“Open your hearts and embrace the lepers of our times!”, this is how the Pope addressed the Order of Friars Minor, stressing that the” Minors” (Lesser e.d.) of our time “are the men and women who live on our streets, in parks or in the stations, the unemployed, the sick without proper care, the ill-treated women, migrants. Pope Francis reminded that, for Saint Francis of Assisi, creation is like a sister and a mother and then invited the Friars Minor to an examination of conscience “on expenses, on clothing, and on what is considered necessary”, exhorting them to perform their work in favor of the “smallest,” those who are excluded and considered “the least,” never from a “pedestal of superiority” that would tend to drive people away.

“Your “littleness (minor)” characterizes your relationship with God in a special way.” For Saint Francis, ’human beings have nothing of their own, except their own sin, and are worth what they are worth before God and nothing more’, the Pope said to the members of the Franciscan families of the First Order and of the Third Order Regulars, warning the religious men against spiritual pride, from “pharisaic pride: it is the worst kind of worldliness”. Minor – Littleness - the Pontiff continued “is a place of encounter with our brethren, with every man and woman, we live this “Littleness” first of all, in the relationship with our brothers and sisters that the Lord has given us”, avoiding “any behavior of superiority”. This means eradicating “easy” judgments on others, and talking behind each other’s back. And rejecting the temptation to use authority to subdue others; to avoid “making others pay” the favors we for them, while we consider the favors of others as due; to remove from us the anger and the distress for the sin of our brother”.

In particular, “it is appropriate for each person to carry out an examination of conscience on their lifestyle, on expenses, on clothes, on what they consider necessary, on their own dedication to others, on fleeting the temptation of caring too much for themselves, and their own fraternity. And, please, when you do some work in favor of the “smallest,” those who are excluded and considered “the least,” it must never be done from a “pedestal of superiority” that would tend to drive people away. Think rather that all you do for them, is a way to return what you have received for free.” As Francis admonishes in the Letter to the whole Order, “ Hold nothing of you for you”. Create a space that is welcoming and available so that - the Pope continued - all the “minors”, the little ones of our time may enter into your life: the marginalized, men and women living on our streets, in parks or in the stations; the thousands of unemployed, young and adults; the many sick people who do not have access to adequate care; the many abandoned elderly people; mistreated women; migrants who seek a decent life; all those who live in the existential suburbs, deprived of any kind of dignity and of the light of the Gospel.”

“Open your hearts and embrace the lepers of our time,” the Pope, encouraged “And, after recognizing the mercy the Lord has used in your regard, extend that mercy to them, as Saint Francis did; and, like him, learn to be ‘sick with the sick; afflicted with the afflicted.”

For the Saint of Assisi, the Pontiff once again said, - creation is “like a splendid book in which God speaks to us and transmits something of His beauty”. Creation is “like a sister, with whom we share existence, it is like a beautiful mother who welcomes us in her arms”. Today this sister and mother “is rebelling because she feels mistreated. Faced with the global deterioration of the environment, I ask you as children of the Poverello (Little Poor e.d.) to enter into dialogue with all of creation, giving it your voice to praise the Creator, and, as Saint Francis did, take special care for it, overcoming any economic calculation or irrational romanticism. Collaborate with various initiatives for the care of our common home,” the Pope said, “always keeping in mind the strict relationship that exists between the poor and the fragility of the planet, between the economy, development, care for creation, and the option for the poor.”

The Pope then praised the Franciscan-run structures in Assisi and in the diocese of Rieti, stressing that “without mercy there is neither fraternity nor minority”, reminding the friars that “while justice will lead you to recognize the rights of each one, charity transcends these rights and calls you to fraternal communion, because it is not the rights that you love, but your brothers, which you must welcome with respect, understanding and mercy. Our brothers and sisters are important, not the structures.”

“Littleness - Jorge Mario Bergoglio said - must also be lived in relation to all the men and women with whom you meet in your journey around the world, avoiding with the utmost care any attitude of superiority that could drive you away from others”, the Pope said, recalling a phrase of Saint Francis who, “warns and exhorts my friars in the Lord Jesus Christ, that when they go about through the world, they are not to quarrel nor contend in words, nor are they to judge others, but they are to be meek, peaceable and modest, meek and humble, speaking uprightly to all, as is fitting. And to receive everyone with kindness and be well-disposed whether it is a friend or a criminal. And, “they ought to rejoice “when they live among people [who are considered to be] of little worth and who are looked down upon, among the poor and the powerless, the sick and the lepers, and the beggars by the wayside.”

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