The Poor Man of Assisi strove throughout his life to bless and foster the unity of spouses in marriage.

To a noblewoman who was worried about her husband's sourness, which was hindering her in the service of Christ, the Saint, after listening to her, said:

"Go in peace and be assured that you will soon have from your man the consolation you desire" (FF 1193).

So it happened: the man changed his life, and after a long time, on the same day they returned to the Lord.

Francis was so concerned about the sanctity of Christian married life that he founded the (then) Franciscan Third Order alongside the two previous orders - Friars Minor and Poor Ladies of St Damian.

All this so that even though they were in the world they were not of the world, bearing witness to the Gospel.

In fact, in the Vita prima of Celano, we read:

"To all he gave a rule of life, and showed the way of salvation to each according to his condition" (FF 385).

The same simplicity of children with which he loved to receive the Word of God, he transferred it between the lines of life. 

It is worth this episode to help us understand the childlike heart he had received from God: 

"At St. Mary of the Portiuncula they brought the man of God a sheep as a gift, which he accepted with gratitude, because he loved the innocence and simplicity that, by its nature, the sheep shows.

The man of God admonished the sheep to praise God and not to annoy the brothers at all. The sheep, in turn, as if feeling the pity of the man of God, put his teachings into practice with great care.

When she heard the friars singing in the choir, she too would enter the church and, without the need of a teacher, would bend her knees, uttering tender bleats before the altar of the Virgin, Mother of the Lamb, as if eager to greet her" (FF 1148). Becoming a child at heart, Francis welcomed in simplicity the Kingdom that was coming to him, testifying in his concrete life the infancy of the Spirit that informed him.

The littleness of Francis, the frame of his evangelical life, is moving.

"He did not blush to ask small things of those smaller than himself; he, a true minor, who had learnt great things from the supreme Master.

He used to seek with singular zeal the way and manner of serving God more perfectly, as it pleased Him best.

This was his supreme philosophy, this his supreme desire as long as he lived: to ask the wise and the simple, the perfect and the imperfect, the young and the old, what was the way in which he could most virtuously reach the summit of perfection" (Sources 1205 - Major Legend).

Francis loved with a child's heart and so he taught his brothers and the poor Ladies of San Damiano, virtuous sisters on the path of faith, among whom Clare shone for her humility and transparency.

This young woman bore witness to light; she was a morning star in becoming a child in the service of God, in the footsteps of Christ, following the example of the blessed Father Francis, a true lover and imitator of Him.

27th Sunday (B). Mk 10:2-16

The Gospel considered today is a hymn of praise to God the Father by Jesus, in the dimension of the weakness and vulnerability of the little ones.

He had experienced the disappointment of the "great ones", suspicious of his wonders.

Instead of asking the Father for help, as Son he praises him in his dark moments.

Looking at our Poor Man, all this is evident.

Short in stature, humble in spirit and a minor by profession, Francis of Assisi made littleness his existential and spiritual mark - and he taught his brothers the same.

To be humble and minimal in the following of the Lord was the essential trait of the friar - precisely minor - who wanted to live in communion at the Portiuncula.

Addressing the great and wise of this world, the Saint found resistance in making his proposal of poverty and essentiality of life understood.

They often replied to him:

"The poverty you seek, remain for ever with you, and your children, and your descendants after you" (cf. FF 1964).

In the Sources we find again that "Blessed Francis, hearing these words, marvelled in his heart and gave thanks to God, saying:

"Be blessed, O Lord God, who has kept these things hidden from the wise and prudent and revealed them to the little ones!

Yea, O Father, for thus it pleased thee!

O Lord, Father and master of my life, do not abandon me in their gathering, nor let me fall into that shame, but by your grace grant me to find what I seek, for I am your servant and the Son of your handmaid'" (FF 1965).

Furthermore, it must be remembered that "The servant of God, Francis, small in stature, humble of spirit and a minor by profession, while he lived here on earth, chose for himself and his brothers a small portion of the world [...] and they were certainly inspired by God who, in ancient times, called the place Porziuncola, the place that fell to those who did not want to possess anything on this earth [...].

There stood in this place a church dedicated to the Virgin Mother who, by her particular humility, deserved, after her Son, to be Sovereign of all Saints.

It was here that the Order of the Minors began, and their noble edifice rose wide and harmonious, as if resting on a solid foundation.

The Saint loved this place more than any other, and commanded the friars to venerate it with special devotion.

He wanted it always to be kept as a mirror of the Order in humility and highest poverty, reserving its ownership to others and keeping its use for himself and his own only" (FF 604).

So littleness was an eloquent sign of his being a child of God.

Precisely from such a position of hiddenness, in the difficult and obscure periods of his journey of faith, Francis raised to God the Father the praise for what he was doing:

"Most High, Almighty, good Lord,

To Thee be praise, glory and honour, and every blessing [...]

Praised be You, my Lord, with all Your creatures [...]" (FF 263).

Francis composed such a masterpiece in the cruellest and most suffering moment of his life, ill and in darkness.

Yet, he raised to God an authentic hymn of praise.

Like Jesus, who at the moment of loneliness and apparent defeat, of failure, raised his voice to the Father - to bless and praise him.

The blind alley and the darkness became a source of inspiration, and of a deeper relationship with the Lord; combined with that vulnerable littleness, entrusted to the Father for his Kingdom.

Saturday 26th wk. in O.T. (Lk 10:17-24)