May the Lord give you grace, peace and health in the Holy Spirit.
It is on 04th October 2022. We celebrate the feast day of St Francis of Assisi, our founder, inspiration, seraphic father, and patron of ecologists.
The first reading of the day fits very well with the vocation and life of the most inspiring saint of all time. St. Paul confesses, “God called me through His grace and chose to reveal His Son in me.” God called Francis to bring Jesus so close to people simply through poverty and chastity. As a Capuchin Franciscan, when I see our founder, I see three things clearly in his life.
Encounter, experience, and exposure are the synthesis and synergy of his belief. The encounter of Francis with Christ echoes in many young hearts leading to an experience that allows them to be at the beck and call of people. The encounter with the leper brought him closer to Christ and later people could call him another Christ.
Whenever we are at peace with God, we celebrate everyone and everything, as St. Francis did. Peace without sacrifice is lasting. Jesus hurried him saying, ““Francis, Francis, go and repair my house, which as you can see, is falling into ruins!” Yes, it is true for all of us. Our temples are in ruins by the devastating effect of our blind affiliation with sins.
Another significant contribution by Francis is to have the connection between action and contemplation. The Gospel reading brings out clearly. ““Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is a need for only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.” Jesus appreciates us when we can balance our actions in proportion to contemplation.
May we truly become the instruments of peace, love, and joy of Jesus. May God bless you. Wishing you all a happy feast of St. Francis of Assisi.