Who knows how many times Francis, the Herald of the Great King, in reading the episode of the lost sheep, will have dwelt on that "What do you think?" (Mt 18:12). As if to say: "Would you do it?". 

Francis must certainly have asked himself this disarming question, to which his entire eloquent existence was answered "Yes, without any doubt".

For just one sheep of his flock he would certainly have left the others safe in search of the lost one.

"Let us look closely, brothers all, at the good Shepherd who, in order to save his sheep, endured the passion of the cross" (FF 155 - Admonitions).

He, who used to call Brother Leo 'God's sheep', would have faced any adversity to find it, and for this he sought martyrdom even at the Sultan of Egypt to win it for Christ.

Rich in tenderness and mercy is an episode that highlights Francis' shepherd heart. 

We find in the Sources:

"Once crossing the March of Ancona, after preaching in the same city, and heading towards Osimo, in the company of Brother Paul, whom he had elected minister to all the brothers of that province, he met a shepherd in the countryside, who was grazing his flock of rams and goats.

In the midst of the flock was a single sheep, quietly and humbly grazing on the grass.

As soon as he saw it, Francis stopped, and as if he had had a grip on his heart, full of compassion he said to his brother:

"Do you see that lonely and meek sheep among the goats? Our Lord Jesus Christ, surrounded and hunted down by the Pharisees and Synodites, must have looked just like that humble creature.

Therefore I beseech thee, my son, for love of Him, be thou also full of compassion, let us buy her and take her away from these goats and goatherds" (FF 456).

«What is it to you? Would you do it?» (Mt 18:12)

Tuesday 2nd wk. in Advent  (Mt 18:12-14)

The passage of the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary, chosen to be the Mother of Jesus, is singularly dear to the Liturgy on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.

Mary the "filled with grace", as Luke emphasises in his Gospel, always found unspeakable love with Francis of Assisi because, as he repeated: "she had made the Lord of majesty our brother".

"To his honour he sang special praises, raised prayers, offered affections so many and such as human tongue could not express" (FF 786).

And in the Letter to the Faithful:

"The Most High Heavenly Father, through his holy angel Gabriel, announced this Word of the Father, so worthy, so holy and glorious, in the womb of the Holy and glorious Virgin Mary, and from her womb received the true flesh of our humanity and frailty" (FF 181).

The Poverello, who was in love with Mary, always concluded the recitation of the psalms with a wonderful Marian antiphon, extolling all the prerogatives of God in Her:

"Holy Virgin Mary, there is no one like you, born in the world, among women, daughter and handmaid of the Most High and Supreme 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 your most holy beloved Son, Lord and Master. Glory to the Father [...]" (FF 281).

But what, in my opinion, most exalts the Beauty of Mary "she who has found Grace with God" (Lk 1:30) is Francis' wonderful prayer known as "Salutation to the Blessed Virgin Mary":

We read in his writings:

"Hail, Lady, Holy Queen,/ Holy Mother of God, Mary,/ who is a virgin made Church/ and chosen by the most holy heavenly Father,/ who has consecrated you/ together with her most holy beloved Son/ and with the Holy Paraclete Spirit;/ you in whom was and is all fullness of grace/ and all good.

Hail, his palace,/ Hail, his tabernacle,/ Hail, his house./ 

Hail, his robe,/ Hail, his handmaid,/ Hail, his Mother [...]" (FF 259).

Even in Clare, "àltera Maria", we find expressions that attest to the fact that the holy Virgin was the model of her daily life.

We read in the 3rd letter addressed to her spiritual daughter:

"In the same way, then, that the glorious Virgin of virgins bore Christ materially in her womb, you too, following his vestiges, especially of his humility and poverty, can always [...] bear him spiritually in your chaste and virginal body. And you will contain in you Him by whom you and all creatures are contained" (FF 2893).

«The Holy Spirit will descend upon you and the power of the Most High will cover you with his shadow» (Lk 1:35)

Immaculate Conception Blessed Virgin Mary  (Lk 1:26-38)

The liturgy of the Word highlights the figure of John the Baptist, prophet of the desert, who came to prepare the way for the Lord—proclaiming the coming of the Kingdom and exhorting people to bear fruits worthy of conversion.

Francis, a name chosen by Providence (his mother had named him John when he went from being a son of wrath to a son of Grace), became a preacher of baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins immediately after encountering Christ.

Starting with his friars, he exhorted everyone to prepare the way for the Lord who is coming.

"And Francis, hearing that the disciples should possess neither gold nor silver [...] nor two tunics, but only preach the Kingdom of God and penance [...] the holy father hastened [...] to carry out the salutary admonition; he could not bear any delay in faithfully putting into practice what he had heard: he took off his shoes, abandoned his staff, contented himself with a single tunic, and replaced his belt with a rope" (FF 356).

And, like a voice crying in the wilderness, he undertakes to straighten the paths for the Lord, starting with his brotherhood and then extending to the whole people.

In his Letter to the Faithful, like a new John, he calls for every mountain of concupiscence to be levelled.

We read:

"See, O blind ones, deceived by our enemies, that is, by the flesh, the world and the devil, that it is sweet for the body to sin and bitter to serve God, for all evil things, vices and sins come out of and proceed from the heart of men, as the Lord says in the Gospel.

And so you possess nothing in this world or in the next.

You think you possess the vanities of this age for a long time, but you are deceived, because the day and hour will come that you do not think, do not know and ignore" (FF 204).

Therefore, according to the Prophet: «Prepare the way of the Lord»  (Mt 3:3).

Second Advent Sunday (year A)  (Mt 3:1-12)