In this Gospel passage from Luke, in which the end of Jesus and the fulfilment of His work is foretold, we witness Him weeping over Jerusalem, the proverbial city that stoned and killed the prophets.

Looking in the Sources we report a particular episode of the Poor Man.

One night Francis had a dream that almost recalled Jesus' lament over Jerusalem.

Christ had wept over the holy city, which was responsible for the killing of prophets (and for stoning those sent to it) whose price would be a house left deserted.

Unity betrayed and vilified would have generated squalor and abandonment.

The saint therefore "saw a small and black hen, similar to a domestic dove, with legs and feet covered in feathers.

She had many chicks, which, no matter how much they circled around her, could not all gather under her wings.

When she awoke, the man of God resumed his thoughts and personally explained the vision.

"The hen," he commented, "is me, small in stature and dark in complexion, and I must unite to the innocence of life a simplicity of a dove: a virtue, which the rarer it is in the world, the more swiftly it rises to heaven.

The chicks are the friars, grown in numbers and grace, whom the strength of Francis is unable to protect from the disturbance of men and the attacks of malignant tongues'" (FF 610).

This is why the Minim placed the Order under the protection of the Church, since for him following Christ meant walking in the footsteps of the Bride of the Lord.

The Poverello had special solicitude for his brothers, striving to keep them in the bond of unity, for which Christ became the sacrificial Lamb, sacrificed for the salvation of all the people.

Indeed, in the Letter to the Faithful, he expresses himself thus:

"The will of his Father was this, that his blessed and glorious Son, whom he gave us and was born for us, should offer himself, through his own blood, as a sacrifice and victim on the altar of the cross, not for himself, since through him all things were created, but in atonement for our sins, leaving us the example so that we might follow in his footsteps" (FF 184).

In love with Christ in everything, even in the infirmities that afflicted him Francis wanted to follow the Lord's poverty and example.

"So vivid was his love for the salvation of souls, and his thirst to win them to God, that, no longer having the strength to walk, he went about the country riding a donkey.

Often the brethren, with gentle insistence, invited him to restore his infirm and too weak body a little, with medical care, but he, who had his spirit continually turned to heaven, declined the invitation each time, since he only wished to be untied from his body to be with Christ" (FF 490).

Thus he used his "brother donkey", borrowed for the journey to La Verna and his return through Borgo San Sepolcro, united in the meekness they shared.

Thursday 30th wk. in O.T. (Lk 13,31-35)

Jesus invites us to strive to enter through the narrow door, knowing that works speak for themselves and that the last will be first.

These themes are assiduously present in the Franciscan Sources.

After his conversion, the Son of Peter Bernardone places great emphasis on the "strive to enter through the narrow gate" recommended by Jesus.

Indeed, in what we call the "Writings of Francis" [mostly dictated to some friar who became his secretary] his firm adherence to the Gospel emerges clearly.

In the Regola non bollata (1221) we read among the exhortations addressed to his brothers:

"And let them strive to enter through the narrow gate, for the Lord says: Narrow is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life; and there are few who find it" (FF 37).

And well aware of the evangelical requirement of humility and minority, this is how he responded to his own regarding who should be considered a true friar minor:

"Take a dead body," he said, "and put it wherever you like. And you will see that if you move it, it will not object: if you drop it, it will not protest.

If you put it on a chair, it will not look up, but down.

If you put a purple robe on him, he will look doubly pale.

This is the true obedient one: he who does not judge why they move him; he does not care where he is assigned; he does not insist on being transferred; elected to an office, he maintains his usual humility; the more he is honoured, the more he considers himself unworthy' (FF 1107).

And Clare was no less!

In the Testament left to the sisters:

"But because narrow is the way and the path, and narrow is the gate by which one sets out and enters into life, few are those who tread it and enter it; and if there are those who walk in it for a little while, very few persevere in it.

Blessed, however, are those to whom it is granted to walk this way and persevere in it to the end" (FF 2850).

And in the Legend:

"From then on, she no longer refused any servile duties, to the point that, for the most part, it was she who poured water on her sisters' hands, stood to assist them while they sat and served them at table while they ate" (FF 3180).

Already, those who in life have been considered last or made least for the sake of the Gospel will be first in the Kingdom of God!

«And behold, there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last» (Lk 13:30)

Wednesday, 30th wk. in O.T.  (Lk 13:22-30)

Today's Gospel presents us with Jesus praying all night long before calling his disciples to himself.

The relationship with the Father anticipates every important choice in the life of Christ.

Francis, following Jesus' example, spent entire nights praying in solitary places and before making important decisions.

In the Second Life of his biographer Celano we read:

"The Saint once came with his companion to a church*, far from the town.

Wishing to pray all alone, he warned his companion:

"Brother, I would like to stay here alone tonight. You go to the hospital* and return to me in good time in the morning".

Left all alone, he addressed long and devout prayers to God [...]" (FF 707).

This intense relationship with God meant that in a short time, stimulated by his testimony, many disciples came to him ready to live the Gospel in the same way.

"During this time four other worthy and virtuous men joined them and became disciples of Francis.

Thus the interest in the movement and the fame of the man of God grew more and more among the people.

And truly at that time Francis and his companions felt an immense joy and inexplicable joy when any of the faithful, whoever they were and whatever their condition, rich, poor, noble, common, despicable, honoured [...] guided by the Spirit of God came to take the habit of their holy religion [...]" (FF 371).

His holiness was so evident that everyone was happy to be able to touch his poor cassock and receive benefits from it.

In fact, all those who were sick or possessed were healed when approached by the Poor Man.

For example, "in Città di Castello a woman was possessed by an evil and furious spirit: as soon as the Saint had commanded her to do so out of obedience, the demon fled, full of indignation, leaving the poor obsessed woman free in soul and body" (FF 1219).

The humble disciple of Jesus had become, by Grace, "Alter Christus".

«He went out to the mountain to pray and spent the night in prayer to God» (Lk 6:12).

- FF 707= the friar who accompanied him was Brother Pacifico.

- The Church at which they stopped to pray was San Pietro in Bovara, near the Fonti del Clitunno.

- The hospital to which Francis directed his companion was a leper colony a few kilometres from the church.

Saints Simon and Judas  (Lk 6:12-19)

Jesus poses a question to those present, following the healing of a bent woman:

«Now this woman, being a daughter of Abraham [...] should she not have been loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?» (Luke 13:16).

When speaking of Francis of Assisi, one must always bear in mind that he was a true, unconventional creature.

Consumed by love for God and neighbour, the Poverello was willing to make any sacrifice, capable of going beyond conventions in order to save and lead souls to Christ.

Following in the footsteps of Jesus, who also healed on the Sabbath, ridiculing the leaders who were loyal to their tradition, Francis expressed a new way of being and living according to the Gospel.

The Sources, a rich source of episodes, inform us about this.

"In the city of Narni there lived a woman who for eight years had had a withered hand, completely unusable.

One day the blessed Father appeared to her and, touching her sick hand, made it fit for work like the other" (FF 558).

Francis was not concerned with the hour or the day when he could help or heal; no, he was interested in the person knowing the salvation of soul and body, restoring God's children to God.

Free from all hypocrisy, he acted thus:

"Once, while Francis was staying in that same place*, a friar, a man of profound spirituality who had been living in the Order for several years, found himself very emaciated and infirm.

Francis, seeing him, took pity on him.

But the friars in those days did not resort to medicine; on the contrary, they willingly chose what was contrary to the body.

Francis said to himself:

'If this brother ate ripe grapes early in the morning, I believe he would benefit from it'.

One day he rose at dawn and secretly called that brother, led him to the vineyard near the church, and, choosing a vine rich in beautiful, inviting bunches, sat down under it with his brother and began to eat the grapes, so that the sick man would not be ashamed to pick them himself.

While he was eating, the friar praised the Lord God.

And as long as he lived, he often reminded his brothers, with devotion and tears of tenderness, of the holy father's affectionate gesture towards him" (FF 1549).

Rightly, Francis, remembering the Word of God, put into practice mercy that is superior to any rule and worth more than being humanly sterilised.

Monday 30th week of Ordinary Time  (Lk 13:10-17)

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)