Brother Wolf

“Come here, Brother Wolf. I command you on behalf of Christ that you do no harm to me or to anyone.”

 I have never met Brother Wolf, but I have seen a Siberian Husky dog before, the smaller and domesticated version of a wolf. I was scared of the dog, but at the same time, there was something attractive about him in the white-grey fur and the sharp stare of his eyes. The closest word that I used to describe him is Cold. There is something cold in the eyes, something cold in the appearance. This coldness melted away immediately when he saw his master, where he was embraced lovingly. The coldness was transformed into warmth, friendliness, and playfulness.

When the wolf sees St Francis, he comes charging at the saint with his mouth open, ready to attack. St Francis immediately makes the sign of the cross over him and says, “Come here, Brother Wolf. I command you on behalf of Christ that you do no harm to me or to anyone.” As soon as St Francis did this, the fearsome wolf closed his mouth and stopped running; and once the command was given, it came meekly as a lamb, and threw itself at the feet of St Francis.

St Francis recognized the coldness in Brother Wolf and chose to offer warm embrace of acceptance, forgiveness, and non-judgment. He gave him an opportunity to begin again.

In many ways, we are similar to Brother Wolf. Like him, we may have some “coldness” in our heart. We may hide behind the fierce persona to hide our fear and insecurity, and we don’t let others come nearer to us because we are afraid or threatened.

The encounter of St Francis and Brother Wolf teaches us to always be merciful and compassionate, to always offer acceptance and loving embrace, so that we can live side-by-side with our fear and insecurities. What happened has happened, and we can live with our past. As long as we have God who always offers us acceptance, mercy, and love, we can live in the present and face the future with hope.

For Reflection,

• Is there any part of you that you are not proud of?
• Is there anything you are afraid of?
• Spend this time with the Lord, to learn to accept, befriend, and embrace these wolves in our heart.