THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

Her Doctrine and Morals

The Stigmata of St. Francis

17 September 2023

[Image]

The Sunday

Sermon

Click the button on the right to be told about updates. Your address will be kept strictly private.

Dear Friends,

Saint Francis is the first saint we know who received the physical wounds of Christ in his body. This favor of Heaven appears to be so great, exceptional, and marvelous to the Church that she has introduced the feast we celebrate today and ordered it observed in the universal Church.

Saint Francis of Assisi is often thought of as the lover of nature and animals, which is often how we see him portrayed in artwork. Most of the world does not see or understand that Saint Francis sought at all costs to imitate Jesus in humility and abnegation. He took to heart the words of Jesus: "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily, and follow Me" (Saint Luke 9,23). When Saint Francis was twenty-four years old, he heard this call from God and made these words the motto of the rest of his life.

Saint Francis renounced his wealthy paternal heritage, left home, and his parents, clothed himself in a dingy habit, and began a life of complete poverty and privation. He found happiness in being despised, ridiculed, and jeered as a fool for the sake of Christ. He would say of himself: "If God had shown the most godless sinner the mercy, He has shown me, that person certainly would have turned out much more grateful and devout than I am."

Saint Francis liked to always keep a brother near him so that he could regard him as his superior and humbly obey and submit to him as he contemplated the humility and perfect obedience of Jesus. The words of Saint Paul taught Saint Francis the humility and love of Jesus: "He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross" (Phil. 2, 8). With Saint Paul, Saint Francis could also say: "With Christ, I am nailed to the cross. And I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me" (Gal. 2, 19-20).

The Cross of Christ was constantly before the mind and eyes of Saint Francis. The image of Christ crucified was his textbook, his favorite reading. To reproduce that image in Himself became his greatest ambition. Saint Francis saw Jesus hanging, stripped, and bare on the cross; for that reason, he did not want to possess anything or use any but the most necessary things. He saw Jesus on the hard wood of the Cross, and he wanted to sleep on the floor, with a stone or a log as his headrest. He saw Jesus covered in wounds and bruises, so he frequently chastised his innocent flesh unmercifully and rolled himself in snow and sharp thorns. He saw Jesus with arms outstretched and nailed to the cross, so he prayed with outstretched arms as he wept over the sins of his youth and the ungratefulness of humanity. He saw Jesus struggle to speak with parched lips as He hung on the cross, so Saint Francis refrained from all gluttony and sins of the tongue and loved silence and solitude. He looked into the eyes of Jesus as He expired on the cross, so he always tried to guard his eyes from every inquisitive look.

Saint Francis became interiorly a true copy of Jesus Christ crucified through humility, abnegation, and penance. God wanted the rest of us to see this in Saint Francis, so He impressed the same wounds in his body as are in the Body of Jesus crucified.

As we honor God and thank Him for the life and inspiration of Saint Francis of Assisi, we must recall that we also must imitate and follow Jesus. We are not all called to the severe renunciation and penance of Saint Francis. However, a certain amount of humility and self-abnegation in the following of Jesus is necessary for all of us.

The world needs good and holy husbands, wives, parents, teachers, etc., but, above all this, the greatest need is for noble souls so in love with Jesus that they will follow Him in self-denial and humility. A similar dedication of Saint Francis in the religious life is where young hearts can do the most to turn this erring world back to God.

Let us remember to pray to Saint Francis for his help in inspiring us and those around us with a genuine appreciation and love for Jesus Crucified. May everyone, especially young hearts, and minds, find the courage and wisdom to imitate Saint Francis, renounce the world, and follow Jesus in carrying our daily crosses.

May the Immaculate Heart of Mary inspire, guide, and protect us!