John 6:51 I am the living
bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live
forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the
world."
At this point in the Mass the
faithful are called to come forward and receive the body of Christ. Here we
have a moment in our lives unsurpassed by any other. We received Christ into
our bodies. We should never let the gloriousness of this moment pass us by. Our
approach to the altar should be with deep reverence and awe. We should be clean
of heart and mind, and concentrating on one thing only, the reception of the
host. This reception will give us the power we need to become Christ to others,
for once Christ enters us, we should radiate Him!
The Holy Eucharist is the font of energy to live in
freedom, to love as Christ loves, purely and selflessly.
Pope Benedict XVI refers us to his encyclical letter Deus
Caritas Est, in which he reminded us that participation in the Eucharistic
Sacrifice necessarily issues in a daily life marked by “the concrete practice
of love”.
…It is our intimacy with the Lord in the Holy Eucharist
which, at one and the same time, makes us conscious of our own sinfulness and
inflames our desire to live always in Christ and, therefore, to love as He
loves.
To help us understand the moral transformation which
heartfelt participation in the Holy Eucharist brings about, Pope Benedict XVI
refers us to the story of Zacchaeus (Lk 19:1-10). When Zacchaeus met our Lord
he was at once moved to confess his sinfulness, to make superabundant
restitution for what he had stolen, and to provide from his substance for the
poor. Our Holy Father concludes: “The moral urgency born of welcoming Jesus
into our lives is the fruit of gratitude for having experienced the Lord’s unmerited
closeness.”
Pope Benedict XVI concludes his presentation on the moral
transformation worked by the Holy Eucharist by reflecting on the public nature
of our Eucharistic worship, that is, its “consequences for our relationships
with others”. Receiving Holy Communion is never a merely private act. Because
of our public communion with Christ in the Holy Eucharist, others rightly
expect Christ-like living from us.
If we receive Holy Communion and then think,
speak and act in a way which betrays Christ, then we give scandal to others. We
lead them to think that it is all right to receive Christ into our souls and,
at the same time, to ignore or contradict His teaching by the way we live. We
deceive them regarding the holiness of the Most Blessed Sacrament and its
involvement in every aspect of our being and life.
Participation in the Holy Eucharist demands that all of
us give witness to the truth and love which Christ teaches us. (Cardinal
Raymond Burke, http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/features/2012/08/16/how-the-eucharist-can-change-your-life/)
Sweet
Sacrament, We Thee Adore
Jesus, my Lord, my God, my all,
how can I love thee as I ought?
And how revere this wondrous gift
so far surpassing hope and thought?
Sweet Sacrament, we thee adore:
Oh, make us love the more and more.
Had I but Mary’s sinless heart
to love thee with, my dearest King.
Oh, with what bursts of fervent praise
thy goodness, Jesus, would I sing.
Sweet Sacrament, we thee adore:
Oh, make us love the more and more.
Ah, see! Within a creature’s hand
the vast Creator deigns to be,
reposing, infant-like, as though
on Joseph’s arm, on Mary’s knee.
Sweet Sacrament, we thee adore:
Oh, make us love the more and more.
Thy body, soul, and Godhead, all;
O mystery of love divine!
I cannot compass all I have,
for all thou hast and art are mine;
Sweet Sacrament, we thee adore:
Oh, make us love the more and more.
Come now ye angels to our aid,
sound, sound God’s praises higher still;
‘tis God, whose power created us,
and in whose praise creation thrills.
Sweet Sacrament, we thee adore:
Oh, make us love the more and more.
how can I love thee as I ought?
And how revere this wondrous gift
so far surpassing hope and thought?
Sweet Sacrament, we thee adore:
Oh, make us love the more and more.
Had I but Mary’s sinless heart
to love thee with, my dearest King.
Oh, with what bursts of fervent praise
thy goodness, Jesus, would I sing.
Sweet Sacrament, we thee adore:
Oh, make us love the more and more.
Ah, see! Within a creature’s hand
the vast Creator deigns to be,
reposing, infant-like, as though
on Joseph’s arm, on Mary’s knee.
Sweet Sacrament, we thee adore:
Oh, make us love the more and more.
Thy body, soul, and Godhead, all;
O mystery of love divine!
I cannot compass all I have,
for all thou hast and art are mine;
Sweet Sacrament, we thee adore:
Oh, make us love the more and more.
Come now ye angels to our aid,
sound, sound God’s praises higher still;
‘tis God, whose power created us,
and in whose praise creation thrills.
Sweet Sacrament, we thee adore:
Oh, make us love the more and more.
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