To the scribes who ask what is the greatest commandment Jesus answers in a disconcerting way: Listen! To love God and neighbour with all one's self is worth more than a thousand sacrifices!

To the scribe, who had understood all this, Jesus points out that he is not far from the Kingdom of God.

The Poor Assisian had clear ideas about the priorities to be given on the spiritual path.

For him, love for God with every fibre of his being, and for his neighbour, was a sweet truth carved into his heart in letters of fire.

In this regard, we are assisted by the Sources, rich in episodes from his life.

"The soul was all thirsty for its Christ and offered itself entirely to Him in body and spirit [...].

She was always looking for a secluded place, where she could be united not only with her spirit, but with her individual limbs, to her God.

And if he suddenly felt visited by the Lord, so as not to be without a cell, he made himself a small one with his cloak.

And if at times he was without it, he would cover his face with his sleeve, so as not to reveal the hidden manna [...].

Often, without moving his lips, he would meditate for a long time within himself and, concentrating the outward powers within, he would lift up his spirit to heaven.

In this way he directed his whole mind and affection to that one thing he asked of God: he was not so much a praying man as he himself was transformed into a living prayer' (FF 681-682).

Also, from the very beginning of his conversion, love for his brothers, compassion for their sufferings and needs, were the guiding motif of his actions.

"He took much money with him and went to the lepers' hospice; he gathered them together and distributed alms to each one, kissing their hands.

On his return, the contact that had previously been repugnant to him, that is, seeing and touching lepers, was truly transformed into sweetness [...] by the grace of God he became a companion and friend of the lepers so that, as he says in his Testament, he stood among them and humbly served them" (FF 1408).

Clare, a faithful disciple of Francis, did the same within the Damianite walls, always ready to serve lovingly the sisters of her community and those who knocked at the Monastery door.

"She washed the seats of the infirm, she cleansed them herself, with that noble spirit of hers, without shying away from filthiness or disgusting stench" (FF 3181).

"Very often she washed the feet of the servants who returned from outside and, washing them, she kissed them" (FF 3182).

Loving the Lord with all one's strength and one's neighbour as oneself is worth more than holocausts; the two Assisian giants had understood this well, testifying it to all.

«And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your life and with all your mind and with all your strength [...] You shall love your neighbour as yourself» (Mk 12:30-31)

Friday, 3rd wk. in Lent  (Mk 12,28b-34)

In this passage from the Gospel of Luke, Jesus casts out a demon from a mute man who, freed, begins to speak. Immediately some accuse him of doing this in the name of the prince of demons. But Jesus testifies that he acts through the Finger of God, by God.

Like Jesus, Francis had temptations and was greatly tried by the devil.

But the Finger of God, the Holy Spirit, won every battle in him, extending the Kingdom of Heaven into hearts.

Like Francis, Clare also encountered such trials from which, by the Grace of God, she always emerged unscathed, because she was not divided, but totally united with Christ.

The Sources are eloquent bearers of great existential truth. Let us look at what they tell us in this regard.

"In those places he had to fight hand to hand with the devil, who confronted him in order to frighten him not only with interior temptations, but also exteriorly with clashes and ruin.

But Francis, as a very strong soldier of Christ, knowing full well that his Lord could do everything everywhere, did not let himself be frightened at all, but repeated in his heart:

"You cannot, O evil one, unleash the weapons of your malice against me in these places any more than you would do to me if we were in the crowd" (FF 446).

And a friar, who had long been harassed by the assaults of the devil and wept at the feet of Francis, was delivered by him:

"The Father felt pity for him, and realised that he was tormented by malignant instigations:

"I command you, O demons," he exclaimed, "by the virtue of God, do not torment my brother any more from now on, as you have dared so far.

Immediately that gloomy darkness dissipated, the friar rose free and felt no more torment, as if he had always been free of it" (FF 697).

Clare was also attacked several times by the enemy.

"While she was once weeping, in the middle of the night, the angel of darkness appeared to her in the form of a black child, and thus admonished her: Do not weep so much, for you will go blind!

But, she answered him at once: 'He shall not be blind who will see God,' and he turned away in confusion" (FF 3198).

And in her first letter to her spiritual daughter, Agnes of Bohemia, Clare herself expresses it this way:

"The man covered with clothes cannot pretend to wrestle with an unclothed man, for he who offers a grapple to his adversary is sooner thrown to the ground" (FF 1867).

The servants of God, in their simplicity, have clear ideas, because they are guided by the Finger of God - and they do not give up the authentic Vocation.

«But if by the Finger of God I cast out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come for you» (Lk 11:20)

Thursday 3rd wk. in Lent  (Lk 11:14-23)

In the Gospel passage proposed today, Jesus proclaims that he came to give full fulfilment to the Law.

So not to demolish or transgress the Word, but to observe it by loving.

Love is the true fulfilment of the Law of the Lord, which is perfect and refreshes the soul.

Francis understood this well by living and teaching his fraternity to do the same.

The Sources provide, through various pieces, precious examples of life. In the Letter to the Rulers of Peoples:

"I beseech you [...] with all the reverence of which I am capable, not to forget the Lord, absorbed as you are by the cares and cares of this world, and not to deviate from his commandments, for all who forget the Lord and deviate from his commandments are cursed and will be forgotten by him" (FF 211).

At the same time, the Poverello, with that balance and elasticity that distinguished him, emphasised:

"And whenever necessity arises, let all the brothers, wherever they may be, be allowed to take all the food that men can eat, just as the Lord says of David, who ate the loaves of the offering that were not allowed to be eaten except by priests [...] Similarly, in times of manifest necessity, let all the brothers provide for their necessities as the Lord will give them grace, since necessity has no law" (FF 33).

According to Francis' thought, what harms love is detraction. In fact, in the Major Legend, we read:

"The vice of detraction, the radical enemy of piety and grace, horrified him like the bite of the serpent and like the most harmful pestilence [...].

'The wickedness of detractors,' she said, 'is so much greater than that of thieves, the greater the force with which the law of Christ, which finds its fulfilment in love, obliges us to desire the salvation of souls more than that of bodies'" (FF 1141).

Clare herself, in the Rule, warns:

"I admonish, then, and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ, that the sisters beware of all pride, vainglory, envy, avarice, care and solicitude of this world, of detraction and murmuring, of discord and division" (FF 2809).

"Instead, let them always be solicitous to preserve mutually the unity of mutual charity, which is the bond of perfection" (FF 2810).

Love was the Rule of the brothers and the Poor Ladies of San Damiano: "[...] and so, carrying the yoke of mutual charity, with ease we will fulfil the law of Christ. Amen." (FF 2918 - Letter to Ermentrude of Bruges).

«Do not think that I have come to tear down the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to demolish, but to fulfil» (Mt 5:17)

Wednesday 3rd wk. in Lent  (Mt 5,17-19)

Mt tells the parable of the forgiven, and unforgiving, servant.

Forgetful of the mercy he has received as a gift, he neglects to apply the gratuity he has received to his neighbour in the same - or perhaps less serious - condition.

The Word exhorts us to exercise towards our brothers and sisters in need, what we already had in store.

Francis had many special qualities, but excelled in one: the stable and solid memory of divine Mercy bending over him, to the point of condoning all the errors of his past life.

He had experienced the fatherhood and motherhood of God, absorbed in those bowels of mercy that had visited and healed him inwardly.

For him, pity and forgiveness (as well as correction, when necessary) were two basic attitudes in the fraternal journey.

By now he carried carved in his heart Jesus' answer to Peter's question: how often to grant forgiveness.

The Lord answered him: «I say to you not seven times, but seventy times seven» (Mt 18:22). As if to say: "in every case and always".

Francis of Assisi, in a passage from his Letter to a Minister, explains well the continuous readiness to forgive, and to begin again without tiring. The accents of the passage are moving.

"I say to you [...] that those things that are an impediment to you in loving the Lord God, and every person who will be an obstacle to you [...] all this you must hold as a grace [...] And love those who act with you in this way [...]" (FF 234).

And again: "And in this I want to know if you love the Lord and love me his servant and yours, if you will behave in this way, namely: that there be no brother in the world, who has sinned, as much as it is possible to sin, who, after he has seen your eyes, does not go away without your forgiveness, if he asks for it; and if he does not ask forgiveness, you ask him if he wants to be forgiven. And if, afterwards, he sins a thousand times before your eyes, love him more than me for this: that you may draw him to the Lord; and always have mercy on such brothers" (FF 235).

The letter, a true jewel among those written by the Poverello, continues:

"If any of the brothers, at the instigation of the enemy, has mortally sinned, he is bound by obedience to have recourse to his guardian. And let all the brothers, who have knowledge of his sin, neither shame him nor speak ill of him, but have great mercy on him and keep the sin of their brother very secret, because it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick" (FF 237).

«Should not you also have pitied your fellow man, as I also have pitied you?» (Mt 18:21-35)

Tuesday 3rd wk. in Lent  (Mt 18:21-35)

In the Lk passage, the unbelief and mistrust of the people of Nazareth towards Jesus emerges, the provocations put forward and the Lord's replies emphasising the deaf acceptance of his Message.

Francis of Assisi admired the ordinary holiness of anyone, but especially of his brethren.

He often repeated that the preacher who seeks his own glory in preaching rather than the salvation of souls is to be pitied.

To them would be preferable one who was simple and without a 'tongue', but capable of pushing others to the good.

He rejoiced greatly when he knew that his brothers scattered around the world, with the daily holiness of their lives, induced many to return to the right path.

One day, he went to a church in the hamlet of Assisi and started cleaning.

There he learned that a certain John, a simple man, was ploughing a field of his own near the church.

"And immediately he went to him and found him intent on cleaning. He said to him, 'Brother, give the broom to me, I want to help you.'

He took the broom and finished cleaning.

Then they sat down, and John said: "For a long time I have intended to serve God, especially since I heard about you and your brothers. But I did not know how to join you. But since it pleased the Lord that I should see you, I am willing to do whatever pleases you".

Observing his fervour, Francis rejoiced in the Lord, also because he then had few brothers and because this man with his simplicity gave him confidence that he would be a good religious".

Francis invited him to give the goods he possessed to the poor, as the Gospel says.

John, the simple man, did not let himself be told twice and obeyed the Poverello in everything, selling an ox to give to the poor.

The Sources continue:

"Francis, who always liked pure and holy simplicity in himself and in others, had great affection for John.

And as soon as he had dressed him in the habit, he took him as his companion.

He was so simple that he considered himself obliged to do whatever Francis did.

When the saint was praying in a church or in a secluded place, John wanted to see him and stare at him, to repeat all his gestures: if Francis bent his knees, if he raised his joined hands to heaven, if he spat or coughed, he would do the same.

Although enchanted by such simplicity of heart, Francis began to rebuke him. But John replied: "Brother, I have promised to do all that you do; and therefore I intend to do all that you do".

The Saint was amazed and delighted at such purity and simplicity. John made such progress in all the virtues that Francis and the others were amazed at his holiness.

And not long afterwards he died in this holy perfection. Francis, filled with joy inwardly and outwardly, told the brothers about his life, and called him "Saint John" instead of "Brother John" (FF 1566).

The onlookers marvelled at the holiness manifested in the ordinary of one who lived the Word concretely and asked: «Is not this the Son of Joseph?» (Lk 4:22).

The simple and transparent life bewilders those who have abstruse ideas of holiness; they believe it to be linked to sumptuous descent, forgetting that God loves and proclaims in the ordinary.

«No prophet is accepted in his own country» (Lk 4:24)

Monday 3rd wk. in Lent  (Lk 4,24-30)

The Gospel of John, on this Sunday of Lent, takes us to Jacob's well where Jesus meets the Samaritan woman and asks her for a drink. In reality, it is He who offers her the opportunity of a Gift: the Water that springs forth for eternal life, an allusion to the Holy Spirit. Jesus calls us to worship the Father in spirit and truth, and all this takes place under the impulse of the Spirit and in the truth of Jesus within the inner sanctuary. 

Francis of Assisi lived this worship wherever he was and taught his companions to do the same.

In fact:

"The brethren asked him insistently to teach them to pray, because, behaving with simplicity of spirit, they did not yet know the liturgical office.

And he replied:

'When you pray, say: Our Father! And: We adore you, O Christ, in all your churches throughout the world, and we bless you, because with your holy cross you have redeemed the world' " (FF 399).

Thus:

"Faithful to Francis' exhortation, whenever they passed by a church, or even saw one from afar, they bowed in that direction and, prostrate in body and spirit, worshipped the Almighty, saying: 'We adore you, O Christ, in all your churches'.

And, no less admirable, they did the same wherever they happened to see a cross or a form of a cross, on the ground, on walls, among trees, in hedges" (FF 401).

The Poverello asked incessantly for the water that springs forth for eternal life, in his secret relationship with God, who did not deny him the abundant lapping of the Spirit who, by his will, became Minister of the Order.

In fact, the Sources attest to what Francis often said:

"With God," he said, "there is no preference of persons, and the Holy Spirit, Minister General of the Order, rests equally on the poor and the simple" (FF 779).

The simplicity of heart of the Minimo was a privileged place for an abundant flooding of the Spirit, which transformed him into an equal source for those who met him.

«[...] the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life» (Jn 4:14b)

3rd Sunday in Lent (A)  (Jn 4:5-42)

Chapter fifteen of Luke is known for its parables of Mercy.

Before the Pharisees and scribes who murmur because he is close to publicans and sinners, Jesus responds with effective parables whose foundation is:

do not reject, but go forth to raise up.

Wherever there is pity for man's lost condition, there Christ rises again.

Francis in his young existence had encountered the paternal and maternal compassion of the Lord.

After a life spent in merry bandits and a bit of debauchery, he was thunderstruck by the Father of Mercies or, as he called him, the Great Helmsman.

Touched by Grace, after his evident change of mentality, before the Crucifix of San Damiano his vocation-mission was revealed to him.

He renounced everything, even his earthly father, to be free to go where the Father in heaven sent him.

The waste of his youthful years translated him into boundless generosity towards lepers and the poor.

The Blessing Embrace of the Almighty had imprinted him with a more solid and precious human and spiritual character.

All his life he wept for his sins, thinking of the Passion of Jesus Christ, who died and rose again for all his lost children.

In the Sources ('Vita seconda' by his biographer Celano) we find a moving passage:

"Once he heard that a sick friar wanted to eat some grapes. He accompanied him to a vineyard and, sitting under a vine, to infuse him with courage, he himself began to eat first' (FF 762).

Mercy for the misfortunes of others is the Franciscan foundation of the spiritual journey.

And again:

"He used to say that it is the duty of the superior, a father and not a tyrant, to prevent the occasion of guilt and not to allow those to fall who would then find it difficult to get up again, once they have fallen.

Oh, how worthy of compassion is our foolishness!

Not only do we not lift or support the weak, but we sometimes push them to fall.

We judge it of no importance to take away from the Supreme Shepherd a sheep, for whom on the Cross he uttered a loud cry with tears.

But quite differently didst thou, holy father, prefer to amend the errant and not to lose them!

[...] the oil and the wine, the rod and the staff, the zeal and the indulgence, the burning and the anointing, the prison and the womb, everything has its time.

All these things require the God of vengeance and the Father of mercies: but he prefers mercy to sacrifice' (FF 763).

Clare herself, a loving mother, had received a generous heart full of compassion, especially towards her needy sisters.

The Sources, through the Rule, attest that as the leader of the community, the First Plant of Francis did not allow herself to be imprisoned by the law, but unmistakable Charity reigned over all.

We read in fact:

"[The abbess] console the afflicted. May she still be the last refuge of the afflicted so that, should the remedies of health fail in her, the disease of despair may not prevail in the sick" (FF 2778).

Francis and Clare, transformed by the Father's mercy, treasured the gift they had received and poured it out freely to all creatures. Never caged by the immovability of codes, they were witnesses of that singular welcome that recovers those who have erred and reintroduces them into the new life of the risen.

"Where there is mercy and discretion,

there is neither superfluity nor harshness" (FF 177).

«While he was still a long way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran to his neck and super kissed him» (Lk 15:20)

Saturday 2nd wk. in Lent  (Lk 15:1-3.11-32)