Posted on April 19, 2024
Catechism Meditation:
The mode of Christ’s presence under the Eucharistic species is unique. It raises the Eucharist above all the sacraments as “the perfection of the spiritual life and the end to which all the sacraments tend. “In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist “the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained.” “This presence is called ‘real’ – by which is not intended to exclude the other types of presence as if they could not be ‘real’ too, but because it is presence in the fullest sense: that is to say, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present. ―No. 1374
REFLECTION. Can we stand idly by and be satisfied just to acknowledge the possibility of actually meeting with God in Christ? This face (God in Christ) ought not only be acknowledged but celebrated as well. It should be acted upon by us. Indeed, God has himself facilitated a loving embrace of him by us in the Eucharist. Through the Eucharist he makes himself reachable. We nod, not worship, from afar.
What is the meaning of God’s proximity to us in the Eucharist? It is a mind-boggling expression of love for us. If God were indifferent to us – not caring whether we resorted to him or not – he would hardly have approached so near to us as he does in the Eucharist. Can such a regard, such love of us, be ignored or taken for granted? It would surely be crass for us not to respond to the unimaginable overture that God has made us.
PRAYER. O God, forgive my indifference to your closeness to me in the Eucharist. Let me experience ever more acutely the warmth of your Eucharistic presence.
Timeless Wisdom Quote:
“As Our Lord obtained the first elements of His own human Body from a woman, so for the Eucharist He takes bread and wine from the earth. The bread and wine are thus representative of mankind. Two of the substances which have most widely nourished man are bread and wine. Bread has been called the marrow of the earth; wine, its very blood. In giving what has traditionally made our flesh and blood, we are equivalently offering all mankind on the paten.” ― Venerable Fulton J. Sheen
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