To the scribes who ask what is the greatest commandment Jesus answers in a disconcerting way: Listen! To love God and neighbour with all one's self is worth more than a thousand sacrifices!

To the scribe, who had understood all this, Jesus points out that he is not far from the Kingdom of God.

The Poor Assisian had clear ideas about the priorities to be given on the spiritual path.

For him, love for God with every fibre of his being, and for his neighbour, was a sweet truth carved into his heart in letters of fire.

In this regard, we are assisted by the Sources, rich in episodes from his life.

"The soul was all thirsty for its Christ and offered itself entirely to Him in body and spirit [...].

She was always looking for a secluded place, where she could be united not only with her spirit, but with her individual limbs, to her God.

And if he suddenly felt visited by the Lord, so as not to be without a cell, he made himself a small one with his cloak.

And if at times he was without it, he would cover his face with his sleeve, so as not to reveal the hidden manna [...].

Often, without moving his lips, he would meditate for a long time within himself and, concentrating the outward powers within, he would lift up his spirit to heaven.

In this way he directed his whole mind and affection to that one thing he asked of God: he was not so much a praying man as he himself was transformed into a living prayer' (FF 681-682).

Also, from the very beginning of his conversion, love for his brothers, compassion for their sufferings and needs, were the guiding motif of his actions.

"He took much money with him and went to the lepers' hospice; he gathered them together and distributed alms to each one, kissing their hands.

On his return, the contact that had previously been repugnant to him, that is, seeing and touching lepers, was truly transformed into sweetness [...] by the grace of God he became a companion and friend of the lepers so that, as he says in his Testament, he stood among them and humbly served them" (FF 1408).

Clare, a faithful disciple of Francis, did the same within the Damianite walls, always ready to serve lovingly the sisters of her community and those who knocked at the Monastery door.

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

"Very often she washed the feet of the servants who returned from outside and, washing them, she kissed them" (FF 3182).

Loving the Lord with all one's strength and one's neighbour as oneself is worth more than holocausts; the two Assisian giants had understood this well, testifying it to all.

«And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your life and with all your mind and with all your strength [...] You shall love your neighbour as yourself» (Mk 12:30-31)

Friday, 3rd wk. in Lent  (Mk 12,28b-34)

In this passage from the Gospel of Luke, Jesus casts out a demon from a mute man who, freed, begins to speak. Immediately some accuse him of doing this in the name of the prince of demons. But Jesus testifies that he acts through the Finger of God, by God.

Like Jesus, Francis had temptations and was greatly tried by the devil.

But the Finger of God, the Holy Spirit, won every battle in him, extending the Kingdom of Heaven into hearts.

Like Francis, Clare also encountered such trials from which, by the Grace of God, she always emerged unscathed, because she was not divided, but totally united with Christ.

The Sources are eloquent bearers of great existential truth. Let us look at what they tell us in this regard.

"In those places he had to fight hand to hand with the devil, who confronted him in order to frighten him not only with interior temptations, but also exteriorly with clashes and ruin.

But Francis, as a very strong soldier of Christ, knowing full well that his Lord could do everything everywhere, did not let himself be frightened at all, but repeated in his heart:

"You cannot, O evil one, unleash the weapons of your malice against me in these places any more than you would do to me if we were in the crowd" (FF 446).

And a friar, who had long been harassed by the assaults of the devil and wept at the feet of Francis, was delivered by him:

"The Father felt pity for him, and realised that he was tormented by malignant instigations:

"I command you, O demons," he exclaimed, "by the virtue of God, do not torment my brother any more from now on, as you have dared so far.

Immediately that gloomy darkness dissipated, the friar rose free and felt no more torment, as if he had always been free of it" (FF 697).

Clare was also attacked several times by the enemy.

"While she was once weeping, in the middle of the night, the angel of darkness appeared to her in the form of a black child, and thus admonished her: Do not weep so much, for you will go blind!

But, she answered him at once: 'He shall not be blind who will see God,' and he turned away in confusion" (FF 3198).

And in her first letter to her spiritual daughter, Agnes of Bohemia, Clare herself expresses it this way:

"The man covered with clothes cannot pretend to wrestle with an unclothed man, for he who offers a grapple to his adversary is sooner thrown to the ground" (FF 1867).

The servants of God, in their simplicity, have clear ideas, because they are guided by the Finger of God - and they do not give up the authentic Vocation.

«But if by the Finger of God I cast out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come for you» (Lk 11:20)

Thursday 3rd wk. in Lent  (Lk 11:14-23)

In the Gospel passage proposed today, Jesus proclaims that he came to give full fulfilment to the Law.

So not to demolish or transgress the Word, but to observe it by loving.

Love is the true fulfilment of the Law of the Lord, which is perfect and refreshes the soul.

Francis understood this well by living and teaching his fraternity to do the same.

The Sources provide, through various pieces, precious examples of life. In the Letter to the Rulers of Peoples:

"I beseech you [...] with all the reverence of which I am capable, not to forget the Lord, absorbed as you are by the cares and cares of this world, and not to deviate from his commandments, for all who forget the Lord and deviate from his commandments are cursed and will be forgotten by him" (FF 211).

At the same time, the Poverello, with that balance and elasticity that distinguished him, emphasised:

"And whenever necessity arises, let all the brothers, wherever they may be, be allowed to take all the food that men can eat, just as the Lord says of David, who ate the loaves of the offering that were not allowed to be eaten except by priests [...] Similarly, in times of manifest necessity, let all the brothers provide for their necessities as the Lord will give them grace, since necessity has no law" (FF 33).

According to Francis' thought, what harms love is detraction. In fact, in the Major Legend, we read:

"The vice of detraction, the radical enemy of piety and grace, horrified him like the bite of the serpent and like the most harmful pestilence [...].

'The wickedness of detractors,' she said, 'is so much greater than that of thieves, the greater the force with which the law of Christ, which finds its fulfilment in love, obliges us to desire the salvation of souls more than that of bodies'" (FF 1141).

Clare herself, in the Rule, warns:

"I admonish, then, and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ, that the sisters beware of all pride, vainglory, envy, avarice, care and solicitude of this world, of detraction and murmuring, of discord and division" (FF 2809).

"Instead, let them always be solicitous to preserve mutually the unity of mutual charity, which is the bond of perfection" (FF 2810).

Love was the Rule of the brothers and the Poor Ladies of San Damiano: "[...] and so, carrying the yoke of mutual charity, with ease we will fulfil the law of Christ. Amen." (FF 2918 - Letter to Ermentrude of Bruges).

«Do not think that I have come to tear down the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to demolish, but to fulfil» (Mt 5:17)

Wednesday 3rd wk. in Lent  (Mt 5,17-19)

The Annunciation illustrates the art of listening in Mary, visited by the Angel Gabriel. She accepts the Mystery but asks questions of meaning, using her intelligence, in humility and dignity.

After their conversion, Francis and Clare always sought God's will by looking to Mary, the handmaid of the Lord, the one who had found favour with the Almighty by becoming the Mother of Jesus.

From the very beginning of his vocation-mission, Francis paid special and devoted attention to the Virgin.

The Sources make us aware of the extraordinary love for Her, expressed in a hieratic antiphon of the Poverello:

"Holy Virgin Mary, there is none like thee, born in the world among women, daughter and handmaid of the most high King the heavenly Father, mother of our most holy Lord Jesus Christ, spouse of the Holy Spirit; pray for us with Saint Michael the Archangel and with all the powers of heaven and with all the saints, to thy most holy beloved Son, Lord and Master" (FF 281).

Francis "surrounded the Mother of Jesus with an unspeakable love, because she had made the Lord of majesty our brother" (FF 786).

But Clare herself, who was considered «altera Maria», when she arrived at the Portiuncula, where Francis and the brothers were waiting for her because of her total dedication to God:

"After she had taken the insignia of holy penance before the altar of St. Mary and, almost before the nuptial thalamus of the Virgin, the humble handmaid was married to Christ, immediately St. Francis led her to the church of St. Paul*, with the intention that she should remain there until the Will of the Most High disposed otherwise" (FF 3172).

Like Mary, Clare pronounced her 'Fiat' to the will of the Father:

«Behold the handmaid of the Lord: let it be to me according to thy word» (Lk 1:38).

Oh how they both loved God's will!

Forgetful of themselves they adhered to the divine plan for them, each in her own time, each in her own groove.

In the Sources again we find:

"In the same way, then, that the glorious Virgin of virgins bore Christ materially in her womb, you too, following his vestiges, especially his humility and poverty, can always, without any doubt, bear him spiritually in your chaste and virginal body. And thou shalt contain in thee Him by whom thou and all creatures are contained, and shalt possess that which is most lasting and final good even in comparison with all the other transient possessions of this world" (FF 2893 - Letter Three to Blessed Agnes of Prague).

Francis and Clare, following the example of the humble Mary of Nazareth, loved God's will for them in a sunny and lasting way.

In fact, in a concluding prayer of Francis, we contemplate his constant yearning to seek her and follow her with abandonment.

"Almighty, everlasting, just and merciful God, grant us wretches to do, by the power of your love, what we know that you want, and to always want what pleases you, so that, inwardly purified, inwardly enlightened and kindled by the fire of the Holy Spirit may we 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" (FF 234 - Letter to the whole Order).

*The church and Benedictine monastery of San Paolo delle Abbadesse, where Clare was led after her consecration in the Portiuncula, stood near Bastìa Umbra, 4 km from Assisi.

Annunciation of the Lord  (Lk 1:26-38)

In the Lk passage, the unbelief and mistrust of the people of Nazareth towards Jesus emerges, the provocations put forward and the Lord's replies emphasising the deaf acceptance of his Message.

Francis of Assisi admired the ordinary holiness of anyone, but especially of his brethren.

He often repeated that the preacher who seeks his own glory in preaching rather than the salvation of souls is to be pitied.

To them would be preferable one who was simple and without a 'tongue', but capable of pushing others to the good.

He rejoiced greatly when he knew that his brothers scattered around the world, with the daily holiness of their lives, induced many to return to the right path.

One day, he went to a church in the hamlet of Assisi and started cleaning.

There he learned that a certain John, a simple man, was ploughing a field of his own near the church.

"And immediately he went to him and found him intent on cleaning. He said to him, 'Brother, give the broom to me, I want to help you.'

He took the broom and finished cleaning.

Then they sat down, and John said: "For a long time I have intended to serve God, especially since I heard about you and your brothers. But I did not know how to join you. But since it pleased the Lord that I should see you, I am willing to do whatever pleases you".

Observing his fervour, Francis rejoiced in the Lord, also because he then had few brothers and because this man with his simplicity gave him confidence that he would be a good religious".

Francis invited him to give the goods he possessed to the poor, as the Gospel says.

John, the simple man, did not let himself be told twice and obeyed the Poverello in everything, selling an ox to give to the poor.

The Sources continue:

"Francis, who always liked pure and holy simplicity in himself and in others, had great affection for John.

And as soon as he had dressed him in the habit, he took him as his companion.

He was so simple that he considered himself obliged to do whatever Francis did.

When the saint was praying in a church or in a secluded place, John wanted to see him and stare at him, to repeat all his gestures: if Francis bent his knees, if he raised his joined hands to heaven, if he spat or coughed, he would do the same.

Although enchanted by such simplicity of heart, Francis began to rebuke him. But John replied: "Brother, I have promised to do all that you do; and therefore I intend to do all that you do".

The Saint was amazed and delighted at such purity and simplicity. John made such progress in all the virtues that Francis and the others were amazed at his holiness.

And not long afterwards he died in this holy perfection. Francis, filled with joy inwardly and outwardly, told the brothers about his life, and called him "Saint John" instead of "Brother John" (FF 1566).

The onlookers marvelled at the holiness manifested in the ordinary of one who lived the Word concretely and asked: «Is not this the Son of Joseph?» (Lk 4:22).

The simple and transparent life bewilders those who have abstruse ideas of holiness; they believe it to be linked to sumptuous descent, forgetting that God loves and proclaims in the ordinary.

«No prophet is accepted in his own country» (Lk 4:24)

Monday 3rd wk. in Lent  (Lk 4,24-30)

In the first pericope, today's Gospel highlights the urgency of the profound conversion of every man, without pointing the finger at the guilt of others, but looking at one's own.

In Francis, it is a case of speaking of permanent conversion, always sought - and which lasted as long as he lived.

He considered himself, in fact, the most sinful of men, reached by Grace.

Consulting the Sources, we realise the calibre of the Poverello also in this regard.

We read of a friar who, rapt in ecstasy, saw among the many seats in heaven one of particular beauty.

Asking whose it was, a voice answered him that it was reserved for the humble Francis.

The story continues:

"Having returned to himself, the friar sees Francis returning from prayer.

He immediately prostrates himself before him, with his arms in the form of a cross, and addresses himself not as one who lives on earth, but almost as one who already reigns in heaven:

"Pray for me the Son of God, Father, that he may not take my sins into account."

The man of God holds out his hand and lifts him up, confident that in prayer he has received a vision.

Finally, as they leave the place, the friar asks Francis:

"Father, what do you think of yourself?".

And he replied:

"It seems to me that I am the greatest sinner, because if God had used such mercy on some wicked man, he would be ten times better than me".

At these words, immediately the Spirit said inwardly to the friar:

"Know that your vision was true from this: for this most humble man will be raised by his humility to that throne which was lost through pride" (FF 707).

And Francis himself, speaking to his brethren about the efficacy of prayer, told them:

"Indeed [there are] those who delude themselves that they have edified or converted to penance by their discourses; it is the Lord who edifies and converts them through the prayers of the holy brethren, even if the latter ignore him [...].

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

The Minim warned against feeling better than others and against the glory of inducing conversion with one's own speeches, inflated with complacent wisdom.

No one is perfect! Only the Spirit of God, who transforms hearts of stone into hearts of flesh, is better.

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, offers an episode in this regard that calls for reflection.

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

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

And indeed he commented thus on the passage that says: "Even the barren woman has borne many sons":

"The barren one is my poor brother, who has no business begetting sons in the Church. But in the judgement he will have given birth to many, because on that day the judge will ascribe to his glory those whom he now converts with his personal prayers'" (FF 749).

And again:

"There are many brethren who [...] 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 proud and mount in pride for results obtained by the efforts of others.

The humble and daily conversion of the Minim and his brothers has, over time, revolutionised all prideful thinking, thanks to the Word of Christ.

«Do you think that these Galileans were more sinful than all Galileans, for having suffered these things? No, I tell you, but unless you are converted, you will all perish just the same» (Lk 13:2-3)

3rd Sunday in Lent (year C)  (Lk 13:1-9)

Chapter fifteen of Luke is known for its parables of Mercy.

Before the Pharisees and scribes who murmur because he is close to publicans and sinners, Jesus responds with effective parables whose foundation is:

do not reject, but go forth to raise up.

Wherever there is pity for man's lost condition, there Christ rises again.

Francis in his young existence had encountered the paternal and maternal compassion of the Lord.

After a life spent in merry bandits and a bit of debauchery, he was thunderstruck by the Father of Mercies or, as he called him, the Great Helmsman.

Touched by Grace, after his evident change of mentality, before the Crucifix of San Damiano his vocation-mission was revealed to him.

He renounced everything, even his earthly father, to be free to go where the Father in heaven sent him.

The waste of his youthful years translated him into boundless generosity towards lepers and the poor.

The Blessing Embrace of the Almighty had imprinted him with a more solid and precious human and spiritual character.

All his life he wept for his sins, thinking of the Passion of Jesus Christ, who died and rose again for all his lost children.

In the Sources ('Vita seconda' by his biographer Celano) we find a moving passage:

"Once he heard that a sick friar wanted to eat some grapes. He accompanied him to a vineyard and, sitting under a vine, to infuse him with courage, he himself began to eat first' (FF 762).

Mercy for the misfortunes of others is the Franciscan foundation of the spiritual journey.

And again:

"He used to say that it is the duty of the superior, a father and not a tyrant, to prevent the occasion of guilt and not to allow those to fall who would then find it difficult to get up again, once they have fallen.

Oh, how worthy of compassion is our foolishness!

Not only do we not lift or support the weak, but we sometimes push them to fall.

We judge it of no importance to take away from the Supreme Shepherd a sheep, for whom on the Cross he uttered a loud cry with tears.

But quite differently didst thou, holy father, prefer to amend the errant and not to lose them!

[...] the oil and the wine, the rod and the staff, the zeal and the indulgence, the burning and the anointing, the prison and the womb, everything has its time.

All these things require the God of vengeance and the Father of mercies: but he prefers mercy to sacrifice' (FF 763).

Clare herself, a loving mother, had received a generous heart full of compassion, especially towards her needy sisters.

The Sources, through the Rule, attest that as the leader of the community, the First Plant of Francis did not allow herself to be imprisoned by the law, but unmistakable Charity reigned over all.

We read in fact:

"[The abbess] console the afflicted. May she still be the last refuge of the afflicted so that, should the remedies of health fail in her, the disease of despair may not prevail in the sick" (FF 2778).

Francis and Clare, transformed by the Father's mercy, treasured the gift they had received and poured it out freely to all creatures. Never caged by the immovability of codes, they were witnesses of that singular welcome that recovers those who have erred and reintroduces them into the new life of the risen.

"Where there is mercy and discretion,

there is neither superfluity nor harshness" (FF 177).

«While he was still a long way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran to his neck and super kissed him» (Lk 15:20)

Saturday 2nd wk. in Lent  (Lk 15:1-3.11-32)

Jesus narrates the metaphor of the murderous peasants. Only at the end do the priests and Pharisees realise that it was addressed to them, and try to capture him, fearing however the crowd who considered him a prophet.

Francis well knew that Jesus is the cornerstone, discarded by the builders, yet precious and granite before God.

He knew and repeated in his heart the Psalm (118) that captures all this:

«Jesus says to them: You have never read in the Scriptures: the stone which the builders rejected, this one has become a cornerstone [...]» (Mt 21:42).

In the Sources, in fact, we find the Poverello's great respect for the stones that reminded him of the cornerstone: Christ.

Celano, in the Second Life, emphasises:

"He walked reverently over the stones, out of respect for him who is called Stone. And having to recite the verse, which says: on the stone you raised me up, he changed the words thus for greater respect: 'Under the feet of the Stone you raised me up'" (FF 750).

Following the example of Christ and through the work of the Spirit, Francis became a stone in the building of the Church.

The major legend testifies in this regard:

"During the two years that followed the impression of the stigmata he, like a stone destined for the building of the heavenly Jerusalem, had been squared by the blows of trial, through his many and tormented infirmities, and, like a ductile material, had been reduced to ultimate perfection under the hammer of numerous tribulations" (FF 1239).

Together with Francis, Clare was also transformed into the foundation stone for the Order of the Poor Ladies.

We read: "The first work Francis set about [...] was to rebuild a temple to the Lord. He does not think of building a new one, but restores an ancient and crumbling church; he does not undermine the foundations, but builds on them, thus unknowingly leaving the primacy to Christ. For no one could create another foundation apart from the one that has already been laid: Jesus Christ.

Returning therefore to the place where, as has been said, the church of San Damiano had formerly been built, with the grace of the Most High he repaired it with all diligence in a short time" (FF 350).

"This is the blessed and holy place in which the glorious Order of the "Poor Ladies" and holy virgins, almost six years after his conversion, had its happy origin through the work of Francis himself.

It was there that Lady Clare, also a native of Assisi, a most precious and strong stone, became the cornerstone for all the other stones of this religious family" (FF 351).

On the cornerstone of Christ, the One whom the murderous vinedressers persecuted and killed, were placed (there finding place and meaning) stones made alive by Him to build the Kingdom of God by the power of the Spirit.

Friday, 2nd wk. in Lent  (Mt 21:33-43.45-46)

The Gospel proposed by today's liturgy sets before us three important existential dimensions, which Francis held in high regard.

The parable of poor Lazarus and the immoderate rich man evokes the diligent use of riches, care for the needy, and is a call to conversion, since after death, individual judgement will be irreversible.

Francis, the Poor Man of Assisi, always had this Gospel picture before his eyes, which led him to better direct his heart towards God and the poor.

The Sources attest, from the very beginning of his journey:

"(Francis) had always benefited the needy, but from that moment on he firmly resolved never to refuse alms to the poor who asked for them for the love of God, and on the contrary to make spontaneous and generous donations.

To every poor man who asked for charity, when Francis was away from home, he provided with money; if he lacked it, he gave him his hat or belt, so as not to send him back empty-handed.

Or if he lacked these, he would withdraw to the sidelines, take off his shirt and secretly give it to the indigent, begging him to take it for the love of God.

He bought utensils that the churches needed and secretly gave them to poor priests' (FF 1403).

And again, the Legend of the Three Companions informs us:

"Divine Grace had profoundly changed him. Although he did not wear a religious habit, he longed to find himself unknown in some city, where he could barter his clothes for the rags of a beggar and try begging for the love of God himself' (FF 1405).

The Minim knew that what a poor man received was addressed to Christ himself and that a single glass of water given to the small and marginalised was offered to Jesus.

His encounter with the leper in the plain of Assisi had turned bitterness into true sweetness in him.

Francis feared divine judgement and wanted to respond to what the Word of God demanded of him.

Clare herself, from a young age, took food from her body to give to the poor, maintaining this attitude of special care and concern for the needy - all her life.

Both made an evangelical, intelligent use of the goods at their disposal in the service of the Kingdom of God.

«Son, remember that you received your goods in your life, and Lazarus likewise the evils; but now here he is comforted, you on the other hand are tormented» (Lk 16:25).

The Poor Man always exhorted his brothers to be merciful to all forms of indigence, because judgement does not grant full life to those who do not acknowledge it to their brothers.

Thursday 2nd wk. in Lent  (Lk 16:19-31)