Mar 22, 2025 Written by 

Running to rise

In his young life, Francis had encountered the paternal and maternal compassion of the Lord.

After a life spent in cheerful and somewhat dissolute brigades, he was thunderstruck by the Father of Mercies or, as he called him, the Great Helmsman.

Touched by Grace, after his evident change of mentality, before the Crucifix of San Damiano his vocation-mission was revealed to him.

He renounced everything, even his earthly father, to be free to go where the Father in heaven sent him.

The waste of his youthful years translated him into boundless generosity towards lepers and the poor.

The Blessing Embrace of the Almighty had imprinted him with a more solid and precious human and spiritual character.

All his life he wept for his sins, thinking of the Passion of Jesus Christ, who died and rose again for all his lost children.

In the Sources ('Vita seconda' by his biographer Celano) we find a moving passage:

"Once he heard that a sick friar had a desire to eat some grapes. He accompanied him to a vineyard and, sitting down under a vine, to infuse him with courage, he himself began to eat first' (FF 762).

Mercy for the misfortunes of others is the Franciscan foundation of the spiritual journey.

And again:

"He used to say that it is the duty of the superior, a father and not a tyrant, to prevent the occasion of guilt and not to allow those to fall who would then find it difficult to get up again, once they have fallen.

Oh, how worthy of compassion is our foolishness!

Not only do we not lift or support the weak, but we sometimes push them to fall.

We judge it of no importance to take away from the Supreme Shepherd a sheep, for whom on the Cross he uttered a loud cry with tears.

But quite differently didst thou, holy father, prefer to amend the errant and not to lose them!

[...] the oil and the wine, the rod and the staff, the zeal and the indulgence, the burning and the anointing, the prison and the womb, everything has its time.

All these things require the God of vengeance and the Father of mercies: but he prefers mercy to sacrifice' (FF 763).

 

Clare herself, a loving mother, had received a generous heart full of compassion, especially towards her needy sisters.

The Sources, through the Rule, attest that as the leader of the community, the First Plant of Francis did not allow herself to be imprisoned by the law, but unmistakable Charity reigned over all.

We read in fact:

"[The abbess] console the afflicted. May she still be the last refuge of the afflicted so that, should the remedies of health be lacking in her, the disease of despair may not prevail in the sick" (FF 2778).

 

Francis and Clare, transformed by the Father's mercy, treasured the gift they had received and poured it out freely to all creatures. Never caged by the immovability of the codes, they were witnesses of that singular welcome that recovers those who have erred and reintroduces them into the new life of the risen.

"...Where there is mercy and discretion,

there is neither superfluity nor harshness" (FF 177).

 

«While he was still a long way off, his father saw him, had compassion, and ran to his neck and kissed him wide open» (Lk 15:20)

 

 

Sunday 4th in Lent (C)  (Lk 15:1-3.11-32)

129 Last modified on Saturday, 22 March 2025 05:17
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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Knowing God, knowing Christ, always means loving him, becoming, in a sense, one with him by virtue of that knowledge and love. Our life becomes authentic and true life, and thus eternal life, when we know the One who is the source of all being and all life (Pope Benedict)
Conoscere Dio, conoscere Cristo significa sempre anche amarLo, diventare in qualche modo una cosa sola con Lui in virtù del conoscere e dell’amare. La nostra vita diventa quindi una vita autentica, vera e così anche eterna, se conosciamo Colui che è la fonte di ogni essere e di ogni vita (Papa Benedetto)
Christians are a priestly people for the world. Christians should make the living God visible to the world, they should bear witness to him and lead people towards him. When we speak of this task in which we share by virtue of our baptism, it is no reason to boast (Pope Benedict)
I cristiani sono popolo sacerdotale per il mondo. I cristiani dovrebbero rendere visibile al mondo il Dio vivente, testimoniarLo e condurre a Lui. Quando parliamo di questo nostro comune incarico, in quanto siamo battezzati, ciò non è una ragione per farne un vanto (Papa Benedetto)
Because of this unique understanding, Jesus can present himself as the One who reveals the Father with a knowledge that is the fruit of an intimate and mysterious reciprocity (John Paul II)
In forza di questa singolare intesa, Gesù può presentarsi come il rivelatore del Padre, con una conoscenza che è frutto di un'intima e misteriosa reciprocità (Giovanni Paolo II)
Yes, all the "miracles, wonders and signs" of Christ are in function of the revelation of him as Messiah, of him as the Son of God: of him who alone has the power to free man from sin and death. Of him who is truly the Savior of the world (John Paul II)
Sì, tutti i “miracoli, prodigi e segni” di Cristo sono in funzione della rivelazione di lui come Messia, di lui come Figlio di Dio: di lui che, solo, ha il potere di liberare l’uomo dal peccato e dalla morte. Di lui che veramente è il Salvatore del mondo (Giovanni Paolo II)
It is known that faith is man's response to the word of divine revelation. The miracle takes place in organic connection with this revealing word of God. It is a "sign" of his presence and of his work, a particularly intense sign (John Paul II)
È noto che la fede è una risposta dell’uomo alla parola della rivelazione divina. Il miracolo avviene in legame organico con questa parola di Dio rivelante. È un “segno” della sua presenza e del suo operare, un segno, si può dire, particolarmente intenso (Giovanni Paolo II)
That was not the only time the father ran. His joy would not be complete without the presence of his other son. He then sets out to find him and invites him to join in the festivities (cf. v. 28). But the older son appeared upset by the homecoming celebration. He found his father’s joy hard to take; he did not acknowledge the return of his brother: “that son of yours”, he calls him (v. 30). For him, his brother was still lost, because he had already lost him in his heart (Pope Francis)
Ma quello non è stato l’unico momento in cui il Padre si è messo a correre. La sua gioia sarebbe incompleta senza la presenza dell’altro figlio. Per questo esce anche incontro a lui per invitarlo a partecipare alla festa (cfr v. 28). Però, sembra proprio che al figlio maggiore non piacessero le feste di benvenuto; non riesce a sopportare la gioia del padre e non riconosce il ritorno di suo fratello: «quel tuo figlio», dice (v. 30). Per lui suo fratello continua ad essere perduto, perché lo aveva ormai perduto nel suo cuore (Papa Francesco)

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