Matthew highlights Jesus’ reply to the leaders who were trying to test him regarding the greatest commandment.
And the Lord takes them by surprise: to love God with all one’s being, and one’s neighbour as oneself, is the very best one can do.
Francis of Assisi was filled with a profound love for God and for his neighbour, for, by grace, he had come to understand that the whole Gospel was contained within these two commandments.
The Sources bear clear witness to this.
“Among the other words that frequently recurred in his speech, he could not hear the expression «love of God» without feeling a certain emotion. Indeed, as soon as he heard the words «love of God», he would be stirred, moved and set ablaze, as if the inner string of his heart were being plucked by the plectrum of the voice.
«It is a noble act of generosity - he would repeat - to offer this wealth in exchange for alms, and those who value it less than money are the most foolish of all».
For his part, he unfailingly observed until his death the resolution he had made whilst still in the world: never to turn away any poor person who asked of him for the love of God.
Once, a poor man asked him for alms for the love of God. As he had nothing, the Saint secretly took a pair of scissors and prepared to cut up his meagre habit.
And he would certainly have done so had he not been discovered by the friars, to whom, however, he ordered that the poor man be provided for in some other way” (FF 784).
“The power of love had made Francis a brother to all other creatures; it is therefore no wonder that the charity of Christ made him even more a brother to those who are endowed with the image of the Creator.
He used to say, in fact, that nothing is more important than the salvation of souls, and he often illustrated this by pointing out that the Only-Begotten Son of God deigned to be hung on the cross for the sake of souls.
Hence stemmed his dedication to prayer, his travelling from place to place to preach, and his great concern to set a good example.
He did not consider himself a friend of Christ unless he loved the souls whom Christ had loved […]
But above all else, he loved the friars with a particularly intimate love, with all the affection of his heart, as members of a special family united by their share in the eternal inheritance” (FF 758).
Francis knew that fraternal love was proof of the love shown to God in all its concreteness.
30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, year A (Mt 22:34–40)
