Earlier I linked to a post about priests blogging from our friend, Dymphna. She mentioned that it okay its strictly "homilies, apologetics and other writing." I think she would approve of Father Kevin Estabrook's blog which is a collection of his great homilies along with some related Catholic art. Here is an excerpt from his sermon on St. Francis from today's Mass.
The night after meeting Francis, Pope Innocent had a dream. Pope Innocent dreamt he stood looking out over the Lateran Church and watched with fear as the proud and ancient building shook, the tower swung, and the walls began to crack, it was in danger of collapsing in on itself. Suddenly, a small common looking man came towards the Lateran. He was dressed in peasant garb, was barefoot, and wore a rope around his waist for a belt. Rushing to the falling Church, he set his shoulder in under the wall and with a mighty push straightened the whole falling church, so that it again stood aright. The pope then recognized the man as Francis of Assisi.
The Pope interpreted his dream to mean that St. Francis would been instrumental in reforming and strengthening the Catholic Church.
This story is very interesting, especially in light of the story where St. Francis knelt in prayer in the crumbling San Damiano chapel. As Francis knelt and prayed in front of the crucifix, Jesus began to speak to him, saying, “Francis, rebuild my Church.”
Father Estabrook is the newest priest at my parish,
St. Angela Merici. So I was happy to find his homily site. I actually remember hearing
this homily from two Sundays ago. I didn't know the meaning of the name Amos was "burden-bearer". The man definitely puts effort into his homiletic work. Kudos to him!
