Jesus in chapter ten of the Johannine Gospel calls Himself the 'Shepherd and Gate of the sheep' by entering through which one encounters salvation. He alone is the true Shepherd who cares for them and defends them from harm.
One day Francis, close to the finishing line of his calling, was asked by a friar about the figure who would lead the Order after him.
The passage, taken from the second life of Celano, reads as follows:
"Father you will pass from this life, and the family that followed you remains abandoned in this vale of tears. Point to one, if you know one exists in the Order, who satisfies your spirit and to whom the burden of being a general minister can be confidently placed'.
Francis, accompanying each word with sighs, replied:
"I do not know anyone capable of being the leader of such a varied army and shepherd of such a numerous flock. 'But I want to paint you and, as they say, model the figure, in which one can clearly see what the father of this family must be'.
"He must be," he continued, "a man of the most austere life, of great discretion and praiseworthy reputation [...] apply himself zealously to prayer and know how to distribute certain hours to his soul and others to the flock entrusted to him [...After the prayer, then, put yourself at the disposal of the religious, willing to let yourself be bothered by all, ready to answer and provide for everyone with affability [...] Even if it is admitted that you stand out for culture, however, even more in your conduct be the portrait of virtuous simplicity and cultivate virtue [...]".
And he continued:
"He comforts the afflicted, being the last refuge for the afflicted, lest, not finding salutary remedies with him, the sick be overcome by the disease of despair. Let him humble himself, to bend the proud to meekness, and let him drop some of his right, to win a soul to Christ. As for the deserters of the Order, as if they were lost sheep, do not close the bowels of your mercy to them, knowing full well that the temptations that can drive them to such things are very violent [...] It is your task above all to investigate the secret of consciences to extract the truth from the most hidden veins, but do not listen to those who gossip [...]" (FF 771-772).
All this indicates the value of being "Door" for Francis among his brothers, whom he loved with firmness and tenderness; with discretion and understanding, for the love of Christ.
«I am the Gate: if anyone enters through me, he will be saved; and he will go in and out and find pasture» (Jn 10:9)
Monday of the 4th wk. in Easter (Jn 10:1-10)
