The path of loving trust means:

• An absolute, unconditional, and unwavering confidence in God my loving Father, even when everything seems to be a total failure
• To look to Him alone as my help and protector
• To stop doubting and being discouraged, casting all my worries and cares on the Lord, and to walk in total freedom
• To be daring and absolutely fearless of any obstacle, knowing that nothing is impossible with God
• Total reliance on my heavenly Father with the spontaneous abandonment of a little child, totally convinced of my utter  nothingness but trusting to the point of rashness with courageous confidence in his Fatherly goodness.

Mother Teresa

I have just completed all the requirements for certification as a master biblical storyteller through the Academy for Biblical Storytelling sponsored by the Network of Biblical Storytellers (http://www.nbsint.org) . One of the requirements for certification was production of an educational resource related to biblical storytelling. To fulfill this requirement I combined my love for the stories of Jesus with my love for the stories of St. Francis of Assisi to produce “A Biblical Storyteller’s Guide to St. Francis of Assisi.”

If you would like to learn about St. Francis of Assisi and become familiar with some stories from his life and how they relate to stories in the Gospels, this workbook is for you.

This workbook will be of particular interest to biblical storytellers interested in using stories of St. Francis of Assisi as midrash (a story to illuminate, explain, or comment on another story) for biblical stories. This workbook will also be of interest to Franciscans interested in using biblical storytelling to augment stories of St. Francis.

Here’s a peek a what’s inside:

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

 Introduction

 Part I – Who Was St. Francis of Assisi?

Highlights of the life of St. Francis are touched on to give a sense of who he was and why he was called “The Mirror of Christ.”

 Part II – What is Biblical Storytelling?

An explanation of biblical storytelling is given and a process for learning and telling a biblical story is explained.

Part III – Connecting Stories of St. Francis with Biblical Stories

(I am indebted to Dr. Bob Wilhelm for introducing me to this process).  A six-step process for exploring the connection between stories of St. Francis and Jesus is explained.

 Part IV – Stories of St. Francis and Stories from the Bible

Written versions of stories from the life of St. Francis are paired with stories from the life of Jesus.  Questions for reflection on the stories and suggestions for telling the biblical stories are included. Links to YouTube videos of the author telling each story are also provided.

 Resources

Written and electronic resources for learning more about St. Francis of Assisi and biblical storytelling are provided.

The workbook is available as a downloadable PDF in the store on my website:

http://hearttales.net/download-a-biblical-storytellers-guide-to-st-francis-of-assisi/

 G. K. Chesterton wrote, “St. Francis is a splendid yet merciful mirror of Christ.” I invite you to look in the mirror through the stories in this workbook.

If you cannot see the video click here

The telling of the story of John the Baptist during the season of Advent is part of how the Church prepares for the coming of Christ, for John was the herald or forerunner of Jesus who prepared his way.

Another herald or forerunner of Jesus who prepared his way was St. Francis of Assisi. In fact, there are many similarities in the stories of the birth of St. Francis and the birth of John the Baptist.

The events surrounding the birth of St. Francis of Assisi and the birth of John the Baptist, and particularly the events surrounding their naming, give us clues as to the character and mission of these two people.

I invite you to listen to the story of the birth and naming of St. Francis in this video and to the story of the birth and naming of John the Baptist in the next video and to meditate on these stories as a way to prepare your own heart for the coming of Jesus this season of Advent.

If you can’t see the video click here

The birth and naming of St. Francis of Assisi and the birth an naming of John the Baptist share many similarities. In the last video you heard the story of the birth and naming of St. Francis, now listen to the story of the birth and naming of John the Baptist and see what images, feelings, and themes they share in common.

John means “God is merciful.” Francis means “Little Frenchman.” Both John and the “Little Frenchman” were heralds of a new in-breaking of God’s mercy upon the world. As you await the coming of Christ this Advent season, may the mercy of Christ break upon your life in a new and fresh way.

Come Lord Jesus! Come!

If you can’t see the video click here

Have you ever been invited somewhere only to feel unwlecome upon your arrival? Have you ever shown up somewhere uninvited and felt welcome?

Jesus was invited to the home of Simon the Pharisee and was made to feel unwelcome. All the traditional amenities of Middle Eastern hospitality were denied Jesus when he entered Simon’s house. Simon gave him no water for his feet, no kiss upon entering, and no oil for his head. The truth was Simon had not invited Jesus to be welcomed but to be tested and interrogated. Jesus’ teaching and acts of power had upset the religious establishment of which Simon was a part, and he wanted to find fault with Jesus to discredit him.

Then an uninvited guest rose from her place on the sidelines and, in what Dr. Kenneth Bailey calls “a costly demonstration of unexpected love” (Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes), the woman in the city who was a sinnner,” heartbroken over the lack of hospitality toward Jesus that she witnessed, offered Jesus her own personalized amenities of Middle Eastern Hospitality: water for his feet (tears on his feet), a kiss (kisses on his feet), and oil (ointment on his feet). The woman’s acts of hospitality cost her the scorn and contempt of the religous leader, Simon.

But in his own “costly demonstration of unexpected love,” Jesus deflected Simon’s self-righteous scorn for the woman to himself by praising what she had done for him. Jesus extended welcome, acceptance, and forgiveness to the woman AND to Simon. Remember the little story of the two debtors who could not pay their debts? The debts of BOTH were forgiven: the debt of the 500 denarii debtor (the woman) and the debt of the 50 denarii debtor (Simon the Pharisee). Dr. Bailey says that Jesus “reprocessed his anger into grace.”

When we have screwed up it’s easy to feel unwelcome; unwelcome in our families, unwelcome at work, even unwelcome at church. But at the cross, the ultimate costly demonstration of unexpected love, all are welcome.

Jesus, may our tears of joy and kisses of gratitude anoint your feet with the ointment of welcoming, costly, unexpected love.