Pope Francis: God’s plan marinates in the kitchen of the heart

In an audience this morning with the canoness nuns of the Holy Spirit in Sassia, and other communities linked to the charisma of Guido di Montpellier, Pope Francis noted that it is interesting how “God’s plan marinates in the kitchen of the heart.”

At the beginning of the meeting, the Holy Father remembered Blessed Guido Montpellier, French religious founder of the Hospitallers of the Holy Spirit, and Saint John of Mata, co-founder of the Trinitarian Order.

Taking as an example his commitment to the poor and the sick, Pope Francis noted that it is interesting “how God’s plan marinates in the kitchen of the heart and the notes of flavor and color permeate the rules of life, and then spread its perfume.” to the entire Church.”

Next, he highlighted that “in your rule the vow of poverty is expressed in a particular way: to live without anything of your own.”

This expression, according to the Pontiff, “does not simply mean a vigorously sober and detached life” but rather understanding “that we are guests in the House of the Trinity that welcomes us, sharing it with the poor whom we are called to serve.”

In fact, he highlighted that “the first religious, by explicitly professing the three evangelical counsels, spoke of poverty as communion, assuming the example of the early Church in which all believers remained united and put what was theirs in common.”

In this way, he added, “fraternal life goes beyond sharing spaces, tasks and services, it is about making a total donation of ourselves to God in our brother, without reservations.”

“Without anything of my own left in the chamber of worldly securities, hidden in the cell, the pocket or, worse still, in the heart, because only from that freedom can we begin a project in which we advance together and of which we are an eschatological sign, the journey towards the eternal dwellings to which God summons us,” he noted.

“A journey towards God,” the Holy Father continued, “moved by the Holy Spirit, in which we become followers of Christ the Redeemer, who has come to serve and not to be served, and teachers of life, if we are able to become small and servants of all, welcoming the poor and giving them the comfort of our charity.”

“May Mary, favorite daughter of the Father, mother of God the Son and wife of the Holy Spirit, sustain you on this path to make your hearts and your communities living temples of the Holy Trinity,” Pope Francis concluded.