Matthew's Gospel insists on the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees who close the kingdom of heaven before the people by their behaviour.
Looking in the Sources we discover how all this was embodied by the Poor Man of Assisi in a unique way.
Francis was so averse to hypocrisy that he put in the same Regola non Bollata (1221) a specific paragraph about it:
"And let the brothers beware of showing themselves sad on the outside and dark in the face like hypocrites, but let them show themselves joyful in the Lord and joyful and graciously lovable" (FF 27).
He detested all duplicity as a plague, and denounced it publicly even in his own regard, if it seemed to him that he had not lived according to the Word of God - fearing that he would not enter the kingdom of heaven and would not be a credible witness.
In this regard, the Sources reveal:
"Once, around Christmas, a large crowd had gathered for a sermon at the hermitage of Poggio*.
Francis began in this way:
"You think me a holy man and therefore you have come here with devotion. Well, I confess to you, throughout this Lent I have eaten food seasoned with lard".
And so more than once she attributed to gluttony what she had instead conceded to illness' (FF 715).
Clare herself, an imprint of the Mother of God, always exhorted her community to shun all forms of falsehood, which she categorised as true blindness.
She, Clare by life and virtue, always guarded against this plague that could ruin fraternity between sisters and prevent mutual love.
"Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, for you shut up the kingdom of heaven before the people" (Mt 23:13).
- This means Poggio Bustone, in the Rieti valley.
Monday 21st wk. in O.T. (Mt 23,13-22)
