What at first may seem like charming scenes, when placed on the rough surface of actual life, become mad moments indeed. Like the Son of Man, they have no place to lay their heads, and live without money in their pockets. While never harming anyone, they raise their voices against those who lie and cheat and do violence to others, but at the same time they are always ready to embrace them. For them, no one, absolutely no one, is unimportant. Their dramatic gestures, however shocking, always have to do with revealing the person of Christ and his mercy.
Holy fools wear the wrong clothes, or rags, or perhaps nothing at all.
This is a witness that they have nothing to lose. There is nothing to cling to and nothing for anyone to steal. The voluntary destitution and absolute vulnerability of the holy fool challenges us with our locks and keys and schemes to outwit destitution, suffering and death. Holy fools may be people of lesser intelligence, or brilliant. In the latter case such a follower of Christ may have found his or her path to foolishness as a way of overcoming pride and a need for recognition of intellectual gifts or spiritual attainments.