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| Francis of Assisi receiving Stigmata |
Francis, from a middle-class Italian family, went off to the wars in that region and failed miserably. Then a dream compelled him to return to Assisi. Francis began to wrestle with fundamental questions. He yearned for something greater than himself that would give purpose to his life. In silence and in prayer, he began his search for God: “Who are you, oh Lord, and who am I?”
Eventually, Francis gave up every “thing” he had. He experienced his creaturehood, his nothingness. In that experience, he found everything—an all-good and compassionate God; a God who became one of us in Jesus; a God who is alive in our midst by the power of the Spirit, especially in the sacramental life of the community of disciples we call the church.
Francis began to pursue the Gospel in a literal fashion. Eventually men and women began to gather around him, to form what we know today as the worldwide one million-plus Franciscan family.
We may wonder, does the thirteenth-century Francis have anything to say to us in the twenty-first century? I believe we can see his message in three incidents.
As Francis prayed before the crucifix in the tumbledown chapel of San Damiano, he heard the crucified Jesus tell him, “Francis, rebuild my house which you see is falling into ruins.” Francis challenges us to build up our family and community life. Holiness comes from learning to forgive and to ask for forgiveness, learning to face challenges together.
Another incident occurred as he rode one day along a road. Out stepped a man with leprosy. Francis started to ride away. But no! Francis slowly climbed down from his horse and embraced the leper. Francis saw in that leper the brokenness of human beings, lacking wholeness. We experience this, in ourselves and in other people, in many ways.
The third incident was at La Verna, a cliffside sanctuary not far from Florence, Italy. Francis was praying, and suddenly he experienced the stigmata or marks of the crucified Jesus in his hands, feet, and side. This incident captures the depth of Francis’s relationship with God: such a close friendship that God gifted him with the stigmata. Francis challenges us to deepen our relationship with God.
This planet of ours, in some ways, hasn’t changed much since the times of Francis. There are so many ways in which we can be healers, peacemakers, bridgebuilders.
Francis was able to cut through trivial questions and focus upon the essentials: our life with God and one another.
May the life of Francis inspire us to intensify our life of prayer with God, to build up one another, and to reach out with a healing hand to those whose lives have been broken.
More about the blessing of pets:
https://www.franciscanmedia.org/blessing-of-animals/
