St. Francis would like to thank everyone who helped make MiniPOSH 2018 such a fun night for our school community! We are tremendously grateful to our co-chairs, volunteers, sponsors, current families, student helpers, faculty/staff members, attendees, fabulous caterers, and DJ Richard Blade for transforming the evening into a terrific party. What a joy it was to celebrate our Capuchin Franciscan tradition and the Golden Knight "Brown & Gold" as a family! GO KNIGHTS!

On Saturday, March 17th, over 500 members of St. Francis High School Family came together on campus to celebrate MiniPOSH 2018. The school's beautiful Norman Family Courtyard was transformed into one giant celebration of The Capuchin Franciscan approach to education and the Golden Knights' "Brown & Gold." The event featured festive dinner options, a silent auction, a unique marketplace, entertaining gaming tables, and throwback music with DJ Richard Blade. This year's fundraiser was a tremendous success. Half the proceeds will go to financial aid and the remaining half will be split between the Rudy Trujillo Scholarship Endowment and the KevinStrong55 Scholarship Endowment. POSH, which stands for Preserving Our Scholastic Heritage, is an initiative that aims to help make a Capuchin Franciscan education possible for deserving young men who might otherwise not have the opportunity to attend St. Francis High School. St. Francis is grateful to this year's MiniPOSH Co-Chairs, Christina Perez and Cynthia Gonzalez, and the many volunteers who worked tirelessly to make the event such a success.

"Shouldn't we all be living like this?" Kirsten whispers to me as we walk down the central aisle of the Basilica of Saint Francis. I'm in Assisi leading a group of college freshman, including Kirsten, as part of a course on the Italian cultural legacy. We stop before a fresco in the upper nave, and gaze at Giotto's image of one of the most important moments of young Francis's life. Disturbed by his wealthy father's lack of care for the church, Francis has renounced his family, even removing the garments his father had given him. Nearly naked in the town square, Francis declares his independence from his family and from the financial systems of the day.

"Living like what?" I ask. "You mean, living like monks?" 

"Yeah," she says, nodding to the monk who gave us our tour. "Like him. Like Francis. Isn't that the holiest way to live?"

I pause. It's a good question.

"I don't think so," I answer slowly. "There is no 'holiest' way to live. Becoming a monk or a nun is the best way to live if it's what God has called you to do, but God has a different calling for each of us. The holiest way to live is to follow the calling God has given specifically to you."

In the bus on the way to Florence, we continue the conversation. After all, although we're not all called to be St. Francis, there are certainly things we can all learn from his example.

Care for the Church and listening to God

The Saint of Assisi took Christ's words seriously, believing that the poor are blessed, and that if you have two coats, you should give one away. He didn't always, though: as a youth, he reveled in his wealth and popularity and became skilled in business. He was also eager to win glory as a knight. But as he left for his second battle, Francis heard a call from God to return to Assisi.

Over the next few years, his heart changed. He spent time alone in prayer and repentance. He encountered a leper and, instead of being repulsed, kissed the leper's hand. While praying in the church at San Damiano, Francis heard the Christ on the crucifix say, "Repair my church." Impetuously, Francis sold silks from his father's shop, and gave the money to the church. This was what led to the scene in the town square, immortalized by Giotto and mesmerizing to us as we walked through the basilica.

After breaking ties with his family, Francis begged for stones and repaired the old church by hand. He told friends he planned to marry Lady Poverty, and began preaching. Others began to follow him, and Francis found their rule of life in the words of Jesus in the Scriptures - the command to the rich young man to sell all his belongings and give to the poor, and to the apostles to take nothing on their journeys, and to all of us to take up our cross daily. Francis asked his brothers to live in just this way.

 If our children refused the material blessings we've given them, or gave away our savings to the Church, we'd likely be angry and confused, like Francis' father. In our relative wealth and comfort, it's easy to dismiss the radical call of Jesus. Francis reminds us, though, that the choice that seems counter-cultural and even crazy is sometimes the choice Jesus calls us to make.

Doing our part to care for creation

The way Francis related to animals must also have seemed bizarre to many people. Legend tells us that one day while traveling with some companions, Francis asked them to stop. He left the road and began to preach to the birds, who settled on his shoulders and arms, and did not fly away until he finished. Francis believed that nature was a mirror of God, and that, as he wrote in his "Canticle of the Sun," all creatures were brothers and sisters.

Pope John Paul II taught that Francis' love and care for creation ought to be a challenge for us and a reminder "not to behave like dissident predators where nature is concerned, but to assume responsibility for it, taking all care so that everything stays healthy and integrated, so as to offer a welcoming and friendly environment even to those who succeed us."

Francis was not wrong to see the face of God in creation and like him we ought to be wise stewards of the earth, recognizing that through nature, God reveals himself to us.

The students at St. Francis were honored to have David Scotton visit our campus earlier this year to share his powerful documentary and speak with the Golden Knights. We hope you take the time to watch this short, but powerful, documentary now that it has been released online.

"I hope those who watch will see what the adoption option can do. Without the adoption option, I would not be here today...my parents would not have the gift of their only child; nor would my grandparents have the gift of their only grandchild. That's what adoption does. It can save lives and build families." - David Scotton

I Lived on Parker Avenue

St. Francis High School was honored to have students from Chukyo University in Nagoya, Japan, visit campus and attend our Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Course on March 5. These Japanese students visited the Los Angeles area as part of a week-long sports medicine immersion program. Mr. Eli Hallak, St. Francis' Head Athletic Trainer, assisted Honda Estilo USA and KSK Angel Fund in developing the program and guiding the medical planning for the delegation. Our visitors' experience cu lminated with an educational and cultural immersion through a Sports Medicine Lecture-Lab held in the St. Francis Gym. The focus for the day was concussions. Students from St. Francis and Chukyo University teamed up and learned side-by-side as they worked together to master the clinical skills needed to properly evaluate a concussion. A special thanks to our Japanese visitors for sharing their time, knowledge, and cultural perspectives with our Golden Knights!