Jesus reminds us that those who are considered worthy of the future life do not take a wife or husband.
In this regard, the Sources have a very significant episode that gives us pause for thought.
"In the hermitage of the friars of Sarteano, the evil one, who always envies the spiritual progress of the sons of God, even had this presumption.
Seeing that the saint was continually attending to his sanctification, and did not neglect today's gain satisfied with that of the previous day, one night, while he was praying in his little cell, he called him three times: 'Francis, Francis.
"What do you want?"
And that one: "There is no sinner in the world who does not obtain God's mercy if he repents. But whoever causes his own death by rigorous penance will not find mercy in eternity".
The saint immediately recognised, by revelation, the cunning of the enemy, as he sought to induce him to lukewarmness [...].
Seeing that in this way he had not succeeded in hiding the snare, he prepared another, that is, a carnal stimulus [...].
As soon as the Father noticed (such a temptation), he stripped off his robe and scourged himself with extreme harshness with a piece of rope.
"Brother Donkey,' he exclaims, 'this is how you must submit, this is how you must suffer the scourge! The cassock is the Order's, it is not lawful to misappropriate it [...]".
But since he saw that with the blows of discipline the temptation would not go away [...] he went out into the garden and plunged naked into the deep snow.
Then taking the snow with his bare hands he clutched it and made seven piles of it in the shape of dummies; he then placed himself before them and began to speak to the body thus:
"Behold, this eldest is thy wife, these four, two are thy sons and two thy daughters; the other two are the servant and the maid, necessary for the service."
"Make haste, they must all be clothed because they are dying of cold. If then this manifold concern is a burden to you, serve the Lord with diligence."
"[...] and the Saint returned to his cell glorifying God" (FF 703).
"But those who will be judged worthy to have part in that other world and in the resurrection of the dead shall neither take a wife nor a husband" (Lk 20:35).
Saturday, 33rd wk. in O.T. (Lk 20:27-40)
