2nd Sunday after Pentecost 23.6.19 Eucharist and
Commitment
Today, the Sunday after Corpus Christi we can reflect
further on the mystery of the Eucharist.
Let your good be in deeds not in words (epistle ). It is good
to say the right thing as an incentive to go in the right direction, but the
real test is actually doing the thing that has to be done.
A lover might say, I would swim any ocean for you, climb any
mountain. But he knows he is never going to have to do that, so the sincerity
of his words will never be tested.
Our Lord said, Greater love than this has no man, than that
he lay down his life for his friends (Jn 15.13)
He said it and His words were put to the test: He did lay
down His life.
He said He would be with us till the end of time, and He has
made it so in the Eucharist, where He abides with us, and with which He makes
us spiritually strong.
This is ‘doing’ not just talking about it. The Lord wants to
make us copies of Himself, to have the same pattern of service to others, the
same willingness for self-sacrifice, always seeking the will of God above all
else.
He wants us to respond at our level to what he is doing at His
level. Supernatural charity cannot be matched but it can at least be appreciated.
The Eucharist is God's main way of imparting grace to us
here on earth. Its value is immense but can be appreciated only if we are fully
engaged in the process.
There are certain subtleties which may be missed by those
who have not cultivated a spiritual sense.
One who receives without faith has no spiritual hunger and
will not benefit.
But if we develop our understanding to the point that we
really want the things of God, and are prepared to learn what we do not yet
understand – then we can make progress, and each reception of the Eucharist can
take us further than the one before.
We need God’s help to
make us want what we should want.
The Eucharist will do things to us and for us, if we are
prepared to commit ourselves to whatever may follow.
We receive on the Lord’s terms. Anything He wants is fine
with me.
We cannot receive as if to say, I am only a little bit
interested here, a little bit committed.
Otherwise it could be a sacrilegious communion and make it
worse.
At the other end of the scale we do not have to be perfect
but at least sincerely seeking the ways of God.
Saints show the way. Their love for the Eucharist was the
same as for Jesus
Christ, and of course the Eucharist is Jesus Christ, but we
do not necessarily act on that belief.
Many allow doubt to stifle their response. It is better to
dive in, believing and then seeing that indeed the Lord is faithful to His
promises.
So we come to the feast, the banquet where our soul is to be
fed. It does not replace physical food, though it may have a healing effect on
the body.
In this food we draw on the sacred humanity of Christ; it will
impart to us the qualities of Our Lord Himself, making us more like Himself.
If we meet Him here He will meet us, and good things will happen,
such as our becoming more like Christ!
We will never have to swim an ocean to prove our love for
Christ. We might have to die for Him. Whatever it comes to we will be ready for
it, having been constantly nourished by contact with Him, through this great
Sacrament.
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