St. Francis of Assisi, known for his love of creation, is one of the most beloved saints. His feast day is October 4th. Many parishes offer the blessings of animals on or close to this date. A popular children’s show called “Brother Francis” uses a monk based on St. Francis. He could be the inspiration of a new theme park show. In the Tree of Life show building, Bible World’s Creation Kingdom will showcase “It’s Tough to Be a Saint!” (replacing “It’s Tough to Be a Bug!” at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom). The bugs from “It’s Tough to be a Bug” (based on “A Bug’s Life,” which is based on the parable “The Ant and the Grasshopper”) will be the “tiny friends” that St. Francis points to in describing the challenges of saintly living. St. Francis’ respect for even bugs can be seen in the butterflies and ladybug surrounding him in the picture above. The 3-D show is generally light-hearted with some gags that trick the audience’s senses.
St. Francis mentions to the audience a theme that is found in both “A Bug’s Life” and the lives of the saints—the importance of work in contributing to others. Hopper is pointed to for his idleness—he relies too much on the work of others. On the flip side, Flik and the ants show how teams can come together to be a united front. St. Francis also mentions something that St. Benedict (who instituted a new way of Christian living found in monasteries) focused on that can be called “Work and Prayer.” Work can be offered as a prayer to God. A praying mantis animatronic is lit up and says, “I can’t help but pray. After all, I’m a praying mantis!” Our saintly host tells the audience of the importance of justice. Justice is about giving to another what is owed them. If someone is without food, for example, we have a duty to give them some food (as long as someone else isn’t the food…cue hungry spider from the ceiling). The Golden Rule (“Do unto others as you would have them do to you”) is helpful for treating others with love and kindness. St. Francis next mentions that saints should be focused on worship, especially on Sundays. Worship is rooted in the virtue of justice (and right religion)—giving to God what belongs to Him (namely adoration). St. Francis speaks about the importance of humility. A prideful person lacks humility (they are full of “stink” like a stink bug…cue Cleare de Room stink bug), because they over-value their own importance. A humble person realizes that he is only a creature, who is need of God’s grace to thrive. Using the example of Flik and his fellow ants standing their ground when the unjust and bigger grasshoppers tried to over-power them, St. Francis next talks about courage—the virtue of endurance in the face of difficulty. In the end, the ants experienced freedom and peace for their courage. St. Francis explains to the audience that Jesus said that any would-be saint needs to “deny himself, take up his cross and follow Him” (cf. Matthew 16:24). This is the essence of why “it’s tough to be a saint.” Our human tendency is to approve ourselves, reject anything that is difficult, and to follow the way that we make for ourselves. But true love is shown in sacrifice and in putting others before ourselves. Upon leaving the theater, guests remove their 3-D glasses. They leave those behind, but they walk away with (1) a deeper understanding of why it is tough to be a saint and (2) memories of a fun show of bugs and St. Francis.
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