Franciscan Life and the Eucharist

A Franciscan View by Fred Schaeffer, OFS

There can be no Franciscan life without the Eucharist as its center. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the center of our Christian life and therefore also the center of our Franciscan life. We attend Holy Mass not as Franciscans but as members of the Body of Christ, where we thank and praise the Father united with the entire Church. The life of Saint Francis exemplifies a life of total love for Jesus, of suffering for Jesus through the Stigmata, the wounds of Christ on his hands, feet and side.

Our Seraphic Father was drawn to the Eucharist, the real presence of Jesus Christ in Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. From his relationship to Christ in the Eucharist, Francis grew closer to all other Christians whom he regarded as his sisters and brothers on an equal level to himself. Franciscans, therefore, give first place in their daily lives to the Mass and to receiving Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. This makes an intimacy possible with Jesus which drives Franciscans with the fervor and zeal of Saint Francis toward the radical living of the Gospel, which is their daily life.

A Franciscan strives to live his life in the shadow of the Cross, a life of prayer and sacrifice, of courageous action and total love for sister and brother not only on the fraternity level but worldwide. Franciscans are people who have dedicated their Christian lives to minister to their sisters and brothers in the way of Saint Francis in a quiet and understated way and without prejudices of any kind.

An intimacy with Jesus is the desire of all Christians because Jesus desires to have that close relationship with us. How can we as Franciscans tell you that we yearn for God's closeness without giving the impression that we somehow want more than others do? The closer we come to Jesus, the more we feel the need for prayer, and the more we pray, this intimacy increases.

We must in some way, in prayer and penance, do reparation for the outrages toward, and the abandonment of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

Fred Schaeffer, OFS
2011, revised 1/10/2024
  (based on fview001)

Home