More on the St. Francis thing. I am intrigued by his devotion to a Christ-like life. He took to heart literally all of Christ's teaching down to getting rid of all his possesions and physically embracing the untouchables of his day. While doing a little research on his life, I found the following story on AmericanCatholic.org:

"Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), who lived during the time of the Crusades, had come to distrust violence and war. In the year 1219 he sought a non-violent way to solve the conflict between Christians and Muslims. Francis journeyed to Damietta, Egypt, near the mouth of the Nile, determined to have a meeting with the Sultan of Egypt, even as Christian crusaders were engaged in bloody conflict with the Muslim forces nearby.
Francis succeeded in getting an audience with Sultan Malek-el-Kamel. Though Francis tried to persuade the Sultan of the good news of Jesus' saving love for all, the Sultan was not drawn away from his own faith and convictions. Yet, he saw Francis' enthusiasm and courage and listened to him courteously and with admiration. He saw to it, moreover, that Francis was given safe passage back to the Christian camp. In our day, we need to follow the example of St. Francis and the sultan and reach out in respectful dialogue with our brothers and sisters of different religions and cultures."

I think this is a terrific example of both preaching the gospel both with and without words, as well as one of love for those of other beliefs. He went out of his way to be an example to others for Christ and to love them no matter the circumstances. Lord make me more like brother Francis.