St. Francis of Assisi and the sinful priest.

With apologies to Fr. John Corapi, who told this story better in a 2003 homily (?) concerning our priests' sexual abuse of boys.

By the time Francis was an old man, he was widely known as a saintly man. He was afflicted by a disease that robbed him of his sight and he suffered so severely from the stigmata that he could not walk. He rode a donkey from town to town.

There was a town who's priest was living in sin with a woman. When the townspeople heard Francis of Assisi was coming to their town, they rejoiced, hoping the holy man would rid them of their sinful priest.

When Francis arrived, the people carried him to the door of the rectory and demanded the priest come out to face the chastisement of the saintly Francis. When the priest opened the door Francis dropped to his knees and raised his hands up until he clasped the hands of the sinful priest.

Francis kissed the priest's hands and said "All I care about is that these hands can bring me Jesus."

All Catholics should get this one on several different levels. Shame on you if you don't.