Celebrating the Jubilee of the Transitus of St. Francis of Assisi at the Manila Archdiocesan General Pastoral Assembly in the Philippines (MAGPAS), Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula called on the faithful to practice the poverty lived by the saint.
In his homily, the Cardinal emphasized that poverty was not only about having less, but a lifelong freedom from needing to possess and control everything.
“The life of Francis shows that we become free, not when we possess everything, but when we no longer need to possess everything,” he said.
In the current society, the Cardinal reflected, consumerism and materialism make people believe that worth and wealth only depend on what and how much one earns, but the faithful should remember and only focus on achieving the wealth of St. Francis which cannot be bought.
“Saint Francis reminds us of another kind of wealth, a wealth that cannot be bought: the wealth of a heart free enough to give, humble enough to serve, and empty enough to receive God,” he emphasized.
Reminiscing about the life of the saint, the Cardinal said that St. Francis underwent different deaths, one of which is the desire to be someone in the eyes of the world.
“By experiencing a terrible defeat, and a humbling imprisonment, Francis had to learn to let go of the identity that the world had given him in order to discover the identity that God was giving him,” he said.
“He died to the desire to be somebody in the eyes of the world so that he could become somebody before God,” he continued.
Continuing on, the cardinal said that the saint’s encounter with the leper became part of his conversion to becoming the brother of the poor, which was not just a simple lifestyle change but a death to the old Francis.
“We need to die to our need to be admired. We need to die to our need to always be right. We need to die to our vanity and desire to measure our worth by our position, possessions, and accomplishments,” the cardinal underscored.
The second death, as mentioned by the Cardinal, was the death of having control over his own life.
“We can surrender our possessions more easily than our plans. We can give something away and still want to control what happens afterward…But just like Francis, we need to learn how to say: ‘This is God’s work. I do not have to control it. I only have to remain faithful,’” the cardinal mentioned.
Marking the 800th death anniversary of St. Francis, the Cardinal stated that the saint was not just someone to remember, but one who now lives in the presence of God, with his “life of dying” still bearing fruit for those who have followed his ways.
“This is the mystery of Christian death, beautifully expressed by Francis himself in his famous prayer where he said it is in dying that we are born to eternal life,” the cardinal concluded.
Serving as an essential formation program, MAGPAS provides a vital space for communal listening and meaningful exchange across the diverse institutions and parishes within the Archdiocese of Manila.
Photo by Maricar Santos / RCAM Media | Photogallery
