27 July

Dear friends,

Some encounters can change your life and some can even change the course of history.

In the year 1210 Francis of Assisi travelled to Rome to meet Pope Innocent III. What a contrast between the two men! Innocent was clothed in embroidered vestments and the finest silk. Francis wore a ragged brown robe and went barefoot. Francis asked for the papal blessing on his group of wandering friars who were preaching good news to the poor everywhere. Innocent at first refused the request. New orders of priests were hard to control.

“Tell me, little man,” said the Pope, “what rule, what book of regulations do you have to govern the behaviour of your wandering preachers?” 

Frances reached into the folds of his shabby tunic and brought out a tattered copy of the gospels. “Won’t these do?” He asked.

It was a dramatic turning point in the encounter. Innocent now recognised in the ragged Francis a true disciple of Christ. The wandering preachers received the papal blessing and all of us today who value the gospel are grateful for that moment of truth.

Your friend and locum minister,

Denis