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 tailored to, 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)

In today’s Gospel, the evangelist Matthew addresses the issue of paying taxes to the Emperor of Rome. 

The Pharisees and Herodians, seeking to trap Jesus, put a question to him:

«Is it lawful to pay tax to Caesar, or not?» (Mt 22:17).

But the Lord replies with that wisdom which comes from on high and is characteristic of him:

«Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s» (Mt 22:21).

In the Franciscan Sources, the ‘Little One of Assisi’ demonstrates throughout his life the wisdom of a poor man.

At the beginning of his conversion, he gave his money to a priest so that the church might be repaired, realising that in this way he would be giving back to God what was His, thereby practising distributive justice.

‘The new knight of Christ approaches the church, and seeing it in such a wretched state, his heart is moved with compassion.

He enters with reverential awe and, encountering a poor priest there, with great faith kisses his consecrated hands, offers him the money he carries with him, and reveals his intentions.

Astounded by this sudden conversion, the priest can scarcely believe what his ears are hearing and refuses to take the money, fearing it is a prank.

Indeed, he had seen him, so to speak, the day before revelling amongst relatives and friends, surpassing everyone in folly.

But Francis insisted and repeatedly implored him to believe his words, and begged him to take him in to serve the Lord alongside him.

And finally, the priest allowed him to stay with him, whilst continuing to refuse the money, for fear of his relatives.

So Francis, a true despiser of wealth, threw it out of a small window, caring no more for it than for dust.

For he longed to possess the wisdom that is better than gold and to obtain the prudence that is more precious than silver’ (FF 335).

After so much debauchery, he wished to give things their proper weight and to give to God what is His and to people what is due to them.

And the sources continue to illustrate the dynamics of his life in truth:

“Francis, supremely in love with God, had a great contempt for all earthly things, but above all he detested money.

He began to despise it in a very special way right from the start of his conversion and urged his followers to flee from it as though it were the devil himself.

He had advised them to treat money in the same way as dung […]” (FF 651).

Just as Jesus takes those present by surprise with his incisive reply, so Francis, following in his footsteps, surprises everyone with a new way of life characterised by truth and justice.

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (year A)  (Mt 22:15–21)

In this Lucan Gospel passage, Jesus emphasises the Holy Spirit, who guides and enlightens in the most diverse and difficult situations.

S. Teresa of Avila, in one of her prayers, said:

«O Holy Spirit, grant that my soul may be wholly of God».

In the Franciscan Sources we see, then, the Poor Man of Assisi, a man of God, firmly believing in the Holy Spirit, who was considered the Minister General of the Order, as well as the One who inspired and spoke through the simple.

He was always listening to the Holy Spirit who was never to be offended and his holy operation that accompanies every good work.

"And since he made many revelations, which transcended the capacities of the human intellect, the brothers had to recognise that the Spirit of the Lord had rested in all its fullness upon his servant Francis: therefore the surest thing for them was to follow his doctrine and his life" (FF 1071).

He did not fear, for "The Spirit of the Lord, who had anointed and sent him, assisted his servant Francis wherever he went; Christ himself, the power and wisdom of God, assisted him [...].

It was, his word, like a burning fire, penetrating the depths of the heart" (FF 1210).

He believed so profoundly in the "instruction" and defence of the Spirit of God in every eventuality that he clearly testified to this in that marvellous prayer that concludes the letter to the whole Order:

«Almighty, eternal, just and merciful God, grant to us wretches to do, by the power of your love, what we know you want, and to always want what pleases you, so that, inwardly purified, inwardly enlightened and kindled by the fire of the Holy Spirit we may follow in the footsteps of your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and, with the help of your grace alone, come to you, O Most High, who in perfect Trinity and simple Unity live and reign glorious, Almighty God for ever and ever. Amen».

«And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven» (Lk 12:10).

Saturday, 28th wk. in O.T.  (Lk 12:8-12)

In chapter twelve of Luke's Gospel, Jesus warns against hypocrisy, whose father is the one whom St Teresa of Avila called 'a liar, a hypocrite, a dark one'.

We must fear him, says the Lord, who is capable of casting us into Gehenna.

When Francis of Assisi, by grace, manages to convert and tame the wolf of Gubbio, he then reminds the inhabitants of that place of something crucial:

«The flame of hell, which will last eternally for the damned, is more dangerous than the rage of the wolf, which can only kill the body. How much more should we fear the mouth of hell, when such a multitude is kept in fear and trembling by the mouth of a small animal. Return, therefore, dearest ones, to God and do worthy penance for your sins, and God will deliver you from the wolf in the present and from the fires of hell in the future» (Fioretti. FF 1852).

Likewise, the humble Francis kept all forms of hypocrisy away from his life.

The Sources tell us a significant episode.

"One winter, the Saint had his poor body covered with only one tunic, reinforced with very coarse patches.

The guardian*, who was also his companion, bought a fox skin and brought it to him, saying: Father, you suffer from spleen and stomach problems: I beg your charity in the Lord to allow this skin to be sewn inside your tunic. If you do not want the whole thing, at least accept a part of it to cover your stomach.

Francis replied:

«If you want me to wear this fur under my tunic, let me wear another one of the same size on the outside. Sewn on the outside, it will be a sign of the skin hidden underneath».

The friar listened, but he was not of the same opinion [...] In the end, the guardian gave in and had one piece of fur sewn onto the other, so that Francis would not appear different on the outside than he was on the inside.

What an example of consistency, identical in life and words! The same inside and out, as a subject and as a superior!

You desired no glory, either external or private, because you glorified only the Lord" (FF 714).

* The guardian was brother Angelo from Rieti.

Friday, 28th wk. in Ordinary Time  (Lk 12:1-7)

Jesus' rebuke of the doctors of the Law recalls the persecution and killing reserved for the prophets sent by God.

The palm of martyrdom will speak for them, as will the responsibility of those who built their tombs, recalling that the blood shed will be called to account.

In the Sources we find passages that illustrate how Francis himself expressed himself regarding the persecution of his brethren:

"O friars all, let us reflect carefully that the Lord says:

«Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you», since our Lord Jesus Christ, whose footsteps we must follow, called his betrayer a friend and offered himself willingly to his crucifiers" (FF 56).

And in the 21st chapter of the Regola non bollata we see that the Poor Man of Assisi also pronounces his "woe" concerning those who do works of darkness.

Indeed, we read:

"Woe to those who do not die in penance, / for they will be sons of the devil/ whose works they do» (FF 55).

It is aligned with the «woe to those who die in mortal sin» in the Canticle of Brother Sun (FF 263), testifying to those who do not enter and do not bring into the Kingdom of Heaven by their diabolical conduct.

Francis "artist and Master of evangelical life" as Celano defines him (1Cel 37) instead - like his friars - preferred to stay where there was suffering.

The Sources still attest:

"They loved patience so much that they preferred to be where there was persecution to be suffered than where, their holiness being known, they could enjoy the favours of the world.

Often insulted, vilified, beaten, stripped, tied up, imprisoned, they endured everything manfully, without seeking any defence; from their lips only a song of praise and thanksgiving came forth" (FF 390).

And Clare echoes him in her Testament:

«Blessed [...] are those to whom it is granted to walk in this way and to persevere in it to the end» (FF 2850).

Due to the fact that the persecutors will be asked to account for the blood of the prophets, the persecuted will not speak: the palm of martyrdom lived will say for them.

«I will send them prophets and apostles, and they will kill and persecute» (Lk 11:49)

Thursday, 28th wk. in O.T.  (Lk 11:47-54)

Enunciating the various woes addressed to the Pharisees and teachers of the Law, Jesus emphasises how they left aside justice and the love of God. 

Francis was particularly sensitive to these human-divine realities. 

Indeed, there are extraordinary passages in the Sources to support this.

In the Regola non bollata (1221) the Poor Man expresses himself thus:

"The spirit of the flesh [...] is much concerned with possessing words, but little with putting them into practice, and seeks not the interior religiosity and holiness of the Spirit, but wants and desires to have a religiosity and holiness that appears outside to men.

It is of these that the Lord says: «Verily I say unto you, they have received their reward».

The Spirit of the Lord, on the other hand, desires the flesh to be mortified [...] and seeks humility and patience and the pure and simple peace of the Spirit; and always desires above all the divine fear and divine Wisdom and divine love of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

This holy love shines out in the daily life of Francis in countless episodes. 

Let us recount what happened at Celle di Cortona.

"Francis was wearing a new cloak, which the friars had procured just for him, when a poor man arrived, mourning the death of his wife and his family left in misery.

«I give you this cloak for the love of God - the Saint told him - on the condition that you do not sell it to anyone unless they pay you handsomely for it».

The friars immediately ran to take the cloak and prevent it from being given away.

But the poor man, made bold by the Saint's gaze, set about defending it with hands and nails as his own.

In the end, the friars redeemed the cloak and the poor man left with the price he had received" (FF 675).

On the subject of justice Francis expressed himself thus:

«The Saint [...] loved holy simplicity in others, daughter of Grace, true sister of wisdom, mother of justice [...] It is the simplicity that in all divine laws leaves the tortuousness of words, ornaments and tinsel, as well as ostentations and curiosities to those who want to lose themselves, and seek not the bark but the marrow, not the shell but the kernel, not many things but the much, the supreme and stable Good» (FF 775).

And again, on his way to the Spoletana valley, he would discuss with his companions on how to observe the Rule: "on how to progress in all holiness and justice before God, on how to sanctify oneself and be an example to others" (FF 1065).

He was so inflamed by the love of God that his innermost being vibrated like a plectrum:

«To offer, in exchange for alms, the precious patrimony of the love of God - so he affirmed - is noble prodigality [...] since only the inappreciable price of divine love is capable of buying the kingdom of heaven. And much one must love the love of Him who loved us much» (FF 1161).

«But woe to you, Pharisees, because you pay the tithe of mint and rue and every herbage, and neglect the judgment and love of God» (Lk 11:42)

Wednesday, 28th wk. in O.T.  (Lk 11:42-46)

Francis, a disciple of Jesus, kept away from his life the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, the preoccupation with appearances on the outside without caring about the greed rooted in his heart. 

He, who had married Our Lady Poverty, was happy to give to his neighbour and for him all was world.

In this sense the Sources come to our aid, which admirably illustrate what dwelt within the Servant of God.

"Francis, the Poor Man of Christ, while on his way from Rieti to Siena for the cure of his eyes, was crossing the plain near Rocca Campiglia, in the company of a doctor fond of the Order.

And three poor women appeared along the road as the Saint passed by. They were so similar in stature, in age, in appearance, that you would have called them three copies modelled on a single mould.

When Francis was near, they, bowing their heads reverently, addressed this singular greeting to him:

«Welcome, Lady Poverty!».

The Saint was immediately filled with unspeakable joy, for there was no greeting more pleasing to him than the one they had addressed to him.

Thinking at first that the women were really poor, he turned to the doctor who accompanied him:

«Please, for the love of God, let me give something to those poor women».

The man was very quick to take out his bag and, leaping from the saddle, gave each one a few coins. 

They rode on a little further along the road they had taken, when all of a sudden, looking around, the friar and the doctor saw no shadow of women in the whole plain.

Greatly astonished, they added this fact to the wonders of the Lord, for evidently it could not have been women, those who had flown away more swiftly than birds" (FF 680). Further, we read:

"His charity extended with a brother's heart not only to men in need but also to animals [...].

He had, however, a special tenderness for lambs, because in Scripture Jesus Christ is often and rightly compared for his humility to the meek lamb' (FF 455).

Free from formalism, the Poor Man of Christ when he came across lambs that were being led to slaughter would buy them in order to save them.

He gave as alms what he had received in his heart from his God: compassion.

And Jesus' warning was not directed at them:

«Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and tray, but your inside is full of robbery and wickedness» (Lk 11:39).

This admonition concerns rather those who take glory from one another, neglecting that which pleases God: to give in alms what has been given to us.

For he who is pure everything is pure.

Tuesday 28th wk. in O.T.  (Lk 11,37-41)

In today's passage to the crowds thronging in search of signs Jesus replies that only one sign will be given to them: that of the prophet Jonah.

Francis of Assisi was a man of God attentive to signs; but for him the sign of the signs through which God spoke to him was Jesus Crucified and Risen, He who three days and three nights remained in the tomb and rose again to give us true Life.

His profound adherence to the Cross was so evident that even the poor garment he wore was in the shape of a cross.

We read in the Sources:

"This herald of God, worthy to be loved by Christ, imitated by us [...] had from Heaven the mission to call men to weep, to lament [...] and to imprint with the sign of the penitential cross and with a cross-shaped garment, the Tau on the foreheads of those who groan and weep.

But he then confirms in it, with its incontestable truth, the testimony of that seal that made him like the living God, that is, like Christ Crucified.

A seal that was imprinted in his body not by the work of nature or the skill of an artificer, but rather by the marvellous power of the Spirit of the living God" (FF 1022).

That sign which one of his disciples converted by Francis and later became Brother Pacifico "saw with his own bodily eyes: Francis marked in the form of a cross by two swords, placed crosswise, very bright: one stretched from his head to his feet, the other, transversely, from one hand to the other, at the height of his breast.

The Crucifix and the Cross was for him the sign of Jonah who turned his life upside down at San Damiano:

"the image of Christ Crucified from the painting spoke to him, moving his lips" (FF 593).

"From that moment, the Compassion of the Crucified One became fixed in his holy soul and, as can be piously believed, the venerable Stigmata of the Passion, though not yet in the flesh, became deeply impressed in his heart" (FF 594).

«This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, and no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah» (Lk 11:29)

Monday, 28th wk. in O.T.  (Lk 11,29-32)

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus presents the parable of the wedding banquet as a metaphor for the Kingdom of Heaven.

The invited guests show no interest in attending the king’s banquet, so the servants are sent out to gather whoever they find on the streets – but only those wearing wedding garments.

«For many are called, but few are chosen» (Mt 22:14).

Let us now consider how the Poverello lived out all this, according to the accounts in the Sources.

Enamoured of Lady Poverty, Francis of Assisi earnestly invited her to take a meal with the friars [cf. Sacrum Commercium Beati Francisci cum Domina Paupertate]:

“Then they led her to the place where the table had been set. When she arrived, she looked around and, seeing nothing but three or four loaves of barley and bran bread placed on the grass, was filled with great wonder” (FF 2020).

She then “ordered them all to gather together and addressed them with words of life, saying:

«May you be blessed, my sons, by the Lord God who created heaven and earth, for you have welcomed me into your home with such an abundance of charity that, being with you today, it has seemed to me as though I were in the Lord’s paradise […]

This is what I have sought so long; now I behold it […] for on earth I have been united with men who are for me a faithful image of Him who is my spouse in heaven.

May the Lord bless your courage and be pleased with the work of your hands»” (FF 2024).

Called and chosen in the company of Lady Poverty, to follow in the footsteps of the Son of God.

Clare herself, in her Spiritual Testament—a true Franciscan gem—addresses her present and future daughters, inviting them to guard the priceless treasure of their calling. We read in it:

«Among the other blessings we have received and continue to receive daily from our Giver, the Father of Mercies, for which we are deeply obliged to offer Him glorious and living thanksgiving, great is the blessing of our vocation. And the greater and more perfect it is, the more deeply we are bound to Him. Therefore, the Apostle admonishes: ‘Know well your vocation’» (FF 2823).

And again:

«The Son of God has become our Way; and this was shown and taught to us by word and example by our blessed father Francis, a true lover and imitator of Him» (FF 2824).

At this point, Clare recalls when the Saint, under divine inspiration, prophesied concerning them.

“Having climbed onto the wall of that church […] he addressed some poor people who were standing nearby:

«Come and help me with this work at the monastery of St Damian, for soon women will come to live there, and through the fame of the holiness of their lives, glory will be given to our heavenly Father throughout his holy Church».

We may, therefore, admire in this event the great goodness of God towards us: He deigned, in His overflowing mercy and charity, to inspire such words in His Saint concerning our vocation and election» (FF 2827–2828).

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (year A)  (Mt 22:1–14)