Jesus upsets the mind-sets of the Jews who wonder how he can give them to eat his body and drink his blood.
Francis, endowed by Grace with extraordinary charisms, understood all this well.
In his simplicity he was a great lover of the Eucharist, to which he dedicated a special letter: "Letter to all clerics on the reverence of the Body
of the Lord".
Francis loved the Crucified One so much, and for Him and in Him the Cross on which He was confined for the salvation of the world, that he received the gift of the stigmata.
Made like Christ, therefore Alter Christus. He had always fixed in his mind the Gift of the Father to humanity, in the Son.
The Sources enlighten us in this regard:
"And we give thee thanks, because as thou hast created us through thy Son, so by thy holy love, with which thou hast loved us, thou hast brought forth the same true God and true man from the glorious ever-virgin most blessed Saint Mary, and, by the cross, blood and death of Him hast willed to redeem us from bondage" (FF 64).
And again: 'For he said that nothing is more important than the salvation of souls, and he proved this very often by the fact that the only-begotten of God deigned to be hung on the cross for the sake of souls [...].
He did not consider himself a friend of Christ if he did not love the souls He loved" (FF 758).
"One morning, as the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross approached, while he was praying on the side of the mountain, he saw the figure like a seraphim, with six wings as bright as they were fiery, descending from the sublimity of heaven [...].
He came close to the man of God, and then there appeared between his wings the effigy of a crucified man, who had his hands and feet stretched out and confined on the cross [...].
He understood by divine revelation the purpose for which divine Providence had shown him that vision, that is, to make known to him in advance that he [...] was about to be transformed into the visible portrait of Christ Jesus crucified [...] by the fire of the Spirit" (FF 1225).
The Sources, a Franciscan treasure chest, masterfully attest to the sacrificial beauty of such an experience:
"His hands and feet appeared pierced in the centre by nails [...].
His right side was also pierced as if by a lance blow, with a wide scar, and he often bled, bathing his cassock and pants with that sacred blood" (FF 485).
Also at San Damiano there was great reverence and love for the Flesh and Blood of Christ.
In fact, Clare also yearned to receive the living Bread that came down from heaven with great devotion and recollection.
The life of these two Poor Clares was an unceasing Eucharistic sacrifice for the benefit of humanity, in unity with Jesus.
Their every gesture was Bread broken and Blood shed for every creature in need.
Living in poverty and simplicity in daily life they became Food and Drink for all.
"Whoever chews my flesh and drinks my blood has the Life of the LORD" (Jn 6:54)
20th Sunday in O.T. B (Jn 6,51-58)
