Feast of the Stigmata of Saint Francis of Assisi

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/091712.cfm

Today Franciscans throughout the world celebrate Francis' receiving the stigmata. In this online-homily I usually reflect on the readings  offered in the Roman Lectionary; and, since any competent Franciscan preacher can find something to say about our Founder within the context of any scripture passage, I will keep the readings of this Monday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time:

Another fallen tree
blocks the Way of the
Cross

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup,
you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.

It seems the Corinthians ordinarily celebrated the Eucharist with a potluck dinner, but the ethos of a stratified Roman society prevailed. The wealthy and the poor ate on separate tables, sharing neither food nor conversation. It doesn't sound much like a Mass by our standards; and Paul moved swiftly to discipline the rite and correct the scandalous situation. His disciples learned to leave their food at home and share only the simplest basics of the Eucharist, consecrated bread and wine. There would be no comparisons between whose bread is better or whose wine is finer. There should be no segregation between classes, races or ethnicities. The elders would supply basic elements of bread, wine and water for everyone and the ordained would provide rituals and prayers.  In that way the entire congregation could focus on "the death of the Lord until he comes."

If anyone  thinks the early church was a Utopian society of equals that resembled an American suburban parish only better, they should read Saint Paul's letters to the Corinthians. Saint James also made some pointed remarks about the shabby treatment of the poor in his New Testament letter.

Saint Francis took these words to heart and demonstrated their truth throughout his life. He did not often "eat this bread and drink the cup" because the Church had already fallen into a habit of rarely sharing the Sacred Species. But he had an enormous dedication to the Blessed Sacrament and to the Cross of Jesus Christ.

His enthusiasm for the cross appears early in his life. As he knelt before the painted cross in the ruined chapel of Saint Damien, wondering what he should do with his life, he heard the crucified Lord speak to him, "Francis repair my church, which you can see has fallen into ruin." When he fashioned a habit for himself and his new community, he formed a cross with the hood, capuche, sleeves and tunic. He often meditated with loud sobs and weeping on Jesus' agony and death. In fact his devotion to the suffering of Jesus inspired all of Europe to take another look at the cross. To this day we celebrate the Stations of the Cross and bless ourselves with the Sign of the Cross. Finally, his body was impressed with the stigmata. He was the first disciple of Jesus to have this extraordinarily painful blessing. 

Likewise, Francis' enthusiasm for the Eucharist shines through his writing and stories. The Fourth Lateran Council, meeting in 1223, defined church teaching about the Eucharist with the word transubstantiation. The Eucharist is not bread to remind us of Jesus (transignification); it is not bread and Jesus (consubstantiation); it is the flesh of Jesus. Although its accidents resemble bread and wine, its substance is the body and blood of the Lord.

Saints Francis and Saint Dominic attended that council and assumed for their respective communities the duty to announce the clearer, more demanding doctrine of the Eucharist to the whole Church. We should see God in our churches! He lives in our neighborhood. God is not just the Lord of Heaven, seated in majesty on an ethereal throne; he is here as neighbor, friend and servant. Francis was overwhelmed with gratitude for the Eucharist: "Look at the Humility of God" he commanded his friars. 

Receiving the Eucharist has become a commonplace event in our churches today, and this worries some of us. Are we too casual about the Eucharist? Do we offer it too freely to Catholics, non-Catholics and non-Christians? Do some people feel compelled to receive the Sacrament although they know they should not?

I have met more than a few Veterans in the hospital who refuse the Sacrament although they may accept it by our rules. Some are divorced. Although they never remarried, they were told they should not receive the Eucharist. One fellow's daughter assured me that her father had to divorce his wife to save himself and his children. But he would not receive the Sacrament. Another ailing patient lived in a brother-sister relationship with his second wife but would not receive the Sacrament. Nothing I said would persuade him otherwise.  Their refusal was an honoring of the Sacrament, though misplaced.

These gentle men remind me of the holiness of the Eucharist, for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.