Devotion for today: it is right to give Him thanks and praise

Today we give thanks for the gift of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament

Scripture for meditation: Hebrews: 10:19-25

 Brothers, since the blood of Christ assures our entrance into the sanctuary by the new and living path He has opened up for us through the veil (the veil meaning His flesh), and since we have a great Priest who is over the house of God, let us draw  near in utter sincerity and absolute confidence, our hearts sprinkled clean from the evil which lay on our conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to our profession which gives us hope, for He who made the promise deserves our trust. We must consider how to rouse each other to love and good deeds. We should not absent ourselves from the assembly, as some do, but encourage one another; and this all the more because you see that the Day draws near.

Christ says: Luke 19:20

Then, taking bread and giving thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying: “This is My body to be given for you. Do this as a remembrance of Me.” He did the same with the cup after eating, saying as He did so, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which will be shed for you.”

St. Alphonsus encourages us: You must be aware that in a quarter of an hour’s prayer spent in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, you will perhaps gain more than in all the other spiritual exercises of the day.  

They feel great tenderness and devotion who go to Jerusalem and visit the cave where the Incarnate Word was born, the hall where He was scourged, the hill of Calvary on which He died, and the sepulcher where He was buried; but how much greater ought our tenderness to be when we visit an altar on which Jesus remains in the Holy Sacrament! Eucharistic Miracles, Joan Carroll Cruz, Tan Publishing, 1987

 Prayer: Come Adore/ Tantum Ergo

Come adore this wondrous presence, Bow to Christ the source of grace.

Here is kept the ancient promise, of God’s earthly dwelling place.

Sight is blind before God’s glory. Faith alone may see his face.

Glory be to God the Father, Praise to His coequal Son.

Adoration to the Spirit, Bond of love, in Godhead one.

Blest be God by all creation, Joyously while ages run.  St. Thomas Aquinas

My thoughts: What a great gift we have to be able to visit Christ in the Blessed Sacrament in every tabernacle in every church throughout the world! Our first passage reminds us that nothing separates us from Christ’s presence any longer. We are free to kneel before the Blessed Sacrament any time of any day. As Saint Alphonsus tells us, adoring Christ in the Eucharist is greater than any visit to the Holy Land. Those are simple reminders of where He was. On the altar, or in the tabernacle, is where He Is! Although “faith alone can see His face,” may our faith always be that strong, and may we thank God this week for this truly great gift.

Our Prayer to God: Why not stop by a church during this week of preparation for Thanksgiving Day, and take a minute to kneel before the tabernacle and thank God for the gift of Himself, so freely given to us. Time spent before the Blessed Sacrament is time spent in complete abandonment to God. It is, after all, right to give Him thanks and praise.