Brothers and Sisters: I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.
Scripture for
reflection: John 15:4
“Live in me, and I will live in you.”
Joan Carroll Cruz
tells us in her book Eucharistic
Miracles, Tan Books, 1987): The holy Catholic Church teaches that at
the moment of the Consecration of the Mass, the bread and wine on the altar
truly become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. The bread and wine cease to
exist, though the appearances and properties…of bread and wine remain. This
momentous change is known as transubstantiation
– change of substance. The consecrated Host and the Precious Blood under the
form of wine are given the adoration that is reserved for God alone, since they
are, indeed, Almighty God Himself…. The opinions that Christ is only in the
Eucharistic elements as in a sign, or that Christ is received only spiritually,
were condemned by the Council of Trent. (Trent, Session XIII, canons 1, 6, 8,
Oct. 11, 1551). Our Lord is present as long as the appearances of bread and wine
remain…. Thus Our Lord is present in a communicant for about 15 minutes, and
one should adore Him within oneself as long as He is sacramentally present. A
famous story is told about St. Philip Neri, who saw a woman who had received
Holy Communion leave the church right after Mass, disregarding Christ within
her. The saint sent two altar boys with lighted candles to accompany her, as
she was still a living tabernacle of the All-Holy God.
Prayer: God
our Father, let us not be gripped in the fear of our own imaginations, let us
not be attached to our own ideas of how things are supposed to be. Let us face
the reality of our lives with the certainty that all reality and all of our
lives belong to you. Let the Real Presence of the Eucharist be the beginning of
our welcoming your real presence in all of reality. (Magnificat, Holy Week,
2012).
My thoughts: Many
Catholics do not believe in the real presence of God in the Eucharist. Not
possible, they say. I guess if one had the concept of a physical God, or even
of a definable God, or a limited God, then one would be right about this. I
marvel, however, that anyone is bold enough to think that God can be accurately
defined by man, limited in size and space by man, or subjected to the same rules
of physics that confine man. God is beyond our imaginations. He can do and does
what no mere man can explain. That is why He was able to give us Himself in the
Eucharist. That is why, too, we must venerate the Body of Christ in us when we
receive Him in Holy Communion. We must listen to St. Philip Neri, mentioned in
the commentary above, and spend time after Communion praising, thanking,
petitioning and begging forgiveness. God physically dwells in us for about 15
minutes. That is not too long to spend with Him. His spiritual presence,
however, remains in us forever. We truly are never alone when we become
frequent communicants.
Our prayer to God:
Let us end our practice of leaving Mass as soon as the final blessing is
given and the last verse of the hymn is sung, and begin to remain in the church
for a few more minutes just talking to God. I have a feeling we will begin to
live a new life, one more conscious of the presence of God in our hearts,
minds, souls and bodies. As we come to realize more and more that He lives in
us, we will then be able to live more easily in Him.
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