St. Francis' Feast Day is also our wedding anniversary

Today is the feast of St. Francis and my husband's and my 41st wedding anniversary. St. Francis fascinates me. I'm glad we married on his feast day, although I didn't know him as well in those days. He's credited with creating the nativity scenes we set up at Christmas. In 1223 in Greccio, Italy he put together a living nativity scene with the blessing of the Holy Father. He wanted to place the proper emphasis on the meaning of the feast rather than the secular emphasis on gifts and parties. (Some things don't change much.)  His inspiration immediately caught on and was imitated in countless other places. Francis also developed the chapel devotion of the Stations of the Cross at a time when the Holy Land was held by the Muslims and people couldn't make pilgrimages there to walk in the in the physical footsteps of the Lord. Because of the wisdom of St. Francis they could walk the path in their home churches.

I think these devotions show what a profound understanding of human nature St. Francis had. He realized how important "touching" mystical events could mean. We are not just spiritual beings; we learn though our senses. We need to experience God's love "with skin on." We need to "taste and see" how good the Lord is. We need to confess our sins out loud and hear the words of absolution from the priest. The smell of the oils and incense of the sacraments stresses their richness. We come to a much deeper understanding of the reality of both the birth of Christ and his suffering and death through entering into it with our bodies. Our sufferings become what St. Paul called a making up for what's lacking in the sufferings of Christ. What's lacking? Our active and willing sacrifice.

October is respect life month. If you are fortunate enough to have an infant in your life, hold and cuddle that little one imagining the joy of Mary holding baby Jesus and rejoicing at the goodness of God. Today, on our anniversary I want to reflect on the gift of my husband, Larry, our five children and their spouses, and our nineteen grandchildren. Love bears fruit and the Lord has given us a bountiful harvest of life.

"God has done great for us and holy is his name."