Admonition XXVII: Virtue puts vice to flight (6)

Where there is a heart full of mercy and discernment There is neither excess nor hardness of heart. It is interesting that Francis links mercy with discernment. Perhaps he had in mind that mercy only exists when a person does not want to impose a command or duty on another. God is merciful to us because God shows mercy rather than power. A Wisdom writer said of God: You are merciful to all for you can do all things [Wis 11:23]. This has a link to discernment for it means to work out what God is asking of us at any particular time or in any particular situation. A proud and dominant person discerns whatever he or she might want to do and this is the opposite of discernment. So Francis can say a heart full of mercy and discernment is not a hard heart. An example showing how Francis was kind, merciful and discerning is given by Bonaventure. Francis urged the brothers to lead an austere life but not to be severe on themselves or others; he asked them 'to put on a heart of piety and be seasoned with the salt of discernment'. Bonaventure relates that one night a brother was so hungry he could not sleep. Aware of this Francis got up and put food before the brother. But, realizing the brother would be embarrassed to eat on his own, Francis started eating first and gently invited the brother to eat. The brother was overjoyed that by his discernment Francis had come to him. Later Francis said to the other brothers that charity is to be their rule with one another: 'He taught them to follow discernment, the charioteer of the virtues'.