Jesus calls us to bear essential witness, to give our whole lives, to be salt and light for everyone.

Francis, in his journey of faith, sought to please God with a flavourful existence and a luminous life, irrigated by Grace.

Chiara herself, always united with her Spouse Jesus, was prophetically chosen to be what her name meant: light, brightness for the world.

Their witness shines forth in the Sources.

In Brother Elia's Letter, written immediately after Francis' death, the experience of the friars alongside their father and the fragrance of life they breathed is evident.

"Truly, the presence of our brother and father Francis was the true light, not only for us who were his companions in the same profession of life, but also for those who were far away.

He was, in fact, a light raised up by the true light, the one that illuminates those who were in darkness and sat in the shadow of death, to direct their steps on the path of peace.

This he did, like the true meridian light.

The light that came from above illuminated his heart and warmed his will with the fire of his love" (FF 307).

This is the experience of those who knew him closely.

But Clare herself, in the correspondence compiled for the wonderful dialogue with Agnes of Bohemia, offers passages that are the measure of her heart and her luminous life.

In the fourth letter we read:

«And since this vision of him is the splendour of eternal glory, the brightness of everlasting light and a spotless mirror, every day bring your soul, O Queen, bride of Jesus Christ, to this mirror and gaze continually at your face in it, so that you may adorn yourself entirely, inside and out, clothed and surrounded by variety, and be equally adorned with the flowers and garments of all virtues, as befits you, beloved daughter and bride of the supreme King» (FF 2902).

In Francis and Clare, purity had reached such levels that the whole machinery of the world, as St Bonaventure says, was placed at the service of the sanctified senses of these two splendid figures.

In their poor and simple existence, everything became a clear and profound testimony to the praise of God.

Clare of Assisi was, like her master and father, the incarnate splendour of the Holy Word. With her endless clarity, she was an echo of the Risen One, Light from Light.

Francis was salt that made the daily life of the poor and the rich savoury; salt that revolutionised his era and that still today, eight hundred years after his death, gives meaning to the life of every person, questioning them about what they seek and follow.

His madness - as it was considered in his day - proved to be evangelical wisdom.

His salt still attests to the validity of the path embraced in unity with Christ; his choice is the flavour of salt in a sometimes insipid world.

«Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven» (Mt 5:16)

5th Sunday in O.T.  A  (Mt 5:13-16)