Rebuild My Church

We sit in St Stephen's Chapel, a small and simple chapel - one that St Francis would have preached and worshiped in. Two other persons just enter. Their every move and footstep echoes off the empty stone walls of this ancient chapel built in the 12'th century. They exit and it is once again complete silence. The bench is hard. I move slightly and the crack of the bench echoes noisily throughout the chapel. It is silent again. The outside world is completely shut off inside these thick walls.















It is like a prison and yet serves the opposite purpose. I come here not to be imprisoned but to be set free from the prisons of the world - it's cares and anxieties, its power and control, its cravings and desires. This is the freedom that time alone with God brings.




















The front of this church is empty except for one crucifix and its shadow. No large paintings or golden candlesticks in this chapel. Only a few candles and the crucifix.

The shadow of the cross on the front wall is stunning. Gradually, we notice there are two shadows, one on the left and one on the right. But there are two more being formed - one in my heart and one in Judy's heart. It is what happens when one becomes still and silent with God.

Judy and I continue to sit in silence. Eventually, we get out our journals and begin to write down our reflections. Time disappears when one is alone with God.

As we finally exit and return to the world, the world and all its noises seem less invasive. Our souls have been revived. God has been again been found. Christ no longer hangs on the Crucifix. Instead, we leave with a new sense of Christ living in our hearts!

Our last stop of the day is the Basilica of St. Francis. We visit the massive upper Basilica with all its stunning paintings. We visit the lower Basilica and again are overwhelmed with every inch of every wall covered with stunning art. Much of it is of St Francis to honor his life and ministry. We wonder how St Francis would feel about this. How different from the simple small chapel Francis worshiped and preached in!

We go beneath the Basilica to the place where Francis is buried. A line of people are waiting to pay $15 to have a holy mass said for someone. Suddenly I felt sick. Certainly St Francis would not condone this massive basilica and people selling and buying the privilege to pray for loved ones next to his remains. This seems to be the complete opposite of everything St Francis stood for.

We go back upstairs and a mass is just beginning. We sit down and try to join in the mass. Everything is in Italian. We understand very little and find it difficult to worship.

As we walk out of the basilica, we both say the same thing - what a way to end our visit to Assisi! And yet it also seemed appropriate. If Francis were alive today, certainly he would again hear the lips of Jesus saying, "Rebuild my church Francis!".

Francis is no longer alive. But you and I are. And we hear the voice of Jesus calling, "Rebuild my church!" We ride the bus back down to our hotel.

Thank you God for reviving our souls, rewnewing our vision, and confirming our call to rebuild your church! You are an awesome God!