Feb 28, 2025 Written by 

Minority and mirrors

Levi's call and sharing the table with him produced scandal among the Pharisees, but Jesus taught them that it is the sick who need the doctor!

 

Francis and Clare saw in their vocation and that of the brothers and sisters who followed them an attractive and fundamental appointment in their existence.

Through the Call, God was realising a secret gift in them, far beyond the expectations of a petty life.

Regarding Francis, we read in the Sources:

As he was passing near the church of St Damian, he was inspired to enter it. He went there, and began to pray fervently before the image of the Crucifix, who spoke to him with moving goodness:

"Francis, do you not see that my house is falling down? Go, then, and restore it".

Trembling and astonished, the young man replied:

"I will do it gladly, Lord".

However, he had misunderstood; he thought it was about that church which, because of its antiquity, threatened imminent ruin.

At those words of Christ he became immensely happy and radiant; he felt in his soul that it was really the Crucified One who had given him the message.

As he left the church, he found a priest sitting nearby, and putting his hand in his purse, he offered him money, saying:

"Sir, I beg you to buy oil to make a lamp burn before that Crucifix. When this money is finished, I will bring you more, according to need" (FF 1411).

The Poverello, considering minority as a specific vocation of the Friar, was worried because "he saw that some ardently desired the offices of the Order, of which they made themselves unworthy, apart from anything else, even for the mere ambition to govern. And he said that these were not Friars Minor, but had forgotten their vocation and had fallen from glory" (FF 729).

Clare, regarding the vocation of the sisters residing at San Damiano, also expressed herself in her Testament as follows:

"The Lord himself has placed us as a model, as an example and mirror not only for other men, but also for our sisters, those whom the Lord himself has called to follow our vocation, so that they too may shine as a mirror and example for all those who live in the world" (FF 2829).

 

«I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to conversion» (Lk 5:32)

 

 

Saturday after the Ashes  (Lk 5:27-32)

134 Last modified on Friday, 28 February 2025 04:40
Teresa Girolami

Teresa Girolami è laureata in Materie letterarie e Teologia. Ha pubblicato vari testi, fra cui: "Pellegrinaggio del cuore" (Ed. Piemme); "I Fiammiferi di Maria - La Madre di Dio in prosa e poesia"; "Tenerezza Scalza - Natura di donna"; co-autrice di "Dialogo e Solstizio".

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St Teresa of Avila wrote: «the last thing we should do is to withdraw from our greatest good and blessing, which is the most sacred humanity of Our Lord Jesus Christ» (cf. The Interior Castle, 6, ch. 7). Therefore, only by believing in Christ, by remaining united to him, may the disciples, among whom we too are, continue their permanent action in history [Pope Benedict]
Santa Teresa d’Avila scrive che «non dobbiamo allontanarci da ciò che costituisce tutto il nostro bene e il nostro rimedio, cioè dalla santissima umanità di nostro Signore Gesù Cristo» (Castello interiore, 7, 6). Quindi solo credendo in Cristo, rimanendo uniti a Lui, i discepoli, tra i quali siamo anche noi, possono continuare la sua azione permanente nella storia [Papa Benedetto]
Just as he did during his earthly existence, so today the risen Jesus walks along the streets of our life and sees us immersed in our activities, with all our desires and our needs. In the midst of our everyday circumstances he continues to speak to us; he calls us to live our life with him, for only he is capable of satisfying our thirst for hope (Pope Benedict)
Come avvenne nel corso della sua esistenza terrena, anche oggi Gesù, il Risorto, passa lungo le strade della nostra vita, e ci vede immersi nelle nostre attività, con i nostri desideri e i nostri bisogni. Proprio nel quotidiano continua a rivolgerci la sua parola; ci chiama a realizzare la nostra vita con Lui, il solo capace di appagare la nostra sete di speranza (Papa Benedetto)
Truth involves our whole life. In the Bible, it carries with it the sense of support, solidity, and trust, as implied by the root 'aman, the source of our liturgical expression Amen. Truth is something you can lean on, so as not to fall. In this relational sense, the only truly reliable and trustworthy One – the One on whom we can count – is the living God. Hence, Jesus can say: "I am the truth" (Jn 14:6). We discover and rediscover the truth when we experience it within ourselves in the loyalty and trustworthiness of the One who loves us. This alone can liberate us: "The truth will set you free" (Jn 8:32) [Pope Francis]
La verità ha a che fare con la vita intera. Nella Bibbia, porta con sé i significati di sostegno, solidità, fiducia, come dà a intendere la radice ‘aman, dalla quale proviene anche l’Amen liturgico. La verità è ciò su cui ci si può appoggiare per non cadere. In questo senso relazionale, l’unico veramente affidabile e degno di fiducia, sul quale si può contare, ossia “vero”, è il Dio vivente. Ecco l’affermazione di Gesù: «Io sono la verità» (Gv 14,6). L’uomo, allora, scopre e riscopre la verità quando la sperimenta in sé stesso come fedeltà e affidabilità di chi lo ama. Solo questo libera l’uomo: «La verità vi farà liberi» (Gv 8,32) [Papa Francesco]
God approached man in love, even to the total gift, crossing the threshold of our ultimate solitude, throwing himself into the abyss of our extreme abandonment, going beyond the door of death (Pope Benedict)
Dio si è avvicinato all’uomo nell’amore, fino al dono totale, a varcare la soglia della nostra ultima solitudine, calandosi nell’abisso del nostro estremo abbandono, oltrepassando la porta della morte (Papa Benedetto)
And our passage too, which we received sacramentally in Baptism: for this reason Baptism was called, in the first centuries, the Illumination (cf. Saint Justin, Apology I, 61, 12), because it gave you the light, it “let it enter” you. For this reason, in the ceremony of Baptism we give a lit blessed candle, a lit candle to the mother and father, because the little boy or the little girl is enlightened (Pope Francis)

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