Dear Parishioners:
Since we are in this four-week time of Gospel readings from the sixth chapter of John, I thought it would be good to reflect a little on some ideas about the Eucharist.
Saint Thomas More writes:
"I will not mistrust [God], though I shall feel myself on the verge of being overcome with fear.... I trust He shall place His holy hand on me and in the stormy seas hold me up from drowning."
From Saint Augustine:
"Too late have I loved Thee, O Beauty of ancient days, yet ever new! Too late have I loved Thee! And lo! Thou wert within me, and I abroad searching for Thee. Thou wert with me, but I was not with Thee. This is our daily bread (Holy Communion); take it daily, that it may profit thee daily. Live, as to deserve to receive it daily."
We have the great opportunity to attend Mass every day. It does require that we schedule our time and make a special effort, but it can be done. If one is unable to make a Mass, we are open twenty-four hours a day for visits to the Blessed Sacrament.
We are beginning weekly Benediction on Monday evenings from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Here is a wonderful time to spend with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and meditate on His love for you and me.
St. Bonaventure writes:
"In beautiful things St. Francis saw Beauty itself, and through His vestiges imprinted on creation he followed his Beloved everywhere, making all things a ladder by which he could climb up and embrace Him who is utterly desirable.
If you desire to know ... ask grace, not instruction; desire, not understanding; the groaning of prayer, not diligent reading; the Spouse, not the teacher; God, not man; darkness not clarity; not light, but the fire that totally inflames and carries us into God by ecstatic unctions and burning affections."
You and I must look through the eyes of faith to see the Lord Jesus in the Eucharist. If we could see Jesus plainly in some sort of Eucharist miracle, we might have the tendency to seek the miracle, not Jesus. The Eucharist is a PERSON not a thing. To be most proper we should refer to the Eucharist as WHO, not it.
We have to lose ourselves to do this. One of the great experiences I have witnessed is our young people at some of our youth retreats. They really lose themselves in the moment and see the Lord Jesus in the Eucharist. Their lives are changed and they never again go to Mass the same way.
Let all of us lose ourselves. Let's not be afraid to let God's Spirit just fill us and make us "fools for Christ." David danced with abandon (cf 2 Sam. 6:12). St. Paul was taken up to see what God has prepared for those who love Him (1 Cor. 2:6). Our Father of Love will lead you and me to deeper intimacy.
Let us dare to allow God to lead, even where we'd rather not go.
Fr. Bill
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