Three thoughts from our discussion

The first thing which we talked about in class that I found interesting was the large transition in Francis' life during the second chapter. During the first chapter Francis was a sort of party animal who led a very social life, and was well loved by everyone. At the end of the first chapter, Francis began having vivid dreams that made him want to turn his life around. In the second chapter, he began to help the poor more often. When he met a beggar in the street, Francis gave him money to make his life better. Francis' father began to dislike his son due to this new change in his life. I believe he had the wrong outlook on what Francis was now doing. It is not fair for him to disown his son because he felt that being outgoing by viewing it as a way of being too open about his personal life. I was also surprised that Francis stopped talking to his father at this point. It is hard to believe that someone who led such a religious life to hold a grudge for that long.

I also found our discussion about the citizens' reactions to Hurricane Katrina very interesting. I feel that when something bad happens to people, their first reaction is to blame this act on God. The flaw I find with this is we have always been taught that our God is not a vengeful one. He would never destroy an entire city simply to send a message to its inhabitants. A better reason to ask this question is simply to rationalize why it has happened. If the people were to sit back and think about the wrong things they have done, they can turn these around. This will not remove the damage that has been done to the city, but it could have made it a better place once it was fixed.

Lastly, I would like to discuss a topic that relates the first two together. I believe that had St. Francis been alive at the time, he would have been in New Orleans to help out the survivors of the hurricane. In his time, Francis would travel around to spread the good news of God, and work to help out the poor. If he was here today, he would be doing things no differently.