We
know that the Eucharist is the center of Christian life but all too often the
Eucharistic Celebration, where Jesus becomes present for us becomes
routine. What happens at the altar
should have feet on it so when we walk out of the Church the presence of this
mystery should be seen in our way of life.
We
all get so busy that we even can’t remember the readings of the day for
the Mass.
So
it is good to take time as we are doing today and reflect on what the Eucharist
means, and is for each of us.
Today
we will consider these points. A) Where
Jesus Christ is found. B) Some Saints
that found inspiration from the Blessed Sacrament and C) what can we do to
further our own devotion to the Eucharist.
Where
Christ is found.
In
the Vatican documents, you remember, it states that Christ can be found in 4
ways, I add a fifth way. 1.) Christ is present in His sacraments especially in
the Eucharist, 2.) Christ is present in the Word, 3) Christ is present in the
priest, 4)Christ is present in the assembly of people at prayer and 5)Christ is
present in the poor.
·
Christ is present in His Sacraments especially the Eucharist; the
Eucharist is the source of all power, energy and grace.
Pope Urban the IV asked Thomas Aquinas to write the mass for Corpus Christi
Sequence from the Mass of Corpus Christi– all good Theology of the Eucharist
·
Christ is present in the word; the word of liturgy of the Eucharist and
putting those words in practice in our own lives.
·
The Hebrew Bible tells of the manna that came down from Heaven; also
the Jewish people devour their Torah readings like it was and it is nourishment
for the soul.
·
Christ is present in His priests.
Francis had a great reverence for priests because they were able to
bring down from heaven Jesus on our altars- story of an unworthy priest. We who
are baptized also share in this priestly vocation and therefore not specters at
the Eucharist, as we would be at a football game. We offer with the priest our
lives, on the paten and in the cup.
·
Father Pierre Chardin, a Jesuit, wrote a book called Hymn f the
Universe. While he was on an archeology
dig in Asia , he wrote this. “I have neither bread, nor wine, nor altar,
but I will raise myself beyond these symbols. I your priest, will make the
whole earth my altar and on it will offer you all the labors and sufferings of
the world…grant me the remembrance and the mystic presence of all those whom
the light is now awakening to the new day.
One by one, Lord, I see and I love all those whom you have given me to
sustain and charm my life. I call before me the whole vast anonymous army of
living humanity. Over every living thing which is to spring p, to grow, to
flower, to ripen during this day say again the words; this is my body, and over
every death-force which waits in readiness to corrode, to wither, to cut down,
speak again your commanding words, which express the supreme mystery of faith;
This is my Blood.” So we have here
Chardin’s idea of the Cosmic Christ offering the cosmic Mass.
·
Christ is present in His people gathered in prayer. We can see The image of Saint Francis holding
up St. John’s Lateran Church in Rome (then the papal Church) the Church is
yours and mine to embrace; not the attitude “my Church, wrong or right’ but our
attitude of knowing that we are the Church, and we, part of the church, are
sinners and isn’t it wonderful that we are welcomed in this Church. Anne Dillard became a Catholic and when
reporters asked her why she became a Catholic she said, “ When I look around in
Church I say to myself here comes everybody.” We, in a Eucharistic manner and
moment welcome everyone or if we don’t we should make every effort to welcome everybody. It is easy to become cynical about the church
especially as we get older. I remember
once a sister asking a priest, “Why does the church do this or that and hurt
people. And his response was,”We all can
sit in a corner and lick our wounds, but one has to make up their mind that
when we are shelved we will become sweet pickles
and not sour pickles on the shelf. What has this to do with the Eucharist, you
may ask. Well, the Church is the body of
Christ, one body, no fractions no divisions, diversity yes but in all things
charity. (Quote is from the Vatican
documents.) When we go up to communion and receive the host, and the priest
says, body of Christ, we say Amen, that is Yes, to the whole body, to the
person seating next to me, to the people in Iraq, the poor in New Orleans. It is the attitude of the willingness to wash
everyone’s feet in welcoming them. We
are always trying, falling short of the mark, falling down and getting up,
beginning again. As Francis says,” Up to now, I have done nothing, Let us begin
again.” Francis said this on his
deathbed. Someone asked a Trappist monk what he does all day and he said we
fall down and get up again, fall down and get up. He pointed to a large oak and said see that
mighty oak, it once was a little nut that hung on.
·
Read – about Quakers:
Christ
is present in his poor:
he
Poor are the presence of God
·
We can derive inspiration from Saints.
·
St Clare of Assisi turned to the
Eucharist when the Saracens were attacking Assisi Assisi
·
St Elizabeth Seton, while in Italy witnessed a Corpus Christi
procession and while she was an Episcopalian who did not believe in the Real
Presence said that if she did believe in The Real Presence she would walk on
her knees to the that Church. When she
returned home to New York from Italy Elizabeth would go to Church at Trinity
Episcopalian Church
at the Wall Street area but sit with her face toward the Roman Catholic Church of
St. Peter’s.
·
Bishop Fulton Sheen always spent an hour every morning before the
Blessed Sacrament, as did Cardinal Joseph Bernadin, who was told by his own
priests ,"you are not too busy, Cardinal, to stop and spend an hour before the
Eucharist."
·
One moment in my own life that has deepened my devotion to the
Eucharist began when I was 7 years old.
Our Parish was having 40 hours devotion and the first communion class, of
which I was a part, was to walk before the priest who was carrying the
Eucharist. Since I was small and one of
the leaders of the procession at the back of the Church my partner and I were
to stop and the others take the next pew up until the whole group was lined up
to the front of the Church. When the
priest came with the Eucharist a man in the back knelt down and touched the
clock of the priest. It scared me at
first but as I grew older I realize that he was acting out the Gospel story
where it says, “If I but touch the hem of His garment I will be cured.” That was faith and humility. Every time I hear that Gospel story my mind
goes back to that man who had such faith.
·
Praying before the blessed Sacrament or during Mass we can to consider the
forms of prayer that are used for Mass and to carry them to our private
adoration
·
I think of the word SPORTS to help us remember the different forms of
prayer found in the Mass which we can also use in our private moments before the blessed Sacrament
·
S IS FOR SUPPLICATION
·
P IS FOR PETITION, POETRY, PRAISE
·
O IS FOR ORATION WHICH IS REALLY A LITTLE DISCUSSION WITH THE LORD
·
R IS FOR REPARATION
·
T IS FOR THANKSGIVING
·
S IS FOR SONG
Thanks for reading this and may you find your life in the Eucharist grow.
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