By Tibor Kauser, OFS
general minister
Remembering the last times of the life of Saint Francis, this might echo in our ears: “Let us begin, brothers, to serve the Lord God, for up to now we have done little or nothing.” (1Cel 103) May this be an inspiration for us, celebrating the feast of our Seraphic Father, St. Francis! This constant readiness to renew, to restart, to refresh is something fundamental that we have to learn from St. Francis. It is really essential to be able to love, to be open to God and to be open to others.
We see that St. Francis has opened himself perfectly, so much that “the true love of Christ had transformed the lover into the image of the beloved… and he carried within himself the effigy of the Crucified” (St. Bonaventure, Major Legend XIII). This is not impossible for us either! Certainly, the stigmata are exceptional signs of this transformation, but we should not say that we cannot be transformed by Christ and we cannot carry the effigy of Christ! If we give this up, we give up our main goal, to become holy.
May this feast of St. Francis help us all to be open to God, to renew, to go to serve, and in this openness let us let Christ transform us so that we may carry his effigy! Happy feast of St. Francis!