10 Great Souls I Want to Meet in Heaven

by S. Michael Wilcox

Francis taught us to possess our soul in joy, not find joy in possessiveness. He allows us to believe that even the most holy souls may yet display human frailty. He encouraged us to see good in all things and to feel celebratory rejoicing in each act of creation. God’s splendor was in Brother Fire and Sister Moon, in the wolf’s hunger, and the simplicity of the birds’ songs, in the sweeping landscapes of green rolling hills, in the silent wonder of the night sky, and in the quiet mystery of the crèche of Bethlehem. He helped us feel God in the breeze and recognize his love even in the pain we often must endure. Above all, he helped us to see God’s nobility in each other and to love what we see, even in those whose beliefs are so different from our own, for the Muslim and the Cathar were also God’s children. We are not measured in bolts of scarlet cloth, or the number of prayers we offer each day, or in great deeds of chivalry, but in our common humanity, in our kindness to each other, in the actions brought on by our “good Samaritan” hearts.