Jun 22, 2025 Written by 

Having nowhere to lay one's head

In today's Gospel passage Jesus proposes to those who want to follow him a real poverty of living and ready detachment from the demands of kinship.

Francis of Assisi fell in love with Our Lady Poverty from the very beginning and never separated himself from her, teaching his brothers to do likewise.

The Franciscan Sources offer countless passages on this subject.

We propose a few.

"While in this vale of tears, the blessed father despised the poor riches common to the sons of men and aspired wholeheartedly to poverty, desiring higher glory.

And since he observed that poverty, while it had been intimate to the Son of God, was almost rejected by all the world, he longed to marry her with eternal love.

Therefore, in love with her beauty, in order to adhere more strongly to his bride and be two in one spirit, he not only left father and mother, but detached himself from everything.

From then on he held her in chaste embraces and not for a moment did he accept that he was not her husband.

He repeated to his children that this is the way to perfection, this is the pledge and guarantee of eternal riches.

No one was so greedy for gold, as he was for poverty, nor was anyone more concerned about guarding a treasure, than he was the gospel gem.

In this he was particularly offended, if in the brothers - either at home or outside - he saw anything contrary to poverty.

And indeed, from the beginning of his religious life until his death, he had as his wealth a single cassock, girdle and breeches: he had nothing else.

His poor appearance clearly indicated where he accumulated his wealth.

For this reason, happy, confident, agile in his race, he enjoyed having exchanged for a good worth a hundred times the riches destined to perish" (FF 641).

Convinced that the precarious condition brought one closer to that of Christ in a special way, he blessed almsgiving and considered it characteristic of becoming lesser according to the Gospel.

In the Major Legend:

"Sometimes, exhorting the brothers to seek alms, he used arguments of this kind:

"Go, for in these very last times the Friars Minor have been given on loan to the world, to enable the elect to perform in them the works by which they deserve the praise of the Supreme Judge and that most sweet assurance:

'Whenever you have done it to one of these lesser brothers of mine, you have done it to me'".

"Therefore," he concluded, "it is good to go begging under the title of 'lesser brothers', a title that the Master of truth has indicated in the Gospel with such precision, as the reason for eternal reward for the just" (FF 1128).

And in the Rule of St Clare:

"And so that we might never depart from the most holy poverty which we embraced, nor those which would come after us, shortly before his death he again wrote his last will for us in these words:

"I, little brother Francis, wish to follow the life and poverty of our Most High Lord Jesus Christ and his most holy Mother, and to persevere in it to the end.

And I beseech you, my Lord, and advise you that you live always in this most holy life and poverty.

And be very careful never to depart from it in any way by the teaching or advice of anyone" (FF 2790).

 

«The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head» (Mt 8:20)

 

 

Monday of the 13th wk. in O.T.  (Mt 8,18-22)

66 Last modified on Sunday, 22 June 2025 04:58
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".

Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
A life without love and without truth would not be life. The Kingdom of God is precisely the presence of truth and love and thus is healing in the depths of our being. One therefore understands why his preaching and the cures he works always go together: in fact, they form one message of hope and salvation (Pope Benedict)
Una vita senza amore e senza verità non sarebbe vita. Il Regno di Dio è proprio la presenza della verità e dell’amore e così è guarigione nella profondità del nostro essere. Si comprende, pertanto, perché la sua predicazione e le guarigioni che opera siano sempre unite: formano infatti un unico messaggio di speranza e di salvezza (Papa Benedetto)
His slumber causes us to wake up. Because to be disciples of Jesus, it is not enough to believe God is there, that he exists, but we must put ourselves out there with him; we must also raise our voice with him. Hear this: we must cry out to him. Prayer is often a cry: “Lord, save me!” (Pope Francis)
Il suo sonno provoca noi a svegliarci. Perché, per essere discepoli di Gesù, non basta credere che Dio c’è, che esiste, ma bisogna mettersi in gioco con Lui, bisogna anche alzare la voce con Lui. Sentite questo: bisogna gridare a Lui. La preghiera, tante volte, è un grido: “Signore, salvami!” (Papa Francesco)
Evangelical poverty - it’s appropriate to clarify - does not entail contempt for earthly goods, made available by God to man for his life and for his collaboration in the design of creation (Pope John Paul II)
La povertà evangelica – è opportuno chiarirlo – non comporta disprezzo per i beni terreni, messi da Dio a disposizione dell’uomo per la sua vita e per la sua collaborazione al disegno della creazione (Papa Giovanni Paolo II)
May we obtain this gift [the full unity of all believers in Christ] through the Apostles Peter and Paul, who are remembered by the Church of Rome on this day that commemorates their martyrdom and therefore their birth to life in God. For the sake of the Gospel they accepted suffering and death, and became sharers in the Lord's Resurrection […] Today the Church again proclaims their faith. It is our faith (Pope John Paul II)
Ci ottengano questo dono [la piena unità di tutti i credenti in Cristo] gli Apostoli Pietro e Paolo, che la Chiesa di Roma ricorda in questo giorno, nel quale si fa memoria del loro martirio, e perciò della loro nascita alla vita in Dio. Per il Vangelo essi hanno accettato di soffrire e di morire e sono diventati partecipi della risurrezione del Signore […] Oggi la Chiesa proclama nuovamente la loro fede. E' la nostra fede (Papa Giovanni Paolo II)
Family is the heart of the Church. May an act of particular entrustment to the heart of the Mother of God be lifted up from this heart today (John Paul II)
La famiglia è il cuore della Chiesa. Si innalzi oggi da questo cuore un atto di particolare affidamento al cuore della Genitrice di Dio (Giovanni Paolo II)
The liturgy interprets for us the language of Jesus’ heart, which tells us above all that God is the shepherd (Pope Benedict)
La liturgia interpreta per noi il linguaggio del cuore di Gesù, che parla soprattutto di Dio quale pastore (Papa Benedetto)
In the heart of every man there is the desire for a house [...] My friends, this brings about a question: “How do we build this house?” (Pope Benedict)
Nel cuore di ogni uomo c'è il desiderio di una casa [...] Amici miei, una domanda si impone: "Come costruire questa casa?" (Papa Benedetto)

Due Fuochi due Vie - Vol. 1 Due Fuochi due Vie - Vol. 2 Due Fuochi due Vie - Vol. 3 Due Fuochi due Vie - Vol. 4 Due Fuochi due Vie - Vol. 5 Dialogo e Solstizio I fiammiferi di Maria

duevie.art

don Giuseppe Nespeca

Tel. 333-1329741


Disclaimer

Questo blog non rappresenta una testata giornalistica in quanto viene aggiornato senza alcuna periodicità. Non può pertanto considerarsi un prodotto editoriale ai sensi della legge N°62 del 07/03/2001.
Le immagini sono tratte da internet, ma se il loro uso violasse diritti d'autore, lo si comunichi all'autore del blog che provvederà alla loro pronta rimozione.
L'autore dichiara di non essere responsabile dei commenti lasciati nei post. Eventuali commenti dei lettori, lesivi dell'immagine o dell'onorabilità di persone terze, il cui contenuto fosse ritenuto non idoneo alla pubblicazione verranno insindacabilmente rimossi.