Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Peace and All Good


At the time of the Fifth Crusade St. Francis of Assisi travelled to Egypt with the hope of promoting peace between the Christian and Muslim forces. He fully expected capture and martyrdom, but felt that the any dialogue about peace was worth the price. He was, in fact, soon captured but rather than death he was taken to the Sultan who recognized the holiness of this friar who appeared before him wearing a tattered habit and offering a greeting of peace. The Sultan was so taken with Francis that upon his departure from Egypt, Francis was offered several gifts from the Sultan, which were turned down. 

As the start of Ramadan approaches, the US Franciscans released a message which said, in part, "...(Franciscans) continue to take great inspiration from the meeting of St. Francis and the Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil in 1219, an encounter based on peace, and mutual admiration and respect." Almost 800 years later the posture of the Franciscan body is still one of peace.

You can the message from the US Franciscans at
https://ofm.org/blog/message-ramadan-2017/



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