What a Catholic Saint taught this Evangelical....

I read a great book last month.  It is still utterly flipping me inside out.  I have always held a pretty harsh judgment on Catholics and their almost worship of Saints and Mary etc.  My disdain for Catholicism born mostly out of blatant ignorance on my behalf.  I was brought up drinking the juice of evangelical conservatism and taught that Catholics did not have the depth of relationship with Jesus that we did. 

Yuck.  Seriously though I thought that, and never really studied the Catholic faith or history.  Like I said ignorance.  Well when I picked up the book "Chasing Francis" by Talbot (Book), I was smacked in the face with the brilliance of one of the most beloved Saints of all time St. Francis of Assisi.  Whoa!!

In the course of one week reading this book my entire opinion of Catholicism and high church was radically rewired.   St. Francis had an amazing ministry of evangelism and discipleship, walked in the power of the Holy Spirit and gave up worldly wealth to proclaim the Gospel!  I was utterly stunned when reading about this mans enormous ministry, and that because of my prejudice towards the Catholic church I had never even really heard of him.  While reading this book I felt like I had been deprived of this amazing expression of God our Father that is the Franciscan movement. 

Like I said I am still working through some of the deep things that God is doing in my heart, but I can say that after this book I am more curious about the Catholic church and its amazing ministry in this world.  I repented upon the finishing of the book for judging my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.  I have already read a second book on St. Francis and his teachings and will be diving into learning what I can about other Saints in the Catholic faith. 


Here are a couple of my takeaways from Francis's ministry.

1)  He was led by the Holy Spirit in a mystical way. 

2)  He lived a life of simplicity and generosity!!!!!

3)  He was dedicated to seeing the poor and needy provided for.

4)  He was in touch with nature and art in a way that screamed the splendor of our Creator.

5)  He was in touch with his emotions, he would cry and laugh openly as the Spirit led.  Awesome!

6). He was a soldier turned pascifist who was known for settling people's quarrels and always preached unity.

I challenge you to cross the Catholic - Protestant lines and learn from someone from the other side of the isle.  I cant wait to party with some of these old school Catholic Saints in Heaven.  The Catholics are such a neat expression of God the Father!  Cheers.