mortal coil in 1228. The followers of St. Francis built a beautiful church round him on the hill of Assisi, the hill he so dearly loved. The influence of St. Francis and the sweet aroma of the life he lived will last for ever.
Glory to St. Francis, the little poor man of Assisi, but an illustrious saint!
The Prayer of Saint Francis
"O Lord, make me an instrument of Thy Peace!
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, harmony;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light, and
Where there is sorrow, joy.
Oh Divine Master, grant that I may not
so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand; to be loved
as to love; for it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life."
"The simple prayer of St. Francis of Assisi provides for us a mould in which to cast our own life's conduct and character. It provides a blueprint upon which to pattern our living in our thoughts, speech and actions within our day to day relationships with our fellow beings and with all life around us. Therefore, the prayer of St. Francis is a precious document for us, an indispensable, invaluable frame of reference by which to judge our own lives, and referring to which we can do the necessary to bring about the needed alterations and modifications for the upliftment and purification of our own daily life." So to conclude it is our responsibility to look after and protect the world from over-use. God gave us this world to look after and if we don’t there will be tougher consequences for generations to come.
Question 2:
Explain how Christians might put these teachings into practice in order to help preserve the environment.
Christians believe god created the world but humans have failed to look after it. Here are some environmental problems which we as humans have damaged the world; sustainability, the ‘Greenhouse effect’, toxic chemicals, Ozone depletion and in Italy ‘Parco dei Colli de Bergamo’
The two I will be studying are; the ‘Greenhouse effect’ and Ozone depletion.
The greenhouse effect is some gases in the atmosphere produce the "Greenhouse effect", trapping the heat of Earth without allowing it to escape in the outer space. The greenhouse effect is normally natural and beneficial: without it Earth would be at least 15 ° C colder; it is becoming more and more important due to the increasing concentration of these gases ("greenhouse gases") in the atmosphere due to human activity.
The main greenhouse gases are: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxide (N2O), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs); also water vapour (H2O) is producing the greenhouse effect. The Ozone is a bluish, very reactive gas, whose molecule is made by three oxygen atoms. (In the NASA image, one ozone molecule is formed through the collision of an oxygen atom with one biatomic oxygen molecule). Nearly 90% of the Earth's ozone is situated in the stratosphere, the atmosphere layer between 10 to 40 kilometres above Earth's surface, where it is continuously generated and destroyed by the UV radiation.
Many things can be done to prevent the environmental problems listed above, here are two agencies trying to make a difference. Christian Aid is an agency of the churches in the UK and Ireland. We work wherever the need is greatest – irrespective of religion or race. This is what they say about themselves on their website (www.christianaid.org.uk). “Because we believe in strengthening people to find their own solutions to the problems they face, we support local organisations, which are best placed to understand local needs. We also give help on the ground through 16 overseas offices. We strive for a new world transformed by an end to poverty and we campaign to change the rules that keep people poor.”
Another agency is A Rocha is a Christian nature conservation organisation, our name coming from the Portuguese for "the Rock", as the first initiative was a field study centre near the Alvor Estuary in Portugal.
As Christians all over the world have recognised the urgent need to protect and restore important habitats, A Rocha has become a family of projects working in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, North and South America and Asia. A Rocha projects are frequently cross-cultural in character, and share a community emphasis, with a focus on science and research, practical conservation and environmental education. So to conclude it is our responsibility to look after and protect the world from over-use. God gave us this world to look after and if we don’t there will be tougher consequences for generations to come.
Question 3:
“God made the earth, so he should look after it.” Do you agree? Give reasons to support your answer from different points of view. As a Christian myself I disagree with the statement above because in the bible it says we must look after the world because God made us stewards of the world, it also says that we should love everything as we would like to be loved (this includes the physical side of the world as well) and treat it for how we would like to be treated. On the other hand others’ think differently they believe god didn’t create the world so it is our responsibility to look after it, they believe that there was a ‘Big Bang’ millions of years ago so we have to look after the world because there is no one else to. Others’ also believe that it is the humans who are doing the most damage to the world we live on today and if we carry on the way we are at the moment; destroying the rainforest and the unknown species that live there, burning fossil fuels so other parts of the world get the side effects and many more problems. These people think God should help us look after it by sending a sign to the humans telling them what ‘he’ thinks they should be doing to protect the earth and the creatures that live there; we aren’t just destroying the world but the creatures on it. So to conclude many people believe in different ways the world should be look after; from God, humans or any living thing but every one believes the world should be looked after before it is too late and there is no ‘world’ for us to live on!
By Sarah Swinton 11DFm
