Today the liturgy proposes, through the Gospel of Mark, the metamorphosis of Levi, who became Matthew to follow Jesus in the adventure of his vocation.
The concern of Jesus, who came to call not the righteous, but sinners, is highlighted.
When the divine Light made him realise that the Lord was calling him to follow in His footsteps, Francis left everything immediately and devoted himself to how he could better live the Gospel.
Jesus had made it clear to him that Mercy must always prevail in events.
In the Sources:
"Oil and wine, rod and staff, zeal and indulgence [...] everything has its time. All this is required by the God of vengeance and the Father of mercies: but he prefers mercy to sacrifice' (FF 763).
One day while he was praying he heard himself say:
«Francis, if you want to know my will, you must despise and hate everything that you worldly love and desire to possess. When you have begun to do this, what was previously attractive to you will seem unbearable and bitter» (FF 1407).
Hence his love for lepers:
"After a few days, he took a lot of money with him and went to the lepers' hospice; he gathered them together and distributed alms to each one, kissing their hands.
On his return, the contact that had previously been repugnant to him, that is, seeing and touching lepers, was truly transformed into sweetness" (FF 1408).
Already, the divine Master feasts on the sick, he does not abhor them, because it is they who need the physician and by them Francis was healed in soul.
"One day, full of admiration for the mercy of the Lord in all the benefits bestowed upon him, he wished to know from the Lord what would become of his life and that of his brothers.
To this end he withdrew, as he often did, to a place suitable for prayer. There he remained for a long time, invoking with fear and trembling the Ruler of all the earth, looking back with bitterness on the years that had passed badly and repeating:
«O God, be merciful to me a sinner!».
Little by little he felt in the depths of his heart ineffable joy and immense sweetness.
He began as it were to come out of himself: the anguish and the darkness, which had thickened in his soul through fear of sin, disappeared, and the certainty of being forgiven of all his faults and of living in the state of grace was instilled in him" (FF 363).
«I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners» (Mk 2:17b)
Saturday 1st wk. in O.T. (Mk 2,13-17)
