Salesian Eucharistic Spirituality
 The Life-Long Banquet of God's Grace - Insights on the Eucharist
from Saint Francis de Sales by Joel Giallanza, CSC St. Francis de Sales was born into a world, late sixteenth-century and early seventeenth-century France, in which every component of his resume became an effective channel for the pastoral concern and care of the people he served. Francis was ever aware that, on his own, he could not accomplish all that the Lord called him to do. He knew, however, the priority of his relationship with God and of participating in the life of the body of Christ, the church. He embraced that priority fully and he lived it in an exemplary way. St. Jane de Chantal, Francis' close friend and co-foundress with him of the Visitation Sisters, wrote in a letter that he would often teach the need to humble yourself profoundly under God's holy hand, to let yourself be led by way of his good pleasure, to offer no resistance to whatever he may wish to do with you; and to correspond to his grace by fidelity to the opportunities presented to you by Providence. Our blessed Father [Francis] valued beyond measure these practices and faithfully observed them (to Noel Brulart, February, 1632). |
St. Francis' fidelity in corresponding to God's grace was nurtured and sustained by his involvement in the life of the church and his regular reception of the sacraments. The Eucharist was a source of nourishment for him and he wrote of it eloquently. These present reflections will explore some aspects of St. Francis de Sales' perspective on "the blessed sacrament of the Eucharist, the life-long banquet of God's grace" (Treatise on the Love of God, III:11). "God Has Become Our Very Food" As many others have done over the course of church history, Saint Francis speaks of the Eucharist as food, as essential nourishment for our continued spiritual growth and development. In commenting on the Eucharist, most writers will highlight the benefits accessible to us through regular reception of this food and nourishment. Francis, however, adopts a different perspective. He emphasizes the attitude and action of Jesus in providing us with this great gift: You cannot consider our Savior in action more full of love or more tender than this. In it he abases himself, if we may so express it, and changes himself into food, so that he may penetrate our souls and unite himself most intimately to the heart and body of the faithful (Introduction to the Devout Life, II:21). |
This attitude of love and act of humility have but one goal: intimate union with us. This is the attitude and action of our God who longs for us and seeks to be one with us. Such an attitude and action have been God's mode of operation since creation. Throughout salvation history, God has nurtured a love relationship with us. Maintaining this relationship demands a genuine mutuality: God is not unaware of our love for him, since it is his gift to us; nor can we be unaware of his love for us, since he has proclaimed it so widely; we also recognize that all good things we possess are due to his benevolence (Treatise on the Love of God, 2:22) |
The article has been reproduced with permission of Emmanuel Publishing from the March/April 2004 issue of Emmanuel, 5384 Wilson Mills Rd., Cleveland, Ohio 44143 + (440) 449-2103
|
