Part 3: Eucharist as Humility

‘Though he was in the form of God, Jesus did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of people. And being found in human form, he humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross’(Phil 2:6-11).

This is the great mystery of our faith. Jesus Christ, Son of God, takes on flesh and humanity and so becomes bound by the cycle of human life from birth to death. Christ truly God and truly human entered fully into our existence and experience and therefore becomes a God that truly knows us. Francis marvelled at this and rejoiced in it too.

He writes in his Letter to the Entire Order ‘The Lord of the Universe, God and Son of God, so humbles himself that for our salvation he hides Himself under an ordinary piece of bread! Brothers, look at the humility of God, and pour out your hearts before Him! Humble yourselves that you may be exalted by Him! Hold back nothing for yourselves, that He who gives Himself totally for you may receive you totally! (27-30).

As a Franciscan, I cannot read these words without being moved and changed by them. Their beauty lies in their simplicity. These are the words of somebody who understood, at the deepest levels, what Christ did for us, the lengths he went to in order to reach us where we are and how He continues to do this everyday, through the Eucharist.

Christ’s humility, Francis tells us, calls us in turn to humility. We should humble ourselves before God and each other, taking the form of a servant. In giving of ourselves to God and our Brothers and Sisters, we receive. This is the life blood of Christianity. As we celebrate the Eucharist together, we do so in harmony and solidarity with all of Creation. We can, if we turn our minds to it, carry the weight of the world to the altar and offer it, along with ourselves, to God. This is our call.

Let us pray that over these days of the Congress, that we may be given the grace of humility. That we may begin to move towards seeing our Brothers and Sisters as Christ sees them and that we may never be afraid to go and meet them, where they are, just as Christ meets us where we are. Through the Eucharist may we be unified with Christ and with one another.

Part 2: Eucharist as Christ truly present

‘Let everyone be stuck with fear, let the whole world tremble and let the Heavens exalt , when Christ, the Son of the Living God is Present on the altar in the hands of a Priest. O wonderful loftiness and stupendous dignity! O sublime humility! O humble sublimity!’ (Letter to the entire Order, 26-27).

Francis revered the role of the Priest, not for the sake of elevating the person of the Priest above others but, because of the Priests role in making Christ truly present. For Francis this was a great mystery of faith and he saw it as a great honour for those called to serve as Priests.

Francis experienced, in a very real and palpable way, the presence of God in all of Creation, his spirit soared as he contemplated the great gift of life and as he contemplated the face of God in all he met. But in the Eucharist, he recognised the real presence of Christ, the presence that consoles, transforms and heals.

In his Letter to the Clergy, Francis clearly states the need for those ministering at the Altar to do so with utmost respect and reverence. To minister knowing that it IS Christ, truly present before them. He admonishes those who treat the Body and Blood of Christ ‘illicitly’ meaning they do not afford Christ present in the Eucharist due respect and care. He writes ‘whenever the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ has been illicitly placed, let it be removed from there and placed in a precious place and locked away’ (Letter to the Clergy, 11-12). Such was Francis awareness of, and respect for, Christ truly present in the Eucharist.

As we continue to journey this pilgrim route together, let us reflect on how we reverence Christ truly present in the Eucharist. Are we in tune with the great mystery of the Eucharist or has it become mechanical for us? Do we take time to realise that in the Eucharist we meet the living Christ, who lives in us as we live in Him? Do we see the celebration of the Eucharist through eyes of faith being the blessed who do not see yet still believe?

Let us pray for each other, that this time together may be one of renewal in which our eyes of faith are opened and our sight strengthened, so we may see Christ truly present and with reverence bow to the King of Kings, in adoration, petition, praise and thanksgiving.

Part 1: Eucharist as a continual self-emptying

‘The Most High Father made know from heaven, through his Holy Angel Gabriel, this Word of the Father – so worthy, so holy and glorious – in the womb of the holy and glorious Virgin Mary, from whose womb He received the flesh of our humanity and frailty. Though He was rich, He wished, together with the Most Blessed Virgin, His mother, to choose poverty in the world beyond all else’ (Later Admonition, 2-6).

For Francis, the self-emptying act of God, the very act of taking on the weakness of humanity and, in turn, making it strong, was central to both his view of Eucharist and of how he orientated his own life. Ilia Delio OFS writes in his book The Humility of God: A Franciscan Perspective that, ‘Incarnation means that God takes on flesh. Jesus is the Word made flesh, a Word from which we could read the ultimate nature of God and of human nature itself’ (Delia, 2005, Pg 38). He continues that ‘the mystery of the Incarnation is that God bends down to meet us wherever we are. God is [both] Most High and most intimately related to us’ (Delia, 2005, Pg 52).

For Francis, Eucharist is a process of continual self-emptying. The first emptying occurred when the word became flesh, this continued in Christ’s choice to live a poor life of embodied humanness, it culminated in the Crucifixion and continues for us in the Eucharist, which makes Christ ‘s offering and self-sacrifice really and truly present to us each day.

As we begin our journey in faith, with Christ, along the pilgrim path of the IEC, I pray that we may be granted the Grace to allow us to empty ourselves, making room in our hearts and lives for Christ; however He may present Himself to us. 

A Series of Reflections on St Francis and the Eucharist

St Francis of Assisi is often famed as the Saint of Animals and Ecology and often, in light of the image portrayed in the movie ‘Brother Sun, Sister Moon’ but there is much, much more to him than all that. Francis left us a number of letters, written to various groups, his Admonitions to the Friars as well as some other shorter writings.  

Francis, through these writings, has left open for us a window into his Theology of the Eucharist. We must, however, read these in context of the time and place they in which they were composed, namely, rural Italy in the early 1200’s. Nevertheless, they contain a richness and beauty which can enkindle in us a renewed appreciation for and love of the Eucharist as communion with Christ and with one another.

Francis’ Theology of the Eucharist can be categorised under the following five areas:

1.       Eucharist as a continual self-emptying

2.       Eucharist as Christ truly present

3.       Eucharist as Humility

4.       Eucharist as call and response

5.       Eucharist as the Incarnate Word

In this series of reflections, I will explore each of these elements both in light of what Francis said and also in terms of what that can mean for us today, in light of our times.