Admonition XXIV: True love

There is a deep tendency in all of us to relate to people with whom we feel comfortable. No doubt Francis shared this same human inclination and so he wrote in this Admonition: 'Blessed is the servant who loves his brother as much when he is sick and cannot repay him as when he is well and can repay him'. It was emphasized in the first of these articles that a shaping experience in the life of Francis was his meeting with the leper. When he met the leper he had many friends among the people and youth of Assisi. These were his relatives, fellow citizens and his companions. He and they were healthy and could return friendship to one another. But when he met the leper he stood before a person who was gravely ill, who could not return any act of friendship or hospitality because he did not belong to the society in which Francis lived. The leper was an outcast. When he kissed the leper he was showing love to a person who was sick and could not repay him and yet in that love Francis found that what before had seemed bitter to him was turned into sweetness of soul and body. This simple Admonition is challenging and expresses basic truths of the Gospel. Our Lord loved all of us even though we gave Him nothing in return other than death on Calvary. But even so our Lord invited us to walk to Calvary with him assuring us that the yoke of our cross would be easy and light.