St. Luke; chapter 16:19-31
In today's Gospel, Jesus talks about a rich man, who does not even notice the very poor man, Lazarus, who lives at his gate. Lazarus dies and goes straight to heaven. When the rich man dies, he is in agony ,begging Abraham to ask Lazarus to help him. He is told that too great a gap has opened between them, so he cannot be helped.
Jesus wants to point out that all people do not have the same chances in life. We should care about those who are shut out for one reason or another. We should notice and help.
This seems like a good time for Frankie to introduce some friends of his. They have important things to say.

Last Thursday, October 4th, was the feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi. We have been hearing about his life.
Here is a wonderful picture of him, painted by Giotto. You can see the painting in the big church, called a basilica, in Assisi today.

Here is the basilica.

Born in Assisi, in 1182, in central Italy, Francis was the son of a wealthy middle-class merchant. When he was young, he was fun-loving; as we might say today, a bit of a playboy. He enjoyed stories about medieval chivalry, which were all about serving a liege lord for a lofty purpose- you were supposed to forget about yourself by helping the poor and weak, being kind, showing good manners. Francis wanted to become famous as a knight in shining armour.
He joined the army, but only for a short time, as he was captured and became a prisoner of war for a year. He became ill.
Then he had the idea of fighting for the pope of the day, but had a vision, after which he turned to Christ instead. He saw Jesus suffering on the cross. Soon after, something made him hug a leper, someone with a terrible illnes, whom normally no-one would touch. People thought you could catch leprosy really easily.
Francis dressed as a beggar and went on a pilgrimage to Rome.
Back in Assisi, he was praying in front of a crucifix in the church of Saint Damian, when the figure of Jesus seemed to speak to him. Jesus seemed to say,"Go Francis, and repair my house which, as you see, is in ruin."

Francis thought he meant the actual church was falling down. He did spend some time mending three churches in Assisi.
His father was angry that Francis was living in that way. He made him a prisoner in his own home to try to stop him and to get his money back. Francis would not give in.
Aged 25, choosing to dress as a hermit, he began to look after lepers until the Holy Spirit moved him to go to preach, to tell other people about God. He was unsure whether to spend his time in this way, so asked his good friend, who became Saint Clare, to pray to God to ask if he should do this. She gave the answer, yes.
A set of stories called 'The Little Flowers of Saint Francis' tell us about lots of wonderful events which happened.
Saint Francis is often shown preaching to the birds, which flocked to him to listen. He told them they should sing beautifully to praise God,sending them out- north south east and west, all the directions which can be seen in a cross - in other words, to all corners of the world, to tell of Jesus.

Francis set up an Order of monks, but never became a priest, as he was too humble. He helped Clare set up an Order of nuns.
This symbol, the Tau cross, is associated with Saint Francis. It is the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, but reminded him of Christs's cross. Also Saint Anthony the hermit, who looked after lepers, was often pictured with the Tau symbol on top of the staff he carried.
Here is the Tau cross with part of a famous prayer of Saint Francis.

We began thinking how we could bring these things to the world. We put our ideas inside the image of the wolf, because we were going to tell the people back in church the story of Saint Francis and the Wolf of Gubbio. It is another story inside the 'Little Flowers'.

We practised our play, which we performed to the congregation. Father John was an excellent stage manager. He made everyone join in.

Dear Jesus,
You bless us too. Help us to follow the example of the grateful leper, remembering to thank you for the good things you give us.
Amen

We wrote or drew pictures of the things we wished to thank God for.

In today's Gospel (Luke 18: 9-14) , Jesus uses a parable to tell people how to speak to God in order to set things right.
The pharisee is concerned with obeying rules, for which he congratulates himself, thinking that will make him a better person; more important than anyone else. He looks down on others and so forgets about God ,really- he leaves no room for God, because he is full of himself.
The tax collector knows that he has made many mistakes, but he readily says he is sorry, because he cares about being close to God and wants to make things right.

We could see each day of our lives as a party: we can pat ourselves on the back, making sure we know the rules and are always winning; or we can make sure we welcome God when we try to help other people enjoy themselves.
God was seen at the second party because the guests were seen as important- they were truly seen.
Everyone received a prize - a balloon and a chocolate bar from the Fair Trade shop- or was it God's love and forgiveness?