St Bonaventure in Legenda Minor XIII, 1-4 described this event:
"Two years before his death, Francis, faithful servant of Christ, was led by divine providence to a high mountain called La Verna, where he could be alone. ....
The fervour of his seraphic longing raised Francis up to God and in an ecstasy of compassion made him like Christ who allowed himself to be crucified in the excess of his love. Then one morning about the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, while he was praying on the mountainside, Francis saw a seraph with six fiery wings coming down from the highest point in the heavens. The vision descended swiftly and came to rest in the air near him. Then he saw the image of a man crucified in the midst of the wings, with his hands and feet outstretched and nailed to a cross..... He (Francis) was overjoyed at the way Christ regarded him so graciously under the appearance of the seraph, but the fact that he was nailed to a cross pierced his soul with a sword of compassionate sorrow.
As the vision disappeared, it left his heart ablaze with eagerness and impressed upon his body a miraculous likeness. There and then, the marks jof the nails began to appear in his hands and feet, just as he had seen them in the vision of the man nailed to a cross....
True love of Christ had now transformed his lover into his image...."
Today is the Franciscan family celebrates the feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis even though it will be replaced by the Sunday celebration in churches today.
However we view this moment in Francis' life - as a supernatural event or psychological, I don't think it matters. God works through the human. It can be discounted that the event was some sort of hysteria, given the overall psychological and spiritual make up of Francis he was no unrestrained hysteric.
This feast reminds me that "We become what we contemplate". Francis' whole life was spent in reaching beyond himself - from master of the revels, to dreams of rising above his merchant class to knighthood. After his conversion this reaching beyond was always the following of Christ "poor and crucified"; "the Lord of Glory who became our brother". His whole life was spent if growing and deepening his love for "Friar Jesus", and that love implied imitation. Francis wanted to imitate as closely as possible in his own age, the self-giving, the actions and the love of Jesus, and this imitation was very practical, to be lived practically and tangibly at every moment and in all things.
It is therefore not surprising that this singleness of life direction, call it "purity of heart" or "the one thing necessary" should manifest itself in him physically. For Francis, the God-Human Jesus crucified showed the extent of God's love so it is no surprise that this moment was the yard-stick for all love. Living this singleness of direction was not a once and for all thing, Francis, like all of us made mistakes, gained new insights - it was a lifetime, lived day by day of conversion of heart and mind and deed drawn by love.
So, Francis truly became what he contemplated. This is the way of humans. Our heart's deepest desiring will always be manifest in our bodies, our deeds, our thoughts - manifest in who we are. For example, I think of my parents who, after fifty years of marriage unconsciously developed similar speech patterns and mannerisms but at the same time did not infringe the individuality. However at a deeper level, there was often the unguarded look of love that was mirrored in each of their faces.
So we see in faces and deeds the manifestation of the heart and its longings. Whether it be from a heart filled with greed, fear, uncertainty or a heart filled with compassion, forgiveness love. Whether a heart of greed or a heart of love, it is the work of a lifetime because all of us are in some way or another broken people in need of healing. The milieu in which we live, the events of life, the choices and responses we make all support a heart's direction. There is never a moment that God is not loving and inviting us, but sometimes our life situation makes it too difficult to know this. We are given to each other to be the face of God. This is one reason why Francis wanted so passionately to imitate his beloved Jesus - not only to return love for love, but to be that face of love - he grieved that "Love is not loved".
So, on this feast I look again at my own heart's direction; renew the singleness of purpose that will draw together all the disparate threads of my life to see them in the light of the "one thing necessary".
Monday 18 September 2006
Sunday 3 September 2006
Twenth-Second Sunday - 3 September, 2006
The Gospel for today (Mark 7:1-8; 14-15; 21-23) has Jesus contending with the Pharisees and scribes and the lack of insight by his disciples, although the latter is left out of this reading. The whole of Mark 7:1-23 is worth reading. Jesus criticises the Pharisees, who have already criticised the disciples for not carrying out the ritual washing, for meticulously observing the rituals of their faith but ignoring or avoiding the deep heart that is the wellspring of faith.
Because this gospel text is so familiar, I find it all too easy to gloss over it and think - oh yes, outward show is not as important as attitudes of heart and mind. A timely warning. Of course, I would be on Jesus' side against those Pharisees who loved empty display.
Well, Jesus was a good Jew and according to some exegetes, probably belonged to the Pharisee tradition. So he is criticising from within the tradition, so to speak, rather than from outside - a 'them and us'. He was steeped in his tradition and the Law, the Torah. For the Jewish people the Law, the Torah was, and remains God's great gift of life. It is the Way, it 'delights the soul'. The Rabbis had a tradition of 'the hedge around the Torah'. These were observances which were meant to actually help the Jewish people observe the heart of the Law. However, like all things that are meant for good they are open to manipulation, misuse, overuse and becoming empty of their deep meaning.
Because Jesus (or the evangelist) quotes from Isaiah in this 'conversation' indicates that it is not a new problem. It is as old as the Jewish people themselves, as old as humanity. We have the gift of greatness and we also have the burden of darkness. It is so easy for us to turn the best of things to manipulative, selfish ends. We only have to listen to the manipulative words of some politicians, activists, spin doctors to hear this happening today.
Jesus takes us back to the heart of faith, our deep beliefs which are the direction of our hearts. It is interesting that the attitudes Jesus condemns are also outward manifestations - 'fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, ....These things come from within and make one unclean.' So it is indeed about the inward and the outward because who we are in the depths of our being will of necessity manifest itself. If the heart is hard, closed, fearful so will one's actions manifest that. If the heart is striving to love, tender, forgiving then so will one's actions manifest that.
I think the reality is we all sit somewhere between the ritualistic Pharisees the confused disciples and Jesus' passion for the deep meaning of God's commandments. In our human journey we move, we change, but the direction of our heart, the desire of our heart to daily be converted is what is important.
So, what do I learn from looking again at this familiar text? First of all - that I need to constantly question what I assume to be right or wrong, not to sit back and think that I have arrived. Habits of mind are even more potent than the externally ritualistic washings Jesus condemned. The habits of mind that enable me to put people into categories of 'good'; 'not so good'; 'indifferent'. The habit of mind that allows me to justify as accaptable actions that stem from avarice, malice etc. that Jesus condemned. To judge by some unexamined yardstick rather than to take whatever I do, think, say, believe and allow it to be bathed in the light of the Gospel. I may return to what I believe, I may shed it, I may modify it, but whatever happens it will be closer to the heart of God.
Secondly - outward signs are important. Lovers have rituals between them that may seem trite or even difficult to an outsider. These rituals are a 'hedge' By lovers I mean whoever loves deeply be it spouses, parents and children or friends. The longer those lovers are together, the more those rituals are put to the test. Where love grows too habitual or even indifferent those signs become empty - just as Jesus condemned. However, when lovers have been together for a long time and are steeped in their love, those rituals preserve, deepen and renew that love. Love must be nurtured. So must faith be nurtured so that heart and action are congruent.
As hmans we are the face of God. We manifest the God in whom we believe with every breath we take. It is unavoidable. So, let the outward signs, the daily signs of love between lovers, become a potent expression of the God of Jesus.
Because this gospel text is so familiar, I find it all too easy to gloss over it and think - oh yes, outward show is not as important as attitudes of heart and mind. A timely warning. Of course, I would be on Jesus' side against those Pharisees who loved empty display.
Well, Jesus was a good Jew and according to some exegetes, probably belonged to the Pharisee tradition. So he is criticising from within the tradition, so to speak, rather than from outside - a 'them and us'. He was steeped in his tradition and the Law, the Torah. For the Jewish people the Law, the Torah was, and remains God's great gift of life. It is the Way, it 'delights the soul'. The Rabbis had a tradition of 'the hedge around the Torah'. These were observances which were meant to actually help the Jewish people observe the heart of the Law. However, like all things that are meant for good they are open to manipulation, misuse, overuse and becoming empty of their deep meaning.
Because Jesus (or the evangelist) quotes from Isaiah in this 'conversation' indicates that it is not a new problem. It is as old as the Jewish people themselves, as old as humanity. We have the gift of greatness and we also have the burden of darkness. It is so easy for us to turn the best of things to manipulative, selfish ends. We only have to listen to the manipulative words of some politicians, activists, spin doctors to hear this happening today.
Jesus takes us back to the heart of faith, our deep beliefs which are the direction of our hearts. It is interesting that the attitudes Jesus condemns are also outward manifestations - 'fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, ....These things come from within and make one unclean.' So it is indeed about the inward and the outward because who we are in the depths of our being will of necessity manifest itself. If the heart is hard, closed, fearful so will one's actions manifest that. If the heart is striving to love, tender, forgiving then so will one's actions manifest that.
I think the reality is we all sit somewhere between the ritualistic Pharisees the confused disciples and Jesus' passion for the deep meaning of God's commandments. In our human journey we move, we change, but the direction of our heart, the desire of our heart to daily be converted is what is important.
So, what do I learn from looking again at this familiar text? First of all - that I need to constantly question what I assume to be right or wrong, not to sit back and think that I have arrived. Habits of mind are even more potent than the externally ritualistic washings Jesus condemned. The habits of mind that enable me to put people into categories of 'good'; 'not so good'; 'indifferent'. The habit of mind that allows me to justify as accaptable actions that stem from avarice, malice etc. that Jesus condemned. To judge by some unexamined yardstick rather than to take whatever I do, think, say, believe and allow it to be bathed in the light of the Gospel. I may return to what I believe, I may shed it, I may modify it, but whatever happens it will be closer to the heart of God.
Secondly - outward signs are important. Lovers have rituals between them that may seem trite or even difficult to an outsider. These rituals are a 'hedge' By lovers I mean whoever loves deeply be it spouses, parents and children or friends. The longer those lovers are together, the more those rituals are put to the test. Where love grows too habitual or even indifferent those signs become empty - just as Jesus condemned. However, when lovers have been together for a long time and are steeped in their love, those rituals preserve, deepen and renew that love. Love must be nurtured. So must faith be nurtured so that heart and action are congruent.
As hmans we are the face of God. We manifest the God in whom we believe with every breath we take. It is unavoidable. So, let the outward signs, the daily signs of love between lovers, become a potent expression of the God of Jesus.
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