LEGEND OF
ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI & THE WOLF
is a metaphor for the Christian response to urban problems. The wolf can be any problem that presses the people into a fear-based fight or flight response; a problem which the population consistently fails to solve, and which tears them apart day and night without mercy. Whatever is "tearing a community apart" - that is its wolf.
The wolf kills to satisfy its hunger, but it does so in a lawless and uncontrolled way, bringing judgment on itself and fear to the people, generally the lawless meeting of an out of control need.
This is where St. Francis of Assisi steps in.
The wolf is challenged, forced into submission and made to stop its rampage of destruction. Instead it has to beg for food to sustain itself for the rest of its life and dies in poverty.
Picture above: Life-size figure of
St. Francis of Assisi and the wolf.
(Garden opp. Alverno Friary - top of the Hill of Guirim)
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