Minister's Note for September

Our Lady and St. Francis: Each a Resounding ‘Yes’ to God

In September, we are invited to reflect on both the Birthday of our Lady (September 8th) and the Franciscan Feast of the Stigmata (September 17th). In holding both these beautiful commemorations in our hearts, I look to the commonalities – both Our Lady and St. Francis said a resounding ‘yes’ to God. Our Lady’s ‘Fiat’ or ‘yes’ brought God’s grace into the world as the Incarnation – Jesus. St. Francis followed Christ so fully and faithfully that he also brought Christ to the world so perfectly that he eventually bore the marks of the crucified Christ.

Francis did not choose the stigmata; he chose something much more difficult: he had chosen, simply, to follow Jesus. Francis chose to move forward each day following in the footsteps of the Lord. That can be frightening… who KNOWS where that will lead? Then he chose each day, despite what came… to still… follow. To allow himself to be Christ for others, and especially for the poor and marginalized.  The stigmata was the outward sign of something that was innately interior. The true transformation occurred within. In the words of Fr. Dan Horan OFM, the stigmata was the ‘exterior manifestation of a mystical relationship between the human person and God – proof of the transformative power of love.’

Fr. Dan Horan OFM, invites us, on the Feast of the Stigmata —to look within, see how each of us does or does not bear the marks of Christ in our thoughts, words, and deeds. Perhaps we won't receive the marks of Christ in the form of five wounds, but we could certainly—and should certainly—make visible the presence of Christ in every other way. How are we called to make visible the presence of Christ to others?
he feast of the Stigmata is a reminder of the power of love, as seen in the opening prayer for the feast day Mass:

“Lord Jesus Christ, who reproduced in the flesh of the most blessed Francis, the sacred marks of your own sufferings, so that in a world grown cold our hearts might be filled with burning love of you, graciously enable us by his merits and prayers to bear the cross without faltering and to bring forth worthy fruits of penitence: You who are God, living and reigning with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.”

Pace e Bene +
Laura OFS
Minister, San Luis Rey

Acknowledgements:
https://sacredheartfla.org/about-us/being-franciscan/fraciscan-feast-days/the-feast-of-the-stigmata-of-st-francis-of-assisi/
https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2014/09/17/move-over-bellarmine-franciscans-today-feast-stigmata-st-francis
Art: Cimabue - Madonna Enthroned with the Child, St Francis and Four Angels, 1278-80. Lower Church, San Francesco, Assisi