Franciscans and the Liturgical Life:: Let Us Praise, Adore, and Give Thanks

Chapter Three: Franciscan Theology of the Eucharist: Does it Inform Our Lives?

CHAPTER THREE FRANCISCAN THEOLOGY OF THE EUCHARIST: DOES IT INFORM OUR LIVES? James G. Sabak, O.F.M. Writing a paper that answers the question whether or not the Eucharist informs the lives of Franciscans faces two distinct hurdles. On the one hand, it is a loaded question that can be construed as license to make judgments based on the experiences of Eucharistic practices of various communities of Franciscans. Such an approach would probably not endear me to many Franciscan communities, since it is my experience that there are occasions when friars find the liturgy a more contentious topic to discuss than poverty. On the other hand, it is a daunting question, because this topic is a field little mined at present. In this regard, I am entering into new territory, albeit only in a modest way, and so feel some trepidation. Yet, the question of the impact of a theology of the Eucharist on the Franciscan movement and its continued influence in our own day is a topic worthy of investigation and reflection. I write this at a point in history when questions of lost, forgotten and suppressed information within the greater Catholic religious tradition consume the attention of both the culture and the academy. It is, therefore, both providential and appropriate to ponder again what comprises a specifically “Franciscan” Eucharistic theology, how it impacted the early Franciscan movement and how it informs and challenges us today. This paper, then, will consist of three parts. Part One will provide a brief analysis of the medieval social and liturgical context in which Francis and the early Franciscan Movement understood, celebrated and engaged in the Eucharist. Part Two will offer a description of five aspects of Franciscan Eucharistic theology, gleaned from the analysis in Part One. Part Three will assess the role of the Eucharist in some contemporary Franciscan and ecclesial contexts. James sabak, O.F.m. 28 Part One: The Medieval Context Kevin W. Irwin in his book, Context and Text, writes that when speaking about matters sacramental and liturgical, it is important to consider the context, especially social and cultural, in which these theologies and practices evolved. Attention to such concerns reveals some of the ways the act of liturgy influences the shape of theology and how we live the moral, spiritual life.1 It is well, then, to begin our consideration by examining how liturgy influenced the evolution of our Franciscan tradition and charism. While eight hundred years of history and tradition may be a bit intimidating to traverse, I will focus on the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, in which our tradition finds its origins. This historical period holds a key in retrieving and revealing what may have been overlooked in the development of a uniquely Franciscan engagement with the Eucharist. We are inheritors of a medieval understanding of creation and the cosmos, an understanding perhaps all too easily dismissed today as benighted or ignorant, yet one that greatly influenced and continues to influence how Franciscans enact the Eucharist. In my province, particularly in our houses of formation, we have added, at morning and evening prayer, an intercession for vocations to all families of the Order. Every Thursday morning we pray this particular intercession: O God, Francis and Clare had great awe and reverence for the Eucharist: may our devotion to Jesus’ Body and Blood be an example to those who aspire to the Franciscan life. Captured in this intercession, I believe, lies the kernel of our investigation and the answer to our question. Yet its key words—awe, reverence and devotion—translate very differently today than they did in Francis’s time. Today, one might primarily associate “awe,” “reverence ” and “devotion” with a privatized idea of the Eucharist and associate them with a celebration of solemn exposition of the Holy Eucharist . For St. Francis, however, these were emotions and evocations integral to the context of a communal experience of the Eucharist. In order to appreciate this distinction, it is important to overcome two suppositions about the medieval period that often complicate a 1 Kevin W. Irwin, Context and Text: Method in Liturgical Theology (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1994), 55. Franciscan Theology oF The eucharisT 29 full appreciation of a Franciscan appropriation of the Eucharist. The first is the belief that during this period a sharp division occurred between clergy and laity, resulting in the latter becoming a passive, non-participative body, largely ignored...