The passage from Luke – Pharisee and tax collector – is very popular. It is a teaching directed at those who feel deeply righteous and look down on their brothers and sisters.

Francis always felt himself to be nothing before God, sinking into his humility like a seed into the earth.

He feared pride as much as the plague and detested it deeply.

Appearing, showing off, being proud were verbs with which he never wanted to have anything to do: he abhorred them.

We read in Celano's First Life:

"One day, filled with admiration for the Lord's mercy in all the blessings bestowed upon him, he wished to know [...] what would become of his life and that of his brothers.

To this end, he withdrew, as he often did, to a place suitable for prayer.

He remained there for a long time, invoking the Ruler of all the earth with fear and trembling, thinking back with bitterness on the years he had spent badly and repeating:

'O God, be merciful to me, a sinner!'" (Sources 363).

He feared all forms of boasting and showing off his works; he detested feeling self-righteous and all kinds of pride.

In the Regola bollata (1223), he said to his friars:

"I admonish and exhort you in the Lord Jesus Christ to guard yourselves against all pride, vainglory, envy, avarice, cares and concerns of this world, slander and murmuring" (Sources 103).

In the Rule of Clare, in paragraph 2809 of the Sources, we find the same statement, as if to highlight the same concern: to keep away from all forms of vainglory.

Francis and Clare perceived themselves as sinners, like the tax collector in the Gospel, who did not dare even to raise his eyes to heaven.

Humility and awareness of their own shortcomings led them to keep a very low profile, without boasting about anything, either before God or before men.

In fact, in the Admonitions (of Francis):

'Blessed is that servant who does not take pride in the good that the Lord says and does through him, more than in the good that he says and does through another. 

The man who wants to receive more from his neighbour than he wants to give of himself to the Lord God sins' (Sources 166).

Again: "By this sign you can recognise the servant of God, if he has the Spirit of the Lord: if, when the Lord does something good through him, his 'flesh' does not take pride in it - for the 'flesh' is always opposed to all good - but rather he still considers himself vile in his own eyes and esteems himself smaller than all other men" (Sources 161).

In the Major Legend:

"Humility, the guardian and ornament of all virtues, had filled the man of God with superabundant goods. In his own estimation, he was nothing but a sinner, while in reality he was the mirror and splendour of holiness in all its forms.

As a wise architect, he wanted to build himself on the foundation of humility, as he had learned from Christ [...]

For this reason, as a disciple of Christ, he strove to diminish himself in his own eyes and in the eyes of others, remembering what the great Master had said:

What is honourable among men is an abomination before God. 

But he also used to repeat this maxim: 'A man is what he is in the eyes of God, and nothing more'.

Consequently, judging it foolish to exalt himself for the esteem of the people of the world, he rejoiced in humiliation and was saddened by praise" (Sources 1103).

«God, be merciful to me, a sinner [...] for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted» (Lc 18,13-14).

Sunday 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, year C  (Lk 18:9-14)

Jesus calls for conversion: «unless you are converted, you will all perish in the same way» (Lk 13:5) is a recurring expression.

Francis, humble of heart and simple, in this regard offers an episode that calls for reflection.

"He said that preachers, who often sell their ministry for a penny of vainglory, are to be pitied. And he would sometimes try to heal their swelling with this remedy:

"Why do you glory in the conversion of men, when my simple brothers have converted them by their prayers?"

And indeed he commented thus on the passage that says, "Even the barren one has borne numerous children."

"The barren one is my poor friar, who is not responsible for begetting sons in the Church. But in the judgment he will have given birth to many, for on that day the judge will ascribe to his glory those, whom he now converts by his personal prayers'" (FF 749).

And again:

"There are many friars who [...] in proclaiming the Gospel to some people and to the people, on seeing or hearing that some have been edified by it or converted to penance, become boastful and mount in pride because of results obtained by others' labor.

Indeed, those whom they delude themselves that they have edified or converted to penance by their speeches, it is the Lord who edifies and converts them through the prayers of the holy brothers, even if the latter ignore it: it is God's will, this, that they should not notice it lest they should become insuperbid.

These friars are my knights of the round table, who hide themselves in secluded and uninhabited places to engage more fervently in prayer and meditation, weeping over their own and others' sins" (FF 1624).

The humble and daily conversion of the Minim and his friars has, over time, revolutionized every bilious way of thinking, thanks to the Word of Christ.

Saturday of the 29th wk. in O.T. (Lk 13:1-9) 

Jesus focuses attention on recognizing the signs of the times, calling for discernment.

Francis, a man of God, was able to understand the signs he encountered on his journey of faith.

For example, when he renounced his paternal inheritance in the presence of the bishop and, stripping himself completely, returned to his earthly father even the clothes he had been wearing, he was later offered a peasant's poor cloak.

Francis' acumen is evident. The Sources narrate:

"He gratefully receiving it, of his own hand drew over it the sign of the cross, with a brick that came into his hand and formed with it a robe suitable for covering a crucified and half-naked man.

Thus, then, the servant of the Most High King was left naked so that he might follow the naked crucified Lord, the object of his love; thus he was fitted with a cross, so that he might entrust his soul to the wood of salvation, saving himself by the cross from the shipwreck of the world" (FF 1043).

And Francis himself became a sign for all humanity, which God wanted to use to lead many souls back to Him.

Indeed, "It remains [...] demonstrated that he was sent among us with the spirit and power of Elijah" (FF 1021).

And "he is symbolized in the figure of the angel who ascends from the East and bears within himself the seal of the living God" (FF 1022).

As a new man, at the beginning of the Letter to the Custodes he thus begins:

"To all the custodians of the Friars Minor to whom this letter will reach, Brother Francis, your servant and little one in the Lord God, wishes health with new signs of heaven and earth, signs that are great and extraordinary with the Lord and are instead held in no account by many religious and other men [...]" (FF 240).

But Francis is the creature marked with the Tau as God's witness:

"Enjoying the company of the Father, Brother Pacifico began to experience sweetnesses, which he had not yet experienced.

In fact, he was able another time to see what remained hidden from others: shortly after, he discerned on Francis' forehead a great sign of Thau*, which adorned with multicolored circlets, presented the beauty of the peacock" (FF 694).

We are called, thinking of the Poor Man of Assisi, to reflect on the sign of the times that the Saint represents.

* Tau is the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. He who bears such a sign on his forehead has already submitted his actions to the power of the cross.

The letter Tau is also found as Francis' signature at the bottom of his letter to Brother Leo.

«Theatricals! The appearance of earth and heaven you know how to discern, but this time how do you not know how to discern?» (Lk 12:56)

Friday, 29th wk. in O.T.  (Lk 12:54-59)

Jesus in his Gospel speaks of a Fire that he came to bring to the earth, a watershed of following and not following. 

Francis, the Fire that the Lord intended, knew it well: the Holy Spirit.

Master and Minister of the Order of Minors, the Spirit of God guided the Poor Man in his every step. 

If we go and consult the Sources we realise this.

"And so, by the disposition of the divine goodness and by the merits and virtue of the Saint, it mercifully and admirably happened that the friend of Christ tried with all his strength to die for Him and could not possibly succeed [...].

On the one hand, he did not lack the merit of the desired martyrdom and, on the other hand, he was spared to be later bestowed with an extraordinary privilege.

That divine Fire that burned in his heart, meanwhile, became more ardent and perfect, so that it would later reverberate more brightly in his flesh.

O truly blessed man, who is not torn by the iron of the tyrant, yet is not deprived of the Glory of resembling the immolated Lamb!" (FF 1175). 

For "the Spirit of the Lord, who had anointed and sent him, assisted his servant Francis wherever he went [...].

His word was like burning fire, penetrating the depths of the heart and filling the minds with admiration" (FF 1210).

Furthermore, the Fioretti (vulgarised in the last quarter of the 14th century by an unknown Tuscan) tell us of Clare of Assisi's desire to dine once with Francis.

The latter, who had always kept away from the matter, was persuaded by his friars to leave such rigidity in this regard and to accommodate her.

So Clare came to St Mary of the Angels and here Francis had the table set, on the ground, with a brother of the Saint and a sister who accompanied Clare.

"And at the first supper Saint Francis began to speak of God so sweetly, so highly, so marvellously, that as the abundance of divine grace descended upon them, they were all enraptured in God.

And while they were thus enraptured with their eyes and hands raised up to heaven, the men from Sciesi and Bettona and those from the surrounding area saw that Saint Mary of the Angels and the whole place and forest [...] were burning brightly, and it seemed as if there was a great fire occupying the church, the place and the forest together" (FF1844).

So much so that the inhabitants of the surroundings ran, worried, to put out the fire that they saw.

But on the spot they found only Francis and Clare and their companions enraptured in God, realising that this had been divine and not material fire, an attestation of the Spirit of God inflaming those holy souls.

Already, benefiting from that Holy Spirit gained from Christ's baptism!

«I have come to cast a fire upon the earth, and how I wish it had already blazed!» (Lk 12:49)

Thursday, 29th wk. in O.T.  (Lk 12:49-53)

Jesus in the Gospel offers the identikit of the faithful servant, who in the absence and while awaiting the return of the master, serves his subordinates, in the sign of God's will. 

And this is what we find in Francis and Clare of Assisi: they faithfully served the Lord in the brothers and sisters entrusted to them, with diligence and compassion.

The Franciscan Sources, Teachers of lived life, document this for us.

In the Admonitions written by the Minim we find an eloquent pedagogy:

"Blessed is the servant who is found as humble among his subjects as when he was among his masters.

Blessed is the servant who always keeps himself under the rod of correction.

Faithful and prudent servant is he who does not delay in punishing himself for all his sins, inwardly through contrition and outwardly through confession and works of reparation" (FF 173).

"And blessed is that servant, who is not placed on high of his own accord and always desires to put himself under the feet of others" (FF 169).

A friar once asked Francis to pray for him because he was afflicted by a temptation.

The Saint replied thus:

"Believe me, son [...] for this very reason I consider you even more a servant of God, and know that the more you are tempted, the more you are dear to me".

He added:

"I tell you truly that no one should consider himself a servant of God until he has passed through trials and tribulations.

The temptation overcome is, in a sense, the ring with which the Lord marries the soul of his servant.

Many flatter themselves about the merits accumulated over long years, and rejoice that they have never sustained trials.

But we know that the Lord has taken their weakness of spirit into account because even before the clash, terror alone would have crushed them.

For difficult combats are reserved only for those with exemplary courage' (FF 704).

And Clare, in her Rule states:

"The abbess then, use towards them [the sisters] such familiarity that they may speak to her and deal with her as mistresses use with their servants, since this is how it must be, that the abbess be the servant of all the sisters" (FF 2808).

And again in the Legend:

"She herself washed the seats of the infirm, she cleansed them herself, with that noble spirit of hers, without shunning filthiness or loathing stench" (FF 3181).

«You also be ready, for in the hour you do not believe the Son of Man is coming» (Lk 12:40)

Wednesday 29th wk. in O.T.  (Lk 12,39-48)

The readiness, the vigilance that Jesus speaks of in the Gospel is very much present in the lives of Francis and Clare.

The Sources speak of this fundamental attitude in the life of the believer, regarding the Poverello.

The Perugian legend recounts that the Little One of God, having ascended to the hermitage of La Verna, stayed there for a Lent in honour of God, the Blessed Virgin and St Michael.

"Having entered the cell where he intended to stay [...] on the first night he asked the Lord to show him some sign by which he could know if it was the divine will that he should remain on Verna.

In fact, Francis, when he stopped somewhere for a period of prayer or went around the world to preach, was always anxious to know God's will, in order to please Him more [...].

Although he enjoyed many joys in that little cell, at night the demons inflicted many molestations on him, as he himself told his companion.

He once confided to him:

«If the brethren knew how many afflictions the demons inflict on me, every one of them would be moved with pity and great compassion towards me»" (FF 1649).

Clare 'the Christian' stood out for her vigilance in the spiritual life, as the same papal document Clara Claris praeclara recalls:

"Assiduous also in her vigils and intent on prayer, in this above all she spent the greater part of the day and night" (FF 3300).

In the lives of Francis and Clare of Assisi "being ready" had created the prerequisites that make it possible for a person to respond to God's prevenient love for them.

He had tempered them well, allowing Grace to act in them

in every event.

Tuesday 29th wk. in O.T.  (Lk 12,35-38)

Today's Gospel from Luke emphasises the greed of a rich man who thinks of enlarging his storehouses because of abundant harvests, neglecting his soul and his relationship with God, who finds him unprepared before a sudden death.

Instead of enriching himself with God, he foolishly thinks of accumulating for himself.

Francis of Assisi, on the other hand, donated all he possessed to the poor and set out to give back to God the little he had in exchange for the much he would receive.

He was in love with Our Lady Poverty; he married her and esteemed her because she was chosen by the Son of God, who had nowhere to lay his head.

He was so evangelically attracted to her that he took pity when he met creatures poorer than himself.

The Sources recount:

"It happened to him, during a journey, to meet a poor man. Seeing his nakedness, he was saddened in his heart and said to his companion in a voice of lamentation:

"The misery of this man has brought us great shame; for we, as our only wealth, have chosen poverty: and behold, it shines brighter in him than in us" (FF 1126).

And Bernard, a citizen of Assisi, who later became his companion in the following of Christ, was advised to leave his possessions, considered a false feud.

But to be sure, "when morning came, they entered a church and, having prayed devoutly, opened the book of the Gospel, willing to carry out the first advice offered them.

They opened the book, and Christ manifested his advice in these words: «If you want to be perfect, go, sell all you possess and give to the poor». They repeat the gesture, and the passage occurs: «Take nothing for the journey». A third time again, and they read: «Whoever wishes to come after me, let him deny himself».

Without delay Bernard performed everything and did not omit a single iota. Many others, in a short time, freed themselves from the mordacious cares of the world and, under the guidance of Francis, returned to the infinite good in the true homeland. But it would be too long to say how each one achieved the prize of the divine call" (FF 601).

Clare herself had requested and obtained from Pope Gregory IX the Privilege of Poverty (17 September 1228) in written form.

This document assured the Poor Sisters of St Damian's the right to live without any property in this world, following in the footsteps of the One who, for our sake, became poor and the Way, the Truth and the Life.

In the same Rule, concerning those who wanted to enter the Monastery to follow Christ, Clare says:

"And if she is suitable, let the word of the holy Gospel be told her: that she should go and sell all her possessions and endeavour to distribute them to the poor. If she cannot do this, her good will suffices" (FF 2757).

And in his first letter to Blessed Agnes of Prague (his spiritual daughter) he writes:

"O blessed poverty! For those who love you and embrace you procure eternal riches!

O holy poverty! To those who possess and desire you God promises the kingdom of heaven, and infallibly offers eternal glory and blessed life.

O pious poverty! Thee the Lord Jesus Christ [...] deigned to embrace in preference to everything else" (FF 2864).

«So [happens to] those who accumulate treasures for themselves and do not enrich for God» (Lk 12:21)

Monday 29th wk. in O.T.  (Lk 12,13-21)

Chapter eighteen of Luke recounts the parable of the judge and the importunate widow, emphasising the value of personal prayer that is engaging, confident and constant.

Those who know a little about the Poor Man of St. Mary of the Porziuncola know that continuous prayer was like oxygen for his lungs.

Various passages from the Sources describe how much Francis loved it and sought out places where he could give free rein to his big heart.

"He often conversed aloud with his Lord: he gave account to the Judge, he implored the Father, he spoke to his Friend, he joked amiably with his Spouse.

And in reality, in order to offer God all the fibres of his heart in a manifold holocaust, he considered in various ways the One who is supremely One [...]

He directed his whole mind and affection to that one thing he asked of God: he was not so much a man who prayed as he was himself transformed into a living prayer" (FF 682).

Celano informs us in the First Life:

"His safe haven was prayer, not of a few minutes, or empty, or pretentious, but deeply devout, humble and prolonged as much as possible. If he began it in the evening, he could hardly tear himself away from it in the morning. He was always intent on prayer, when he walked and when he sat, when he ate and when he drank. At night he would go alone to abandoned and remote churches to pray; thus, with the grace of the Lord, he managed to triumph over many fears and spiritual anxieties" (FF 445).

Confirming his ardent faith in God, he expresses himself thus in the Leggenda Maggiore:

«I, small and simple, inexperienced in speaking, have received the grace of prayer more than that of preaching.

In prayer, moreover, one either acquires or accumulates graces; in preaching, on the other hand, one distributes the gifts received from heaven [...] In prayer we speak to God, we listen to him, and we remain among the Angels» (FF 1204).

His faith grew day by day, because it was imbued with divine relationship, certain of being heard by grace and not by merit, thus becoming a giant herald and witness of the Word.

«But will God not do justice to his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?» (Lk 18:7)

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, year C  (Lk 18:1-8)