Once
St. Francis d’ Assisi invited a young monk to join him on a trip to the local
village to preach. Honoured to be asked and excited to learn from the master,
the monk readily accepted. All day long, he and Francis walked through the
streets caring for the needs of the poor and helpless along the way. They rubbed
shoulders with hundreds of people. At the day’s end, the two headed back home.
Not
even once had Francis addressed the gathered crowds, nor had he liked to anyone
about the gospel.
Greatly
disappointed, his young companion said, “I thought we were going into town to
preach.”
Francis
responded, “My son, we did preach. We were preaching while we were walking. We were
watched by many and our behaviour was closely observed. It is of no use to walk
anywhere to preach unless we preach everywhere as we walked!”
We
are preachers everyday. People will believe what we do, long before the
messages we preach.
-(Courtesy:
S.S.S. Bal Vikas)
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