Seeing Through the Lens of St. Francis

A Reflection on the National Transitus Celebration 2026

in the Special Jubilee Year for the 800th Transitus Anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi

by Justine Joseph O. Navelgas

In attending the 8th Centenary Transitus of Saint Francis, I want to express my deep gratitude to the Holy Trinity, Mother Mary, and St. Francis.

I learned about Saint Francis during the pandemic, together with Saint Joseph and then Blessed, now St. Carlo Acutis. For many years I explored the truth about the Catholic Church and its various devotions. I tried different devotions but nothing seemed to last. But when I learned about Saint Francis, I was comfortable reading about his life. I felt like I was there because it relates much to how I live my life and how I see the world. 

I even call him, Tata Isko or Tatay Franky. Since then, I wanted to become a part of the Franciscan Community, or even a Franciscan Friar ... if God wills it.

Unfortunately, I am not yet a part of any Franciscan Community and still searching for one. When Pope Leo XIV announced the Year of Saint Francis, I was so excited—the same excitement when he announced the Year of Saint Joseph. I even posted before that I was planning to go on a Franciscan Pilgrimage around the Philippines but God has other plans and I still love it. 

Attending the National Transitus Celebration 2026 was not in my bucket list, not even in my plans for celebrating the Year of Saint Francis. I was informed through the Facebook post of the Inter-Franciscan Ministers Conference of the Philippines (IFMCP) and I registered as a youth delegate. It is my FIRST TIME! 

National Transitus Celebration 2026

The celebration started with a Eucharistic Celebration presided by His Eminence Jose Cardinal Advincula, D.D., Archbishop of Manila. This was followed by talks and interviews in relation to the theme: Sowing Peace, Healing Creation, & Embracing the Poor.  

In his homily, Cardinal Advincula emphasized—

Eight hundred years after his transitus, Francis is not simply someone we remember; he lives in the presence of God, and his life of dying continues to bear fruit in the Church… This is the mystery of Christian death, beautifully expressed by Francis himself.”

800 years yet everything is still fresh and true. As a person who is trying to be holy and to follow Saint Francis, I still sin. I remember his life, I know how he called everything as brothers and sisters, but I can’t follow him. Even ‘Sister Death’ reminds me of the quote, “Memento Mori.” Saint Francis embraced death as if it was his family, as if they were so close with each other. I realized just then that it was not that he loves to die, but it means that he is content. Everything that he has—even what he doesn't have—is enough.

And he accepts every truth, especially the truth of dying.

This made me remember that I was once ready to die. However, was I really ready or did I just want to die? Was I accepting the truth of death or was I just waiting to die? Then I re-examined myself and realized: I was in need of God’s love. I thought that I had already accepted His love but in fact I just put it in reserve.

Then I heard what Fr. Filemon Dela Cruz Jr., O.P., Prior Provincial of the Dominicans, said in his Welcome Remarks:

“... may this celebration be a time of renewal that, like our father Saint Francis, we may embody and give witness to simplicity and humility, peace and compassion.”

Renewal

RENEWAL! I need to renew myself, my life, and my love for Christ.

The first thing that came to mind was confession: "I need to go to confession as part of the renewal that I need! Before I continue listening to the talks, I need to confess." Then suddenly, it was flashed on the LED screen that there was confession ongoing outside the event area. I think God and St. Francis planned for me to go to confession! I hurriedly went outside and confessed.

I really love the way I had my confession. I realized a lot and truly felt renewed.

I remember as well when we are in the season of Lent or Advent, when we embark on a renewal of ourselves as we prepare to celebrate God’s glory.

We renew, cleanse, redirect, and re-examine ourselves to put God in the center of our lives. 

Conversion

In conversion we seek God’s mercy, and with that, we ask for Him to help us renew ourselves. My sinful eyes see that when St. Francis when he was in jail, he started to learn about God through reading the Bible. This conversion helped start his renewal. From there, he started to accept the cruelty of the world by embracing love for the poor.

He embraced the lepers, denied his father’s desire for him to become rich, stripped himself to return his earthly possessions to his father. Then helped rebuild the little chapel in Portiuncula from nothing.

I know that there were a lot of challenges during his conversion and I am still amazed at how he conquered them all with his faith in God.

It was just like how His Excellency Most Rev. Elmer Mangalinao, D.D., OFS, Bishop of the Diocese of Bayombong, said,

From self to Christ, from possession to simplicity, from isolation to fraternity, from exploitation to care for creation, from fear to the hope of eternal life.

Following Christ

In following St. Francis, we reflect on his life and notions of the world, that we may understand the importance of having an ecological awakening.

We are now suffering, some would say because of corruption, technology, or maybe the world itself is cruel; but in my understanding, why are we always pointing to others and not re-evaluating ourselves? We complain but what have we contributed? While there may be people at fault for what we are going through today, let us also look at OURSELVES.

Let us not forget that we also need to contribute something. That is what I also realized from the life of St. Francis.

We must renew ourselves entirely: renew our soul, our body, and our character. Follow Christ with your heart and mind, body and soul. Seeing Christ not just in everyone but in everything. Bringing peace and love not just to those whom you are with but even to those you are not with.

Yes, this is my first Transitus celebration but I will not forget this feeling. The real essence of renewal, conversion, and transitus.

We can have our own Transitus if we are to embrace God’s will for us.

Not necessarily by living the life of St. Francis but by following Christ in our own ways— from praying to devotions, from devotions to denying of self, from denying oneself to loving others, from loving others to accepting truth. That includes death, the final stage of living in this world.

May we remember that the purpose of our own transitus is to not just satisfy God while we are here on earth but also to join Him in His kingdom in heaven. May we have our own transitus and receive eternal life with God, together with Saint Francis, our Seraphic Father. PAX ET BONUM!