The two questions from the prayer of Francis overheard by Brother Leo are, I believe, one of the simplest ways to approach God. We open ourselves and allow God to answer that first question, Who are you, my God? Reflecting on the Scriptures or nature—as Francis often did—will prepare us to hear who God is in our lives.
For Francis, the answer came dramatically in the vision of the crucified Christ in the form of the “seraph.” For us, we can trust that—in all our “crosses”—our suffering, our weakness, and even in our sins, God will respond in love. Despite the suffering caused by the stigmata, Francis lived his final days with an answer to that second question, Who am I?
The answer God promises to give to you or me will be unique to each of us. But in faithfully imitating the way of St. Francis of Assisi, we can be assured that God will show us how we are loved, and what our response can be.
—from St. Anthony Messenger‘s “The Stigmata of St. Francis: Embracing the Crucified Christ“
by Greg Friedman, OFM
