Jesus calls for conversion: "unless you are converted, you will all perish in the same way" (Lk 13:5) is a recurring expression.
Francis, humble of heart and simple, in this regard offers an episode that calls for reflection.
"He said that preachers, who often sell their ministry for a penny of vainglory, are to be pitied. And he would sometimes try to heal their swelling with this remedy:
"Why do you glory in the conversion of men, when my simple brothers have converted them by their prayers?"
And indeed he commented thus on the passage that says, "Even the barren one has borne numerous children."
"The barren one is my poor friar, who is not responsible for begetting sons in the Church. But in the judgment he will have given birth to many, for on that day the judge will ascribe to his glory those, whom he now converts by his personal prayers'" (FF 749).
And again:
"There are many friars who [...] in proclaiming the Gospel to some people and to the people, on seeing or hearing that some have been edified by it or converted to penance, become boastful and mount in pride because of results obtained by others' labor.
Indeed, those whom they delude themselves that they have edified or converted to penance by their speeches, it is the Lord who edifies and converts them through the prayers of the holy brothers, even if the latter ignore it: it is God's will, this, that they should not notice it lest they should become insuperbid.
These friars are my knights of the round table, who hide themselves in secluded and uninhabited places to engage more fervently in prayer and meditation, weeping over their own and others' sins" (FF 1624).
The humble and daily conversion of the Minim and his friars has, over time, revolutionized every bilious way of thinking, thanks to the Word of Christ.
Saturday of the 29th wk. in O.T. (Lk 13:1-9)
