Book Review: The Lessons of St. Francis


Title: The Lessons of St. Francis: How to Bring Simplicity and Spirituality into Your Daily Life
 by John Michael Talbot and Steve Rabey

Book Review by Michele Hoffman

What is a secular Franciscan living in the 21st century to do? 

We want to follow in the footsteps of St. Francis who wanted to follow in the footsteps of Christ, but such an austere life is not feasible for us.

Not even our Franciscan Friars live that life, and although the Poor Clares live on alms and go barefoot, they have a secure roof over their heads and warm beds to sleep in.
Hence the question: what are we to do?

The reason I chose this book is, because in my many roles as a lay person, mother, wife, member of society, I need to find practical ways to follow my soul's longing to live as Christ means me to live.  St. Francis is my inspiration and this book looks to him for ways to follow him in our modern times.

The author takes the qualities that we hold dear and seek to emulate and shows us how to incorporate them into our lives, so that we may, through Francis's example, come closer to Christ. 

There are 11 chapters with simple titles like Joy, Humility, Chastity, Prayer, etc. that make it easy to read about and contemplate the attribute you want to work on.  At the end of each chapter are practical suggestions.  

The life of Francis is woven throughout the chapters, bringing him closer to us in a meaningful way.  I have found this very enriching.

This is book to own, not to borrow, because the lessons take a life time to learn, and one will want to refer to it time and time again.

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