|  | 
| KRUSIFIKSET I SAN DAMIANO: "Where did 
             Francis’s journey to Christ 
             begin? It began with the 
             gaze of the crucified Jesus. 
             With letting Jesus look at 
             us at the very moment that 
             he gives his life for us and 
             draws us to himself. 
             Francis experienced this in 
             a special way in the Church 
             of San Damiano, as he prayed 
             before the cross" (Pave Frans i dagens preken)
 | 
 
I dag er det festdagen for en av Kirkens aller største helgener: Den hellige Frans av Assisi. Pave Frans samlet tusener til messe i Assisi i dag. Prekenen kan du lese her.
Selve biografien til den hellige Frans av Assisi (1182-1226) kan du lese mange steder, for eksempel 
her på katolsk.no.
 Fransiskansk fred vs. panteistisk harmoni
I dag hadde jeg bare lyst til å dele med deg Pave Frans' preken som han holdt i Assisi i dag, på festen for Frans av Assisi. Det er ikke alle som føler de har tid til å lese en hel preken, men sørg for at du iallfall får med deg dette sitatet fra prekenen:
"Franciscan peace is not something saccharine. Hardly! That is not the real Saint Francis! Nor is it a kind of pantheistic harmony with forces of the cosmos…That is not Franciscan either; it is a notion some people have invented! The peace of Saint Francis is the peace of Christ, and it is found by those who “take up” their “yoke," namely, Christ’s commandment: Love one another as I have loved you (John 13:34; 15:12.) This yoke cannot be borne with arrogance, presumption or pride, but only with meekness and humbleness of heart."
(Liten ordforklaring: "Saccharine" heter sakkarin på norsk og er et kunstig søtningsstoff av samme type som aspartam, sukralose, acesulfam etc)
Selve prekenen
Og nå; hele prekenen, hentet fra Vatikanets hjemmeside.
(Uthevinger i kursiv er fra originalmanuset. Uthevinger i fet skrift er mine egne.)  
“I give you thanks, Father, 
             Lord of heaven and earth, 
             for you have hidden these 
             things from the wise and 
             understanding, and revealed 
             them to babes” (
Mt 
             11:25).
Peace and all 
             good to each and every one 
             of you! With this 
             Franciscan greeting I thank 
             you for being here, in this 
             Square so full of history 
             and faith, to pray together.
Today, I too 
             have come, like countless 
             other pilgrims, to give 
             thanks to the Father for all 
             that he wished to reveal to 
             one of the “little ones” 
             mentioned in today’s Gospel: 
             Francis, the son of a 
             wealthy merchant of Assisi. 
             His encounter with Jesus 
             led him to strip himself of 
             an easy and carefree life in 
             order to espouse “Lady 
             Poverty” and to live as a 
             true son of our heavenly 
             Father. This decision of 
             Saint Francis was a radical 
             way of imitating Christ: he 
             clothed himself anew, 
             putting on Christ, who, 
             though he was rich, became 
             poor in order to make us 
             rich by his poverty (cf. 
             2 Cor 8:9). In all of 
             Francis’ life, love for 
             the poor and the imitation of Christ in his 
             poverty were inseparably 
             united, like the two sides 
             of the same coin.
              What does Saint 
             Francis’s witness tell us 
             today? What does he have to 
             say to us, not merely with 
             words – that is easy enough 
             – but by his life? 
1. The first thing he tells 
             us is this: that being a 
             Christian means having a 
             living relationship with the 
             person of Jesus; it means 
             putting on Christ, being 
             conformed to him.
Where did 
             Francis’s journey to Christ 
             begin? It began with the 
             gaze of the crucified Jesus. 
             With letting Jesus look at 
             us at the very moment that 
             he gives his life for us and 
             draws us to himself. 
             Francis experienced this in 
             a special way in the Church 
             of San Damiano, as he prayed 
             before the cross which I too 
             will have an opportunity to 
             venerate. On that cross, 
             Jesus is depicted not as 
             dead, but alive! Blood is 
             flowing from his wounded 
             hands, feet and side, but 
             that blood speaks of life. 
             Jesus’ eyes are not closed 
             but open, wide open: he 
             looks at us in a way that 
             touches our hearts. The 
             cross does not speak to us 
             about defeat and failure; 
             paradoxically, it speaks to 
             us about a death which is 
             life, a death which gives 
             life, for it speaks to us of 
             love, the love of God 
             incarnate, a love which does 
             not die, but triumphs over 
             evil and death. When we let 
             the crucified Jesus gaze 
             upon us, we are re-created, 
             we become “a new creation”. 
             Everything else starts with 
             this: the experience of 
             transforming grace, the 
             experience of being loved 
             for no merits of our own, in 
             spite of our being sinners. 
             That is why Saint Francis 
             could say with Saint Paul: 
             “Far be it for me to glory 
             except in the cross of our 
             Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal 
             6:14).
We turn to you, 
             Francis, and we ask you: 
             Teach us to remain before 
             the cross, to let the 
             crucified Christ gaze upon 
             us, to let ourselves be 
             forgiven, and recreated by 
             his love. 
2. In today’s Gospel we 
             heard these words: “Come to 
             me, all who labour and are 
             heavy laden, and I will give 
             you rest. Take my yoke upon 
             you and learn from me, for I 
             am gentle and lowly in 
             heart” (Mt 11:28-29).
This is the second witness 
             that Francis gives us: that
             everyone who follows 
             Christ receives true peace, 
             the peace that Christ alone 
             can give, a peace which the 
             world cannot give. Many 
             people, when they think of 
             Saint Francis, think of 
             peace; very few people 
             however go deeper. What is 
             the peace which Francis 
             received, experienced and 
             lived, and which he passes 
             on to us? It is the peace 
             of Christ, which is born of 
             the greatest love of all, 
             the love of the cross. It 
             is the peace which the Risen 
             Jesus gave to his disciples 
             when he stood in their midst 
             (cf. Jn 20:19-20).
Franciscan peace is not 
             something saccharine. 
             Hardly! That is not the 
             real Saint Francis! Nor is 
             it a kind of pantheistic 
             harmony with forces of the 
             cosmos… That is not 
             Franciscan either! It is 
             not Franciscan, but a notion 
             that some people have 
             invented! The peace of 
             Saint Francis is the peace 
             of Christ, and it is found 
             by those who “take up” their 
             “yoke”, namely, Christ’s 
             commandment: Love one 
             another as I have loved you 
             (cf. Jn 13:34; 
             15:12). This yoke cannot be 
             borne with arrogance, 
             presumption or pride, but 
             only with meekness and 
             humbleness of heart.
We turn to you, Francis, and 
             we ask you: Teach us to be 
             “instruments of peace”, of 
             that peace which has its 
             source in God, the peace 
             which Jesus has brought us. 
3. Francis began the 
             Canticle of the Creatures 
             with these words: “Praised 
             may you be, Most High, 
             All-powerful God, good Lord… 
             by all your creatures (FF, 
             1820). Love for all 
             creation, for its harmony.
Saint Francis of Assisi 
             bears witness to the need to
             respect all that God has 
             created and as he 
             created it, without 
             manipulating and destroying 
             creation; rather to help it 
             grow, to become more 
             beautiful and more like what 
             God created it to be. And 
             above all, Saint Francis 
             witnesses to respect for 
             everyone, he testifies that 
             each of us is called to 
             protect our neighbour, that 
             the human person is at the 
             centre of creation, at the 
             place where God – our 
             creator – willed that we 
             should be. Not at the mercy 
             of the idols we have 
             created! 
Harmony and 
             peace! Francis was a man of 
             harmony and peace. From this 
             City of Peace, I repeat with 
             all the strength and the 
             meekness of love: Let us 
             respect creation, let us not 
             be instruments of 
             destruction! Let us respect 
             each human being. May there 
             be an end to armed conflicts 
             which cover the earth with 
             blood; may the clash of arms 
             be silenced; and everywhere 
             may hatred yield to love, 
             injury to pardon, and 
             discord to unity. Let us 
             listen to the cry of all 
             those who are weeping, who 
             are suffering and who are 
             dying because of violence, 
             terrorism or war, in the 
             Holy Land, so dear to Saint 
             Francis, in Syria, 
             throughout the Middle East 
             and everywhere in the 
             world. 
We turn to you, Francis, and 
             we ask you: Obtain for us 
             God’s gift of harmony, peace 
             and respect for creation!
Finally, I cannot forget the 
             fact that today Italy 
             celebrates Saint Francis as 
             her patron saint. I 
             greet all the Italian 
             people, represented by the 
             Head of Government, who is 
             present among us. The 
             traditional offering of oil 
             for the votive lamp, which 
             this year is given by the 
             Region of Umbria, is an 
             expression of this. Let us 
             pray for Italy, that 
             everyone will always work 
             for the common good, and 
             look more to what unites us, 
             rather than what divides us.
I make my own the prayer of 
             Saint Francis for Assisi, 
             for Italy and for the world: 
             “I pray to you, Lord Jesus 
             Christ, Father of mercies: 
             Do not look upon our 
             ingratitude, but always keep 
             in mind the surpassing 
             goodness which you have 
             shown to this City. Grant 
             that it may always be the 
             home of men and women who 
             know you in truth and who 
             glorify your most holy and 
             glorious name, now and for 
             all ages. Amen.” (The 
             Mirror of Perfection, 
             124: FF, 1824).