Jul 31, 2025 Written by 

Renounce, take up, follow

In today's passage from Matthew, the conditions for following Jesus are summarised in three verbs and therefore in three movements: renounce, take up the cross, follow Christ.

Jesus emphasises that life will not come to us from worldly gain, but from the loss of every advantage and esteem for the sake of the Gospel.

At the beginning of the Earlier Rule (1221), Francis writes that the friars desired to live following the example of the Lord Jesus.

He emphasises various expressions of the Gospel, highlighting the importance of denying oneself and taking up the cross.

The pious father often gathered his sons around him and spoke at length about the Kingdom of God, "about contempt for the world, about the need to deny one's own will" (FF 1058), teaching them:

"Go [...] proclaim peace to men; preach penance for the remission of sins. Be patient in tribulations, vigilant in prayer [...]" (FF 1058).

Leaving oneself behind to embrace the call in all its fullness, willing to lose one's life in order to find it in the Incarnate Word, was the leitmotif of their daily lives.

A passage from the Sources, taken from the Leggenda maggiore, is illuminating:

"While he was praying one day, isolated from the world and completely absorbed in God, in the excess of his fervour, Christ Jesus appeared to him, as if crucified.

At the sight of him, his soul melted. The memory of Christ's passion was so deeply imprinted in the depths of his heart that from that moment on, whenever the crucifixion of Christ came to mind, he could hardly restrain himself, even outwardly, from tears and sighs, as he himself confided later, when he was approaching death.

The man of God understood that, through this vision, God was addressing to him that maxim of the Gospel:

«If you want to come after me, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me» (FF 1035).

And again, in the Second Life, Celano emphasises:

"Francis was already dead to this world, but Christ lived in him. The delights of the world were a cross for him, because he carried the Cross of Christ rooted in his heart" (FF 800).

But Chiara, the first little plant of the blessed father, always strove to deny herself, spurring her own soul and that of her sisters with assiduous meditation on the Passion of Christ.

"In order to nourish her soul unceasingly with the ineffable joys of the Crucified One, she meditated very frequently on the prayer of the five wounds of the Lord.

She learned the Office of the Cross, as composed by St. Francis, the lover of the cross, and she used to recite it with equal love" (FF 3216).

In her beautiful letter to Ermentrude of Bruges*, Clare expresses herself thus:

"Lift up your eyes to heaven, O dearest one, for it is an invitation to us, and take up the cross and follow Christ who goes before us. For after many and various tribulations, it is He who will bring us into his glory.

Love God with all your heart, and Jesus, his Son crucified for us sinners, and never let the memory of him fall from your mind.

Meditate without tiring on the mystery of the cross and the sorrows of the Mother standing at the foot of the cross" (FF 2915).

Chiara, following the example of Francis, lived the Word of the Gospel enclosed in San Damiano, for love of her Spouse, rejecting all worldly desires.

She was always aware that the Spouse, upon his return, would reward each person according to his or her actions, according to his or her life.

During her lifetime, she chose to live in seclusion for the One she loved and by whom she felt loved.

The penitential and renouncing dimension is no longer so harsh and disconcerting when it is Charity that makes the beauty of the spousal and regenerative experience she made, by Grace, as well as that of many of her sisters, transpire from the walls.

 

* Ermentrude was responsible for spreading the Order of St. Clare in Flanders.

 

 

Friday of the 18th wk. in O.T.  (Mt 16:24-28)

102 Last modified on Thursday, 31 July 2025 06:16
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.
We see this great figure, this force in the Passion, in resistance to the powerful. We wonder: what gave birth to this life, to this interiority so strong, so upright, so consistent, spent so totally for God in preparing the way for Jesus? The answer is simple: it was born from the relationship with God (Pope Benedict)
Noi vediamo questa grande figura, questa forza nella passione, nella resistenza contro i potenti. Domandiamo: da dove nasce questa vita, questa interiorità così forte, così retta, così coerente, spesa in modo così totale per Dio e preparare la strada a Gesù? La risposta è semplice: dal rapporto con Dio (Papa Benedetto)
These words are full of the disarming power of truth that pulls down the wall of hypocrisy and opens consciences [Pope Benedict]
Queste parole sono piene della forza disarmante della verità, che abbatte il muro dell’ipocrisia e apre le coscienze [Papa Benedetto]
While the various currents of human thought both in the past and at the present have tended and still tend to separate theocentrism and anthropocentrism, and even to set them in opposition to each other, the Church, following Christ, seeks to link them up in human history, in a deep and organic way [Dives in Misericordia n.1]
Mentre le varie correnti del pensiero umano nel passato e nel presente sono state e continuano ad essere propense a dividere e perfino a contrapporre il teocentrismo e l'antropocentrismo, la Chiesa invece, seguendo il Cristo, cerca di congiungerli nella storia dell'uomo in maniera organica e profonda [Dives in Misericordia n.1]
Jesus, however, reverses the question — which stresses quantity, that is: “are they few?...” — and instead places the question in the context of responsibility, inviting us to make good use of the present (Pope Francis)
Gesù però capovolge la domanda – che punta più sulla quantità, cioè “sono pochi?...” – e invece colloca la risposta sul piano della responsabilità, invitandoci a usare bene il tempo presente (Papa Francesco)
The Lord Jesus presented himself to the world as a servant, completely stripping himself and lowering himself to give on the Cross the most eloquent lesson of humility and love (Pope Benedict)
Il Signore Gesù si è presentato al mondo come servo, spogliando totalmente se stesso e abbassandosi fino a dare sulla croce la più eloquente lezione di umiltà e di amore (Papa Benedetto)
More than 600 precepts are mentioned in the Law of Moses. How should the great commandment be distinguished among these? (Pope Francis)
Nella Legge di Mosè sono menzionati oltre seicento precetti. Come distinguere, tra tutti questi, il grande comandamento? (Papa Francesco)
The invitation has three characteristics: freely offered, breadth and universality. Many people were invited, but something surprising happened: none of the intended guests came to take part in the feast, saying they had other things to do; indeed, some were even indifferent, impertinent, even annoyed (Pope Francis)
L’invito ha tre caratteristiche: la gratuità, la larghezza, l’universalità. Gli invitati sono tanti, ma avviene qualcosa di sorprendente: nessuno dei prescelti accetta di prendere parte alla festa, dicono che hanno altro da fare; anzi alcuni mostrano indifferenza, estraneità, perfino fastidio (Papa Francesco)
Those who are considered the "last", if they accept, become the "first", whereas the "first" can risk becoming the "last" (Pope Benedict)
Proprio quelli che sono considerati "ultimi", se lo accettano, diventano "primi", mentre i "primi" possono rischiare di finire "ultimi" (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.