Friday, April 18, 2014

ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI: LOVER OF THE HOLY CROSS






The Feast of the Triumph of the Holy Cross and Stigmata of our Holy Father Francis falls on 14th and 17th September respectively and today on occasion of Good Friday i would like to share my reflection. During my stay at Assisi in 1996, I fulfilled my strong yearning and desire to visit Mount La Verna. Every Capuchin Franciscan dreams of visiting this place, where Francis our founder and Father underwent the dramatic mystical experience of his life. He had a sweet painful union with his crucified Saviour which left Francis with five wounds of Christ on his hands, feet and side. La Verna, place for solitary prayer, becomes a holy mountain of the Franciscan tradition with the event of stigmata. This mountain becomes holy and place of inspiration for Francis, his followers. And I feel strongly that it should also have the same effect on each one of us. The spirit of stigmata should sweep up all sons of Francis into the mystery of God’s overwhelming love for us and for humanity.
St. Bonaventure, in his Life of St. Francis, describes Francis as being more inflamed than usual with the love of God as he began a special time of solitary prayer at La Verna in September, 1224. "His unquenchable fire of love for the good Jesus," Bonaventure writes, "was fanned into such a blaze of flames that many waters could not quench so powerful a love" (see Song of Solomon 8:6-7).
Bonaventure goes on to describe that he had the vision of the crucified Lord in the form of a cross and fastened to a cross. When the vision disappeared, writes Bonaventure, Francis was left with a "marvelous ardor" in his heart. At the same time, there were "imprinted on his body markings that were no less marvelous." These markings were the stigmata.  Francis' receiving the stigmata at La Verna was a confirmation that the holy man during his life had mirrored the "poverty" of God. For Francis now bore in his own flesh the five signs of God's total self-giving--the pierced hands, feet and side. For Franciscans Capuchins, the self-sacrificing love of Jesus, as revealed in the cross, is the shining summit of God's revelation. The richest revelation of God's word and goodness peaks in Jesus, especially in his self-emptying death and resurrection. "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends" (John 15:13). This is why the cross has been central for Franciscans Capuchins and, of course, for Christianity itself.
Every day, all around the world, because Francis requested the practice, we pray the Adoramus Te: "We adore you, O Lord, here and in all the churches throughout the whole world, and we bless you because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world." Those fraternities do not practice this I exhort all of them to begin every hour of prayer with this prayer. The coat of arms, moreover, is a cross with two arms crossing and nailed to it. One arm is that of Francis; the other is Christ's. Both arms reveal a willingness to give all!
Although Francis is a many-sided personality, a number of biographers are convinced that his love of the Cross was at the heart of his relationship to God. Others may disagree, but there is no denying that the Crucified One was an object of Francis special devotion all of his life, and especially so since the day he found himself praying before the crucifix at the church of San Damiano, just outside the city of Assisi.
Francis spoke and preached about his devotion to the Crucified Lord and the response was tremendous as many were willing to accept the call for conversion to Christ. We need to talk and preach about the Cross which has its magic in attracting faithful to the life of Christ.
The Cross of our Lord should lead us to express our gratitude towards him as our Father Francis did in his life. As Franciscan we need to express this gratitude because he put away sin by His own sacrifice and it made us possible to be forgiven of our sins. The death of Jesus on cross opened up the door which at one time separated us from God. The cross of Jesus should stir our souls and should cause us to appreciate what our Savior did for us and to respond with a deep sense of gratitude and thankfulness.
The Cross of Christ should lead us to Self-denial. If we are going to be true followers and disciples of Jesus, we must deny ourselves as Our Father Francis did. What does this mean? Jesus and Francis give us a definition of what it means to deny self. To deny self is to mind the things of God and put God's will first in our lives. We must put our own personal desires and wants secondary to what the Lord would want. What God and the Capuchin Order wants must come first. When we look at the cross, we see the supreme example of self-denial. Brethren, it is time for us to start putting God's will ahead of our own will. We need to get our priorities back in order.
The Cross of Christ should lead us to Poverty of Spirit. The cross of Christ teaches that man cannot make it to heaven by himself. We cannot pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps and get into heaven by our own efforts. If so, it would be as though one went to the foot of the cross and told Jesus, "You don't need to die for my sins; I can make it without your death. To be "poor in spirit" is to acknowledge our spiritual poverty--our spiritual bankruptcy, before God. We must admit to ourselves and to God that we are unworthy sinners who need God's forgiveness. We are to have the same type of attitude that was demonstrated by the tax collector in (Lk. 18:9-14).
Brothers, the death of Jesus Christ on the cross had a compelling power for Francis and so it should have the same effect on us. This demonstration of love on our behalf should compel us to do many things. It should compel us to show gratitude, to deny ourselves and put God first, and to have a heart that recognizes the need to have the Lord in our lives. Perhaps we have been guilty of neglecting the love and power of the cross. Perhaps we have failed to recognize that we need the cleansing power
( I have referred some books and articles for these reflection)

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