{"id":7570,"date":"2011-10-04T11:46:04","date_gmt":"2011-10-04T15:46:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/deaconsbench\/?p=7570"},"modified":"2016-09-30T17:36:57","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T21:36:57","slug":"for-the-feast-of-st-francis-a-forest-of-junipers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/10\/for-the-feast-of-st-francis-a-forest-of-junipers\/","title":{"rendered":"For the feast of St. Francis: a "forest of Junipers""},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

From Fr. James Martin\u2019s new book, <\/strong>\u201cBetween Heaven and Mirth,\u201d<\/strong><\/a> comes this delightful anecdote<\/strong><\/a> about one of Francis\u2019s most enthusiastic followers:<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most enjoyable of all the tales in the Franciscan annals concern the lovable Brother Juniper, whose lavish generosity constantly exasperated his Franciscan brothers.\u00a0 Juniper, one of the early companions of Francis, thought nothing of giving everything away to the poor, and so his brothers were forced to forbid him from giving away his tunic to any beggars he encountered.\u00a0 Once, encountering a poor man, Juniper slyly told him that while he was forbidden from giving him his cloak there was nothing to say that the man couldn\u2019t\u00a0take <\/em>it from him.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>On another occasion,<\/strong> the guileless Franciscan was caring for a sick man who professed a craving for a special delicacy: pig\u2019s feet.\u00a0 In response to the man\u2019s need, Juniper went into a nearby field, spied a pig, cut a foot off of the unfortunate animal, cooked it up and served it to the man.\u00a0 The pig\u2019s owner, predictably furious, berated Juniper\u2019s superior, and called the Franciscans thieves.<\/p>\n

Genuinely surprised that someone should be so upset by his act of charity, Juniper promptly returned to the man and told him the reasons behind his actions.\u00a0 The irate farmer called him, according to one translation, \u201ca fantastical fool.\u201d\u00a0 So Juniper simply repeated the story with even greater passion, wondering all the while how someone could misunderstand his intentions.\u00a0 Finally, the man, taken with Juniper\u2019s sincerity and charity, had a change of heart.\u00a0 Ultimately, he gave the Franciscans the rest of the pig.<\/p>\n

Upon hearing the story of this \u201choly fool\u201d St. Francis exclaimed to his companions, \u201cWould that I had a whole forest of Junipers!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read more. <\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Fr. James Martin\u2019s new book, \u201cBetween Heaven and Mirth,\u201d comes this delightful anecdote about one of Francis\u2019s most enthusiastic followers: Perhaps the most enjoyable of all the tales in the Franciscan annals concern the lovable Brother Juniper, whose lavish generosity constantly exasperated his Franciscan brothers.\u00a0 Juniper, one of the early companions of Francis, thought […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,20,22],"tags":[11167,11176,806],"class_list":["post-7570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-hanging-with-the-saints","category-humor","tag-books","tag-humor","tag-st-francis"],"yoast_head":"\nFor the feast of St. Francis: a "forest of Junipers"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From Fr. 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