One Spirit Two Lives

POPE LEO proclaimed 2026 a Franciscan Jubilee Year to mark the 800th anniversary of the death of Saint Francis of Assisi.

In a reflection shared in February 2026 with the Confraternity of Penitents, its Spiritual Guardian, Father Joseph Tuscan, reflects on the meaning of this Jubilee. His meditations (in italics) are presented here together with my commentary, which seeks to highlight how Saint Anthony of Padua lived as a true spiritual son of Francis.

Rediscovering Joy

“I wish to prepare your hearts for a grace the Church offers in this Jubilee Year: the rediscovery of true joy – not shallow or fleeting, but the deep, radiant joy that marked the life of St. Francis and every authentic Franciscan vocation.

Today, joy is often fragile and misunderstood. We live in a world full of noise and anxiety, where many are entertained but few are at peace. Even in the Church, joy can be mistaken for enthusiasm or success.

St. Francis shows us something more enduring. His joy did not depend on circumstances. It endured suffering, poverty, and loss – and yet, at the end of his life, he could still sing.

What kind of joy was this – and why does it endure when so much else fails?”

This same joy began to take root in the heart of the young Fernando, long before he became known as St. Anthony. While still an Augustinian canon known as Father Fernando, Franciscan joy captivated the future Saint Anthony. As the monastery’s host, Fernando welcomed five Franciscan friars who came seeking alms. Their joy and zeal, their fearless euphoria and good humor, despite the danger of their mission to Morocco, inspired Fernando. Their martyrdom in Morocco confirmed what he had already sensed: this joy was real, and worth giving one’s life for.

He left everything, joined the Franciscans and changed his name to Anthony – already walking in Francis’ footsteps.

Conversion, not comfort

“Franciscan joy does not begin with achievement, recognition, or emotional consolation. It begins with conversion. St. Francis himself tells us this plainly in his Testament: ‘The Lord gave me…’ Everything begins with grace. Everything begins with God acting first.”

As a youth, Francis was frivolous, vain, and prideful. Upon realizing his life’s emptiness and sin, Francis experienced a conversion that caused him to entrust everything to God the Father’s control. At this, joy bubbled within him so that he would be nicknamed God’s troubadour.

Like Francis, Anthony came from a privileged background. Feeling that he would lose his soul if he continued his lifestyle, he left it behind to become a religious, choosing conversion over comfort.

Doorway to joy

“Penitence is the doorway to joy. When sin is named honestly, forgiven sacramentally, and relinquished freely, the soul experiences relief. The burden is lifted. The heart breathes again. Penitence is not an end in itself. It exists so that love may be purified and joy restored. When penitence loses its joy, it becomes moralism. When joy loses penitence, it becomes illusion.”

This same path can be seen in the lives of both Francis and Anthony. Repentant Francis’ initial response was not only to give alms to lepers, whom he feared and abhorred, but also to serve them. In his Testament, he wrote, “While I was in sin, it seemed very bitter to me to see lepers. And the Lord Himself led me among them, and I had mercy upon them. And when I left them, that which seemed bitter to me was changed into sweetness of soul and body; and afterward I lingered a little and left the world.”

As a Franciscan, Anthony dealt with different outcasts, with prostitutes and debtors. Hearing the confessions of many prostitutes, Anthony urged them to trust in God’s mercy and to reform their lives. Feeling compassion for debtors, Anthony lobbied the government of Padua for their just treatment.

A return, not a pause

“This Franciscan Jubilee is meant to re-establish a way of living. Francis did not experience conversion once and then move on. He returned again and again to the Gospel, again and again to the Cross, again and again to prayer and penance. His joy deepened precisely because his conversion deepened.”

Francis wrote an Office of the Passion and asked his followers to “walk in the footsteps of Christ.” Two years before his death, he prayed that God would allow him to feel, in his body, the pain our Lord felt at His crucifixion, and to feel, in his heart, the love that God had for all humanity. Both were granted when Francis received the stigmata.

This same perseverance marked the life of St. Anthony. In his preaching and in his Sermons, his focus remained on Scripture, particularly the Gospels, returning again and again to the mystery of Christ’s Passion and the love revealed on the Cross – just as St. Francis had done.

Surviving the Cross

“Many Christians lose joy because they unknowingly attach it to outcomes: visible progress, recognition, effectiveness, or interior consolation. When these disappear, joy collapses. Francis teaches us a deeper freedom: joy rooted in fidelity rather than results.

The Cross purifies joy by removing the need to be affirmed. It teaches the soul to rest in belonging rather than achievement. Nothing diminishes joy when joy is anchored in Christ crucified.”

At the end of his life, Francis witnessed factions among his friars. These factions threatened to mitigate his Rule and split the brothers. Despite this anguish, Francis composed the joyful Canticle of Brother Sun which he had the brothers sing to him while he was dying.

This same fidelity sustained St. Anthony. He suffered assaults by heretics and usurers as well as the rejection of his peace offer made to a tyrant who had imprisoned innocent people, including a child. Nevertheless, Anthony continued to preach, to pray, and to entrust everything to God, finding in the cross not defeat, but the source of enduring joy.

Eucharistic Joy

“Francis’ joy would not have endured without the Eucharist. He was moved by the humility of God – present, hidden, and entrusted to human hands. This sustained him in weakness and suffering.

The Eucharist anchors joy in something stable and real. Christ remains present whether we feel it or not – faithful even in dryness. Eucharistic joy can survive seasons of darkness. This joy does not depend on emotion, but on His presence. It is not an escape from reality, but a return to it.”

The same Eucharistic faith marked the life of St. Anthony. When he could not convey the Eucharistic Presence to a heretic by words alone, he proposed a challenge. The heretic brought his hungry mule; Anthony brought the Eucharist. Hay was piled in the city square. Anthony stood opposite it with the Eucharistic species. When given its head, the mule ignored the hay but knelt before the Eucharist. The heretic was converted as well as the town.

Joy within the Church

“Francis loved the Church – not idealized, but real. He knew her wounds and weaknesses, yet remained faithful. His joy was ecclesial: he did not seek a purer Church, but holiness within her.

Many lose joy when they withdraw from the Church after disappointment. Francis shows us fidelity without illusion, love without denial, and joy without naïveté. The Eucharist binds us to the Church not because she is perfect, but because Christ remains within her.”

Francis once kissed the hands of a priest who was leading a sinful life. “I know not whether this priest is sinful,” Francis explained. “I only know that these hands, and these hands alone, make present upon the altar my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

The same love for the Church can be seen in St. Anthony. As an Augustinian canon, Anthony lived in a monastery whose prior was engaged in a sinful life. While he spoke against the “corrupt clergy” and their sinfulness he remained faithful, recognizing above all the holiness of Christ present in the Eucharist, which he praised with humility in his preaching and his Sermons.

Sent forth in joy

“Franciscan joy is never meant to terminate in interior peace alone. It is meant to be given. Joy, lived faithfully in family life, work, parish, and community, becomes a form of evangelization. It testifies that the Gospel is livable, that hope is reasonable, and that love endures.”

This same mission marked the lives of both Francis and Anthony. Their humility, poverty, compassion and faith gave credibility to their preaching, and their witness has brought countless souls back to God across the centuries.