On 13 March, we commemorated ten years of Pope Francis' Pontificate. With the prayer and good wishes that the Order extended to the Holy Father, this anniversary is an opportunity to grasp his message for us, Friars Minor.
The choice of the name, which resonates as a memory and prophecy of the Christian experience of St Francis, which carries within it an evangelical impetus of continual newness, is not insignificant.
In its naked clarity, the Gospel is at the heart of Pope Francis' Christian proclamation. This immediate contact with the Gospel word recalls the sine glossa and sends us back to the heart of our life as friars minor, as the Centenary of the Rule helps us remember and revive this year.
We were struck from the start by the immediately clear language of Pope Francis. How can we not think of the language of St Francis, always accompanied by gestures, poetic touches and song? Thus, God's jester could reach hearts and move them to a change of life.
The link with life and real history, in which the poor and excluded are the privileged focus, with our common home and peace, are vital for Pope Francis. St Francis went from doing something for the poor to living with the poor as a sign of God's humble love.
Here we find ourselves entirely in tune with and challenged by the Pope's thinking, to whom we renew the promise of our obedience and reverence and constant prayer for him.
On 18 March, the Poor Clare Sisters of Spain and Portugal, Presidents of Federations and other Sisters, met in Madrid with the Assistants. The theme was the path to revise the Constitutions, which is now underway. It was an opportunity to motivate the journey and share, in particular, the genesis and reasons for the revision process. In addition, we will share the charismatic grounds for the association of a monastery to the First Order and the aspects of our Franciscan-Clarian spirituality to be strengthened in contact with today's Church and world.
Expressing the loving care and special solicitude for the sisters, which St Francis promised Clare and her sisters, is a gift and a commitment, always relevant, also expressed in this meeting.
