To those who murmured to Him, Jesus responds with the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin.
There are many passages in the Franciscan Sources that highlight Francis' compassion and joy for others.
In this Franciscan treasure chest, we read that "God, in fact, had infused in the soul of the young Francis a feeling of generous compassion, which, growing with him [...] had filled his heart with goodness; so much so that even then, not deaf to the Gospel, he proposed to give to anyone who asked him, especially if he asked for the love of God" (FF 1028).
(FF 1028) Again: "And because fear makes one understand the lesson, the hand of the Lord came upon him [...] struck his body with a long infirmity [...]".
When he had regained his physical strength, he procured, as was his custom, decent clothes.
Once he met a knight, noble but poor and badly dressed, and, pitying his misery with affectionate pity, he immediately undressed and made the other put on his clothes.
Thus, with a single gesture, he performed a twofold act of pity, for he hid the shame of a noble knight and relieved the misery of a poor man" (FF 1030).
"What man among you having a hundred sheep and having lost one of them does not abandon the ninety-nine in the wilderness and set out for the lost one until he has found it?" (Lk 15:4).
Thursday of the 31st wk. in O.T. (Lk 15:1-10)