The Two Small Coins of St. Francis
"Christ's Poor One, Francis, possessed nothing but two small coins (cf. Mk 12:42) which he could dispose of with largesse and charity: his body and his soul. But those two mites he offered to God continually, for love of Christ; he seemed always to be immolating his body with the rigor of fasting and his soul with the flame of desire: his body, a holocaust outside in the court of the temple; his soul, incense offered in the inner temple." --St. Bonaventure, Major Life, 9:3
If we would realize that all we truly possess is our body, while alive, and our soul, for eternity....that everything else is merely for our use--perhaps we would experience the joy that St. Francis experienced even in the midst of his hardships.
"Christ's Poor One, Francis, possessed nothing but two small coins (cf. Mk 12:42) which he could dispose of with largesse and charity: his body and his soul. But those two mites he offered to God continually, for love of Christ; he seemed always to be immolating his body with the rigor of fasting and his soul with the flame of desire: his body, a holocaust outside in the court of the temple; his soul, incense offered in the inner temple." --St. Bonaventure, Major Life, 9:3
If we would realize that all we truly possess is our body, while alive, and our soul, for eternity....that everything else is merely for our use--perhaps we would experience the joy that St. Francis experienced even in the midst of his hardships.
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