Tried by Fire

Homily for the Feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi

There are no fewer than 100 verses in the Bible that refer to “testing by fire.” One of the most familiar is taken from the Book of the Prophet Malachi: “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.” The stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi could be referred to as Francis being tested by fire.

A silversmith while going through the process of refining silver in his shop was once asked, "How do you know if the silver has been refined?"  The silversmith smiled as if the question was unnecessary, and he answered, "When I can see my image in it; when the molten metal becomes like a mirror and I see my reflection in it; then I know the process is done; the silver is refined."

As we go through life, we absorb all kinds of impurities and attachments that tarnish us, so trials and sufferings are sent to purify us and restore us to what we were -- to what we should be.  Like a precious metal, we are being melted by suffering until the silversmith sees his image in us.  Who is the silver-smith?  The prophet Malachi was obviously pointing toward God in his oracle.  We are put on that fire of trials, until he can again see in us his image – a loving, compassionate, gentle, forgiving, and merciful image.  Trials and sufferings, when we allow the Lord to guide us through them, will melt the impurities, the attachments, the selfishness, the anger, the hardness of heart, the materialism and all other faults and failings until we are purified and cleansed.  This is a powerful lesson to learn, and quite hard to put into practice; but then, nothing is impossible with God.

Toward the end of his life, St. Francis composed the Canticle of the Creatures and soon after orches-trated his last moments to echo those of Jesus.  All of this put together made him a reflection of the Savior - faithful, simple and poor, devoid of any prejudice or bad will against anyone, welcoming all into his heart, being a brother to all creatures and trusting in the Father alone.  He had become an image of Jesus, even physically.  He had been purified many times over like silver, and the divine Silversmith saw in him the image of his Son.  The Stigmata was the ultimate stamp to show that the silver had been purified. To this day, St. Francis is often referred to as the Mirror of Christ.

We have all received the call to holiness. Offering our personal trials and suffering as a personal oblation is certainly one part of that call. The Eucharist reminds us daily of the suffering that Jesus endured to save us from sin. As we offer his sacrifice, let us unite our offering to that of Jesus. As we read in the First Letter of St. Peter: “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”