Today, because it is the 800th anniversary of St. Francis’ death, we celebrate the feast of St. Francis of Assisi instead of Sunday of Ordinary Time. St. Francis is amongst the Church’s most famous and beloved saints, but how much do people actually know about him? People know that he is the patron saint of animals, and that he did a lot to take care of the poor, but how many people know the rest of his story?

This weekend, we welcome three Dominican priests to lead our parish mission as the start of our anniversary celebrations. As a way of introduction, I wanted to devote this bulletin reflection to talking about the Dominican order a bit.