Dear Friends,

On the front page of “The New York Times,” today, August 19, is  a picture of Lebanese women’s returning to their destroyed homes and beloved dead on July 30, in Qana, Lebanon.  The color photograph, of  Pulitzer Prize quality, by Tyler Hicks, no doubt reminds millions of  the “Pieta” and of  Mary’s grief at the Crucifixion. 

Just below on the left hand column, is an article by Edward Wong, filed from Baghdad, Iraq.  It tells of Hatder Ali’s heartache of refraining to go to the Mosque for Friday prayers because it is not safe to do so.  Instead, he listens to the prayers on his CD player, kneeling on a rug in the living room..

Mr. Ali told Wong, while he watched his six-year old son stack cans in his downtown convenience store, “Now, you feel a little empty inside.” 

Thousands of miles away from the death and destruction, we, too, “feel a little empty inside.”  More then a little, I suspect. To where do we turn to fill up our emptiness?  To acquiring more things?  To music too loud, to entertainment as vacant as our hearts?

Better to turn to our saints, living and dead, who found God to fill their emptiness.  One such is St. Francis of Assisi, with friends in every land, of every faith.  It is hoped that by bringing back two articles on his life, you will be comforted and inspired during this period of fear and confusion, as we journey together in faith and hope that love, not war, will bring better tomorrows to our world. 

We offer, once again, a selected posting from a previous series on St.Francis.

• The Little Poor Man of Assisi - part 2
• The Little Poor Man of Assisi - part 3

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