A blessed and happy Feast of St. Francis, from your brethren in San Francisco! Yesterday I was privileged to walk with St. Francis and his people from the San Francisco Mission. My friend Fr. Moises, pastor of three Mission District parishes, el padre de la mision, gathered 900 of his people to walk from the heart of San Francisco to the Cathedral of St. Mary, praying four rosaries along the Way. One of them had been ordained a week ago, and it is tradition to ask a newly-ordained priest's blessing "before the oils are completely dry" on his hands. The Archbishop knelt in the parking lot for that blessing before leading the procession. We passed the foundation of San Francisco, La Mision de San Francisco de Asis itself, and headed up to Cathedral Hill. How we felt at home in the City last night, as the sun went down behind Twin Peaks and people waved at us from their cars, even though the good police had blocked off an entire direction of Van Ness Avenue for us. Towering monoliths of glass and steel smiled upon us as the prayers of God's people rose to the magenta clouds of a San Francisco sunset. St. Francis and his beloved Madonnina, the Mother of God, are truly the heart of San Francisco!
I had forgotten about the "aminals" today, but a parishioner emailed me: "are you going to bless my toy chihuahua on St. Francis Day or not?" Yes, we must! The traditional St. Francis Day blessing upon all dogs, cats, lorikeets, goldfish, mules, penguins, and tarantulas will take place in the schoolyard today at 10:30am. We are all His creatures, great and small!
I had forgotten about the "aminals" today, but a parishioner emailed me: "are you going to bless my toy chihuahua on St. Francis Day or not?" Yes, we must! The traditional St. Francis Day blessing upon all dogs, cats, lorikeets, goldfish, mules, penguins, and tarantulas will take place in the schoolyard today at 10:30am. We are all His creatures, great and small!
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