«De graça recebestes, de graça dai»

This text is built around Jesus’ affirmation “You have received with grace, give gracefully”, recorded in the Gospel of St. Matthew 10,8. It draws from the OT and the NT, which shows the maternal distress of an attentive and caring God, who looks with a love of his children and towards his children, and who, in the face of our selfishness, self-sufficiency, exclusiveness and self-centredness, sets forth new horizons of openness, of inclusion and of sharing. He also challenges our world of possession with a new model of receiving and giving. Thus a new concept of family and brotherhood is born. The life of Saint Francis of Assisi is put forward as a model of reception of the precepts from the Matthew text.