Chapter eight of Luke, at the beginning, speaks of the proclamation of the Good News of the Kingdom by Jesus and the Twelve, and of the following of women who, healed, follow the Lord, putting all they possess at their service.

Opening the Franciscan window we see that, after having known the Lord's will by divine inspiration, Francis, the Minim, devotes himself body and soul to fulfil the mission entrusted to him by God.

His task: to announce the Kingdom, to make the Good News known to people in poverty, renouncing everything that was not indispensable.

The Sources are extraordinarily rich in this regard.

"One day, while listening to Mass, he heard the instructions given by Christ when he sent his disciples to preach [...] He understood these instructions better afterwards, having the passage explained to him by the priest.

Then, beaming with joy, he exclaimed:

"This is precisely what I long to accomplish with all my strength!".

And fixing those directives in his memory, he undertook to carry them out happily [...].

He got rid of everything he owned that was double [...] He made himself a poor, coarse tunic and, instead of a leather belt, he tightened his hips with a rope.

Inspired by God, he began to proclaim the perfection of the Gospel, preaching penance to all, with simplicity.

His words were not frivolous [...] but full of the virtue of the Holy Spirit they penetrated into the depths of consciences, so as to touch his listeners vividly" (FF 1427).

"The man of God, Francis, animated by the Spirit of the prophets and following their language, as if echoing his forerunner, announced peace and preached salvation" (FF 1428).

"An increasing number of people were attracted by the frankness and truthfulness of Francis' teaching and life.

Two years after his conversion, some men felt encouraged by his example to do penance and join him, renouncing everything, wearing the same habit and leading the same life" (FF 1429).

The first woman to follow Francis was Clare, who left her father's house and followed him to live the Gospel.

"Noble by birth, nobler by grace [...] Clare by name, clearer by life, clearer by virtue" (FF 351).

Following her example, the other sisters also put their spiritual goods at the service of the Gospel.

"There were with him the Twelve and some women who had been healed [...] Susanna and many others, who served them with their possessions" (Lk 8:1b-2a.3b).

Friday 24th wk. in O.T. (Lk 8:1-3)

After his conversion, Francis told his brothers:

"A sinner can fast, pray, weep and macerate his flesh [...] So we must glory only in this case: if we render to God the glory that is his" (FF 1105).

Which the sinful woman did well in the Pharisee's house and which the latter did not understand.

Francis and Clare, aware of the mercy God had shown them, spent their lives loving without measure, knowing that they had been graced by the Most High. Hence their living by continual acts of love towards others, kissing, bending over their neighbour's needs, forgiving.

The Sources inform about this, and, specifically, St Bonaventure tells us in the Major Legend:

"A man from the county of Spoleto, had a horrible disease that ravaged his mouth [...].

He had gone to Rome to visit the tomb of the Apostles and implore their grace. Returning from his pilgrimage, he met the servant of God, whose feet he would have liked, out of devotion, to kiss. But the humble Francis did not allow it, instead he kissed the one who would have liked to kiss his feet on the face.

As soon as Francis, the servant of the lepers, moved by his admirable piety, had touched that hideous wound with his sacred mouth, it disappeared completely and the sick man regained his longed-for health.

I do not know what to admire more, with good reason, in this event, whether the profound humility that prompted that benevolent kiss, or the splendid power that worked such a stupendous miracle" (FF 1046).

But Clare too, in the Papal Bull (Clara Claris praeclara) is contemplated thus:

"Breaking hard in the narrow solitude of her cell the alabaster of her body, she filled with the aromas of her holiness the entire edifice of the Church" (FF 3285).

"That truly pure vessel turned out to be a vessel of grace" (FF 3157).

And "very often he washed the feet of the servants* who returned from outside and, washing them, kissed them" (FF 3182).

To those who love much, much will be forgiven!

* Sisters in charge of the external service of the Monastery.

In this passage from the Gospel of Luke, Jesus compares the generation of his time to those children who cry out to one another about their inability to accept the prophets and the Son of Man, criticising everything done or proposed.

John the Baptist was treated as a demon because he fasted, the Son of God, who eats and drinks, as a friend of publicans and sinners.

But he who has Wisdom from above knows how to recognise the nature of things.

Thus Francis of Assisi!

Following in Christ's footsteps, he made himself 'one' with sinners, considering himself the first - and entertained himself with them in love.

We read in the Sources:

"Let the brothers beware, wherever they may be, in hermitages or in other places, not to appropriate any place for themselves nor to contend with anyone.

And whoever comes to them, friend or foe, thief or robber, let him be received with kindness.

And wherever the brothers are and wherever they meet, they should meet again willingly and with joy of spirit and honour one another without murmuring" (FF 26).

Francis possessed true Wisdom that enabled him to be with all, sinners and not, to discern and recognise the work of the Lord at work in any context, because he penetrated the root of things, looking at them with the eye of God.

Thus Clare, sister among sisters, with great discernment recognised the passage of the Spirit and his holy operation, welcoming all and conforming herself to the divine plans.

"For John the Baptist has come, who neither eats bread nor drinks wine, and you say, 'He has a devil.

The Son of Man has come who eats and drinks, and you say, 'Behold, a man who eats and drinks wine, a friend of publicans and sinners!'" (Lk 7:33-34).

Wednesday 24th wk. in O.T. (Lk 7,31-35)

In the continuation of Luke chapter seven, the resuscitation of the only son of the widow of Nain is narrated. Jesus, seized with great compassion, calls him back to life, to the amazement of the onlookers.

In the Franciscan Sources, the Poor Man of Assisi performed, by the Lord's Grace, many wonders in life and in death.

In the Major Legend we find this truly stupendous story.

"The little son, barely seven years old, of a notary in Rome, had taken it into his head, as children do, to follow his mother who was going to the church of St Mark.

Since his mother had forced him to stay at home, he jumped out of the window of the palace and fell to the ground, expiring on the spot.

The mother, who was not far away, suspecting from the noise that her child had fallen, hurriedly returned and, seeing that she had suddenly lost her son to that unfortunate fall, began to tear herself apart with her own hands, as if to punish herself, while with her cries of pain she excited the whole neighbourhood to weeping.

But a friar of the Order of Friars Minor, named Rao, who was on his way there to preach, approached the child and then, full of faith, said to the father:

"Do you believe that Francis, the saint of God, can raise your son from the dead, by virtue of the love he always had for Jesus Christ, who died on the cross to give life to men?"

The father replied that he firmly believed this and that from that moment on he would forever be a faithful servant of the saint, if, by his merits, God granted him such a great gift.

The friar prostrated himself in prayer with his companion and incited all present to pray.

As the prayer was finished, the child began to yawn a little, opened his eyes and raised his arms and, at last, stood up by himself and immediately, in the presence of all, began to walk, safe and sound, restored to life and, at the same time, to salvation by the admirable power of the Saint" (FF 1266).

Francis, in the footsteps of Christ, was able to do much for the benefit of many.

Again, a mother brought her dead son back to life.

Power of Christ's resurrection, even through his prophets!

"And Jesus gave him to his Mother" (Lk 7:15b).

Tuesday of the 24th wk. in O.T. (Lk 7:11-17)

Jesus heals the sick servant of a centurion. He admires his solid and deep faith.

Many are the miracles that Francis performed in life and in death to support and strengthen the Faith. In the Sources we find numerous passages recalling all this.

In the Major Legend of St. Bonaventure we discover a paragraph in which, among other things, it is written:

"The blessed man, as soon as he was taken up to enjoy the light of the Face of God, began to shine by great and numerous miracles.

That lofty holiness [...] now that he reigned with Christ, was confirmed by almighty God through miracles, fully consolidating the faith" (FF 1251).

Faith that Francis stimulated throughout his life in everyone, young and old.

In fact in his Regola non bollata (1221) we read:

"And all those who wish to serve the Lord [...] the young and the old, the healthy and the sick, all the small and the great and all peoples [...].

We humbly pray and beg that we persevere in true faith and penance, for no one can be saved in any other way" (FF 68).

Francis himself grew in the Faith and was tried in it.

In the Second Life of Celano we find the passage:

"At a certain moment of his life, the Father suffered a most violent temptation of spirit, certainly for the benefit of his crown [...].

For this he was distressed and full of suffering [...] he prayed and wept in the most painful way. This struggle lasted several years.

One day, while he was praying in St Mary of the Portiuncula, he heard a voice in spirit:

"Francis, if you have faith as much as a mustard seed, you will tell the mountain to move and it will move".

"Lord," replied the saint, "which is the mountain, which I would like to move?".

And the voice again: "The mountain is your temptation".

"O Lord," replied the Saint in tears, "let it be done to me as you have said.

Immediately all temptation disappeared and he felt free and completely serene in the depths of his heart" (FF 702).

"I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith!" (Lk 7:9).

Monday of the 24th wk. in O.T. (Lk 7,1-10)

By divine inspiration, Francis had understood that to adhere to Christ and his holy will, the sure Way was to remove oneself from the mentality of the world and live by the Gospel.

In fact, the Sources inform us:

"His highest aspiration, his prevailing desire, his firmest will was to observe perfectly and always the holy Gospel and to imitate faithfully with all vigilance, with all commitment, with all the zeal of soul and heart the doctrine and the examples of our Lord Jesus Christ" (FF 466).

And again:

"Listening to him, the servant of God felt filled with the consolation of the Holy Spirit, because he had conceived his first son, and exclaimed:

"Such advice we must ask of God!".

As it was now morning, they entered the church of St Nicholas. After praying, Francis, a devout worshipper of the Trinity, opened the book of the Gospels three times, asking God three times to confirm Bernard's intention.

At the first opening he came across the passage that says: "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor".

At the second: "Carry nothing on your journey".

To the third: "Whoever wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me".

This,' said the Saint, 'is our life and Rule and that of all those who wish to join our company. Go, then, if you wish to be perfect, and do as you have heard" (FF 1054).

Francis had a watchful eye on the renegade capacity of those who wanted to enter that evangelical fraternity.

In fact, in the Franciscan documents, we find a very significant episode.

The Minim of Assisi, travelling through the province of the Marches to preach, met a man who asked him to join his community.

The father addressed him thus:

"Brother, if you want to enter our family, it is necessary first that you distribute all your goods to the poor, according to the perfection advised by the holy Gospel, and then that you renounce your will completely" (Sources 1567).

At these words the man inspired by carnal and not spiritual love, gave all his goods to his kinsmen.

Then he went to Francis reporting that he had deprived himself of all he had.

But the father asked him how he had done it.

He replied: 'Brother, I have given all mine to some relatives who were in need' (Sources 1567).

The passage continues: 'Francis knew, through the Holy Spirit, that this was a carnal man, and immediately took him away:

"Go your way, Brother Fly, for you have given yours to your kinsmen, and now you would like to live on alms among the brothers".

And he went on his way, refusing to distribute his possessions to other poor" (Sources 1567).

Losing one's life for the sake of the Gospel was, therefore, the foundation of the path of Francis and his sons.

John, highlights how God sent His Son Jesus into the world not to condemn it, but to save it through Him.

Francis so loved the Crucified One and for Him and in Him the Cross on which He was confined for the salvation of the world, that he received the gift of the stigmata.

Made like Christ, therefore Alter Christus. He had always fixed in his mind the Gift of the Father to humanity, in the Son.

The Sources illuminate in this regard:

"And we give thee thanks, because as thou hast created us through thy Son, so by thy holy love, with which thou hast loved us, thou hast brought forth the same true God and true man from the glorious ever-virgin most blessed Saint Mary, and, by the cross, blood and death of Him hast willed to redeem us from slavery" (FF 64).

And again: 'For he said that nothing is more important than the salvation of souls, and he proved this very often by the fact that the only-begotten of God deigned to be hung on the cross for souls [...] He did not consider himself a friend of Christ, if he did not love the souls He loved' (FF 758).

"One morning, as the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross approached, while he was praying on the side of the mountain, he saw a figure like a seraphim, with six wings as bright as they were fiery, descending from the sublimity of the heavens [...] He came close to the man of God, and then there appeared between his wings the effigy of a crucified man, who had his hands and feet spread out and confined on the cross [...He understood by divine revelation the purpose for which divine Providence had shown him that vision, that is, to make known to him in advance that he [...] was about to be transformed wholly into the visible portrait of Christ Jesus crucified [...] by the fire of the Spirit" (FF 1225).

Passing through pain and death would be the triumph of Life. A Cross blossomed in the Paschal Mystery.

"For so God loved the world that he gave his Son, the Only Begotten, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have the life of the Eternal One" (Jn 3:16).

Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Jn 3:13-17)

The Gospel casts its gaze on the blind guides of the blind [with nefarious results] and on those who pretend to remove the mote from their brother's eye while forgetting the beam that dwells in him.

Francis abhorred any judgement of the brothers, for he believed that every haughty expression addressed to them was, practically, addressed to God himself.

Clare advised the sisters to beware of judgement, detraction and murmuring:

"Let the sisters [...] beware of detraction and murmuring" (FF 2809).

In that treasure chest of riches that are the Sources we find many interesting narratives on the subject.

In the Regola bollata (1223) written by Francis we read:

"[The brothers] I admonish them, however, and exhort them not to despise and judge men whom they see dressed in soft and coloured clothing and using delicate food and drink, but rather let each one judge and despise himself" (FF 81).

And in the Letter to the Faithful he continues:

"Those then who have received authority to judge others, let them exercise judgement with mercy, just as they themselves wish to obtain mercy from the Lord: for judgement will be without mercy for those who have not used mercy" (FF 191).

To the brothers themselves:

"If it sometimes happened that a brother missed a word that could hurt, the remorse of conscience would not let him have peace, until he confessed his mistake, humbly throwing himself to the ground and begging the offended one to put a foot on his mouth [...].

The brothers undertook to banish all rancour and incompatibility, and to keep exchangeable love intact" (FF 1449).

Therefore the yardstick for every thought and expression was to look at oneself in honesty before God, leaving the gaze on others to Him.

"Can a blind man guide [another] blind man? [...]

Why do you look at the mote in your brother's eye but the beam in your own eye you do not see?" (Lk 6:39a.41).

Friday of the 23rd wk. in O.T. (Lk 6:39-42)

In today's Gospel Jesus calls those who listen to love those who behave as enemies.

"Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you" (Lk 6:27).

Francis loved those who mocked and judged him - and invited his brothers to do likewise.

The Poor Man of Assisi had come to know Christ and, according to the Word of the Gospel, he committed himself to love everyone, even those who behaved as his enemies; to give as much as he had to the poor.

In fact, in the Franciscan Sources we find various episodes that signify these circumstances.

We read in the Admonitions he wrote:

"The Lord says: 'Love your enemies [and do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who persecute and slander you].

For truly he loves his enemy who does not grieve for the insult he does him, but burns in his innermost self for the love of God because of the sin of his soul. And let him show his love by his works" (FF 158).

The same father, who detested Francis' choice of poverty, persecuted him, driving his son into hiding.

The Sources attest:

"But Francis, an athlete still in his infancy, having been informed of the threats of the persecutors and anticipating their coming, wanted to leave time for anger and hid himself in a secret pit. He remained hidden there for some days, and in the meantime he unceasingly supplicated, amidst rivers of tears, to the Lord, that He might deliver him from the hands of the persecutors and bring to fulfilment, with His goodness and favour, the pious intentions He had inspired in him" (FF 1040).

And again:

"He went to visit [...] the tomb of the Apostle Peter. It was on this occasion that, seeing the great multitude of beggars before the door of that church, moved by a gentle compassion, and, at the same time, allured by the love of poverty, he gave his clothes to the neediest of them and, covered in their rags, he spent the whole day among the poor, with unusual joy of spirit" (FF 1037).

Giving had become for the Poverello the a-b-c of his daily living of the Word of God.

"...for with the measure wherewith ye measure, it shall be measured unto you" (Lk 6:38).

Thursday, 23rd wk. in O.T. (Lk 6,27-38)