{"id":6423,"date":"2018-08-27T14:52:09","date_gmt":"2018-08-27T19:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/teachingnonviolentatonement\/?p=6423"},"modified":"2018-08-27T17:22:17","modified_gmt":"2018-08-27T22:22:17","slug":"the-day-st-francis-came-to-preach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/teachingnonviolentatonement\/2018\/08\/the-day-st-francis-came-to-preach\/","title":{"rendered":"The Day St. Francis Came to Preach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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The following is a sermon I preached at\u00a0Clackamas United Church of Christ<\/a>, near Portland, Oregon.\u00a0 The service was the Blessing of the Animals. I preached as St. Francis. You can read the sermon or watch the video below.<\/em><\/p>\n

There I stood, naked before my father, the bishop, and the whole town of Assisi.<\/p>\n

I was there, naked, because my father sued me because I was a man of God. And he was a man of wealth. He had all the money in the world. He lived in a luxurious house. He had power and prestige throughout the town of Assisi.<\/p>\n

I was born Giovanni di Bernadone in Assisi, Italy. I grew up the son of a wealthy merchant. He was one of the richest men in all of Assisi. And do you know what I did with my father\u2019s money as a young man? I threw the greatest parties you have ever seen! I was loved by everyone because I gave them a good time. Booze. Women. Men. They all came to my parties and we had so much fun. Do you know what they called me? They called me the King of the Party.<\/p>\n

But these parties always left me empty inside. Certainly, there was more to life than parties, right?<\/p>\n