COMMENTARY: By looking to the life of St. Francis, many virtues can be discovered.
What a joyous occasion to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi. For 800 years, his example has inspired many to follow Jesus more closely and more fervently. The way that St. Francis loved the Lord was a source of inspiration for my own vocation, and this jubilee year provides an opportunity to become immersed once again in the life of this saint who bore in his own body the wounds of Jesus.
Franciscans around the world on Sept. 17 commemorated the memorial of the stigmata of St. Francis. This has always been a special feast day for me, as it is both the birthday of Blessed Maria Theresia Bonzel, the woman who founded my religious community, the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration, as well as the date of my entrance into this same community.
In religious life, as in marriage, we celebrate jubilees, or times of great grace, renewal and deeper repentance. Jubilees happen typically every 25 years. The Church itself celebrates regular jubilees dating from the birth or resurrection of Jesus Christ. Occasionally, the Holy Father
