May 8, 2025 Written by 

Testimony of Faith, Truth and Life

In today's passage Jesus addresses His disciples and exhorts them to have faith, not to be troubled, for He goes to prepare "a place" for them.

To Thomas, who asks the way, the Lord responds by saying that He is the way, the truth and the life of the Father.

 

Always on his way, Francis exhorted his disciples to have faith, not to let themselves be troubled in difficult times.

He admired and extolled the faith of believers and the solid witness from wherever it came.

In the Sources there are various passages on this subject.

In the Unbiblical Rule:

"Let us therefore hold fast to the words, life, doctrine and holy Gospel of Him who deigned to pray for us to His Father and manifest to us the name of Him, saying:

"Father glorify your name [...] Make them glorious in the truth. Your word is truth [...]" (FF 62).

And Francis admired the faith of the woman Jacopa of the Septuagint*, a noble woman attached to him and to the whole fraternity.

The Sources relate:

"One day Francis summoned his companions and said:

"You know how Lady Jacopa of the Septuagint was and is very faithful and affectionate to me and to our fraternity. I believe that if you inform her of my state of health, she will consider this as a great grace and consolation.

Let her know [...] that she will send you some unbleached cloth to make a cassock [...] And send her some of that cake she used to prepare for me when I was in Rome.

This is the sweet that the Romans call mostacciolo, and it is made with almonds, sugar or honey and other ingredients.

Jacopa was a spiritual woman, a widow, devoted to God, one of the noblest and richest ladies in Rome.

Through the merits and preaching of Francis she had received so much grace from God that she seemed almost a second Magdalene, tenderly devoted to the point of tears" (FF 1657).

The brothers had written a letter to send to Donna Jacopa, but they heard a knock at the door and it was indeed her, who had come in haste to visit Francis.

Since it had been established from the earliest times that no women should enter the cloister to safeguard the honour and recollection of the religious house, a friar said to Francis:

"Father what shall we do? Should we let her come in and approach you?".

Francis replied:

"The prohibition does not apply to this lady, whom such faith and devotion has brought from so far away".

Jacopa therefore entered Francis and on seeing him began to weep....

Donna Jacopa turned to them and explained:

"Brothers, while I was praying, I was told in spirit:

Go and visit your father Francis. Hurry, do not delay, for if you delay you will not find him alive [...]" (FF 1657- Perugina Legend).

So Francis, now close to passing away, had the joy of the testimony of a great faith from this noble woman.

And near her Easter she seemed almost to say to her own:

«Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God and believe in me» (Jn 14:1).

He too, in the footsteps of Christ, went to prepare 'a place' for them.

 

* Jacopa not of the Settesoli, but of the seven "sogli", that is, thrones or seats.

* "Iacopa de Septem soliis".

 

 

Friday of the 4th Easter wk.  (Jn 14:1-6)

109 Last modified on Thursday, 08 May 2025 05:15
Teresa Girolami

Teresa Girolami è laureata in Materie letterarie e Teologia. Ha pubblicato vari testi, fra cui: "Pellegrinaggio del cuore" (Ed. Piemme); "I Fiammiferi di Maria - La Madre di Dio in prosa e poesia"; "Tenerezza Scalza - Natura di donna"; co-autrice di "Dialogo e Solstizio".

Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
This is to say that Jesus has put himself on the level of Peter, rather than Peter on Jesus' level! It is exactly this divine conformity that gives hope to the Disciple, who experienced the pain of infidelity. From here is born the trust that makes him able to follow [Christ] to the end: «This he said to show by what death he was to glorify God. And after this he said to him, "Follow me"» (Pope Benedict)
Verrebbe da dire che Gesù si è adeguato a Pietro, piuttosto che Pietro a Gesù! E’ proprio questo adeguamento divino a dare speranza al discepolo, che ha conosciuto la sofferenza dell’infedeltà. Da qui nasce la fiducia che lo rende capace della sequela fino alla fine: «Questo disse per indicare con quale morte egli avrebbe glorificato Dio. E detto questo aggiunse: “Seguimi”» (Papa Benedetto)
Unity is not made with glue [...] The great prayer of Jesus is to «resemble» the Father (Pope Francis)
L’Unità non si fa con la colla […] La grande preghiera di Gesù» è quella di «assomigliare» al Padre (Papa Francesco)
Divisions among Christians, while they wound the Church, wound Christ; and divided, we cause a wound to Christ: the Church is indeed the body of which Christ is the Head (Pope Francis)
Le divisioni tra i cristiani, mentre feriscono la Chiesa, feriscono Cristo, e noi divisi provochiamo una ferita a Cristo: la Chiesa infatti è il corpo di cui Cristo è capo (Papa Francesco)
The glorification that Jesus asks for himself as High Priest, is the entry into full obedience to the Father, an obedience that leads to his fullest filial condition [Pope Benedict]
La glorificazione che Gesù chiede per se stesso, quale Sommo Sacerdote, è l'ingresso nella piena obbedienza al Padre, un'obbedienza che lo conduce alla sua più piena condizione filiale [Papa Benedetto]
All this helps us not to let our guard down before the depths of iniquity, before the mockery of the wicked. In these situations of weariness, the Lord says to us: “Have courage! I have overcome the world!” (Jn 16:33). The word of God gives us strength [Pope Francis]
Tutto questo aiuta a non farsi cadere le braccia davanti allo spessore dell’iniquità, davanti allo scherno dei malvagi. La parola del Signore per queste situazioni di stanchezza è: «Abbiate coraggio, io ho vinto il mondo!» (Gv 16,33). E questa parola ci darà forza [Papa Francesco]
The Ascension does not point to Jesus’ absence, but tells us that he is alive in our midst in a new way. He is no longer in a specific place in the world as he was before the Ascension. He is now in the lordship of God, present in every space and time, close to each one of us. In our life we are never alone (Pope Francis)
L’Ascensione non indica l’assenza di Gesù, ma ci dice che Egli è vivo in mezzo a noi in modo nuovo; non è più in un preciso posto del mondo come lo era prima dell’Ascensione; ora è nella signoria di Dio, presente in ogni spazio e tempo, vicino ad ognuno di noi. Nella nostra vita non siamo mai soli (Papa Francesco)
The Magnificat is the hymn of praise which rises from humanity redeemed by divine mercy, it rises from all the People of God; at the same time, it is a hymn that denounces the illusion of those who think they are lords of history and masters of their own destiny (Pope Benedict)
Il Magnificat è il canto di lode che sale dall’umanità redenta dalla divina misericordia, sale da tutto il popolo di Dio; in pari tempo è l’inno che denuncia l’illusione di coloro che si credono signori della storia e arbitri del loro destino (Papa Benedetto)

Due Fuochi due Vie - Vol. 1 Due Fuochi due Vie - Vol. 2 Due Fuochi due Vie - Vol. 3 Due Fuochi due Vie - Vol. 4 Due Fuochi due Vie - Vol. 5 Dialogo e Solstizio I fiammiferi di Maria

duevie.art

don Giuseppe Nespeca

Tel. 333-1329741


Disclaimer

Questo blog non rappresenta una testata giornalistica in quanto viene aggiornato senza alcuna periodicità. Non può pertanto considerarsi un prodotto editoriale ai sensi della legge N°62 del 07/03/2001.
Le immagini sono tratte da internet, ma se il loro uso violasse diritti d'autore, lo si comunichi all'autore del blog che provvederà alla loro pronta rimozione.
L'autore dichiara di non essere responsabile dei commenti lasciati nei post. Eventuali commenti dei lettori, lesivi dell'immagine o dell'onorabilità di persone terze, il cui contenuto fosse ritenuto non idoneo alla pubblicazione verranno insindacabilmente rimossi.