From the Pastor: Rev. Anacleto S. Asebias, Jr.
Feast of St. Francis of Assisi
October 4, 2026
Matthew 11:25-30
Dear Ascension Family,
This Sunday is the 27th Sunday in ordinary time. But our Bishop, Most Reverend Robert J. Brennan, issued a Decree granting permission for all parishes and institutions of the Diocese of Brooklyn to celebrate the Mass and Office of St. Francis of Assisi on this Sunday, October 4, 2026. In doing so, the Diocese of Brooklyn joins the universal Church in giving thanks to God for the life and enduring witness of St. Francis of Assisi to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Our reflection then for this Sunday would be on St. Francis of Assisi based on the gospel reading proper for this feast.
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” These words speak to all of us. We carry many burdens - anxieties, about the future, responsibilities, disappointments, poverty, loneliness, and the wounds of a world longing for peace. Yet Jesus does not promise that we will have not burdens. He promises to walk with us and teach us how to carry them.
St. Francis of Assisi discovered this truth in a remarkable way. Born into a wealthy family, Francis initially dreamed of success, honor, adventure, and recognition. But God gradually let him in another direction. The encounter with the leper during his pilgrimage to Rome in 1206, his prayer before the crucifix at San Damiano, and his grow ing love for the poor opened his heart to a different kind of greatness. Francis learned that true freedom does not come from possessing more, but from receiving everything as a gift.
That is why the words of Jesus, “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart,” are so appropriate for Francis.
Francis did not simply admire Jesus from a distance. He wanted to imitate him. He embraced poverty because of Christ became poor for our sake. He served lepers because Christ identified himself with the suffering and rejected. He forgave because Christ taught mercy. He sought peace because Christ is our peace. He loved creation because he recognized every creature as a gift from the same Creator.
St. Francis became small so that Christ could became greater in him. This is also the meaning of the words at the beginning of the gospel; “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth… because you have revealed them to the little ones.”
The “little ones” are those who know that they do not possess everything. They remain open to God. They receive rather than control. They marvel rather than take for granted. Francis had this spirit of wonder. He could call the sun his brother and the moon his sister, because creation pointed beyond itself to the Creator. His Canticle of the Creatures expresses a heart that has learned to see the presence and goodness of God everywhere.
In our own time, this is a profound spiritual challenge. We can become so accustomed to what we have that we forget to give thanks. We can become so focused on possessing creation that we forget that we are entrusted with it. We can become so concerned with our own importance that we fail to notice the poor, the lonely, and those who suffer around us.
At the end of his life, Francis could embrace even death as “Sister Death,” because his entire life had become an act of surrender into the hands of the Father. As we commemorate the 80th anniversary of the death of Francis, may we not only look back at his holiness with admiration. May we allow his example to lead us back to Jesus. May we learn from Christ with Francis. May we become courageous enough to love, humble enough to serve, free enough to give ourselves away, and gentle enough to become instruments of peace.
The Jubilee Year that our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, proclaimed commemorating the 80th anniversary of St. Francis’ death, therefore, is more than an opportunity to remember a saint from the past. It is an invitation to ask what his life says to us today. Francis understood that holiness is not complicated. It begins with falling in love with Christ and allowing that love to transform the way we see God, ourselves, other people, and the whole creation.
St. Francis of Assisi, pray for us. Amen.
Praying for you all,
Fr. Anacleto
