After an hiatus...here are my thoughts on the Holy Eucharist:
When I am at Mass, I wonder how many of my brothers and sisters in the pews realize what a wonderful miracle we are blessed to witness at each Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Based on the nonchalant attitude I see from many: saying amen even before the priest says the Body of Christ, chewing on the Holy Host like its a piece of bubble gum, not spending time in prayer afterward to thank The Lord for coming inside of them as "we are not worthy that he should enter under my roof.", and not going to confession before receiving as if they have no sins on their soul. No big deal!
Now I am not placing any judgment on others, rather I only wish that more of us who are Catholic would realize what we are privileged to witness every time we gather for Mass. Venerable Fulton Sheen said: "He willed to give us the very life we slew; to give us the very Food we destroyed; to nourish us with the very Bread we buried, and the very Blood we poured forth. He made our very crime into a happy fault; He turned a Crucifixion into a Redemption; a Consecration into a Communion; a death into Life Everlasting," (Sheen, )
A consecration into a communion! What a beautiful image! The Lord of Our Salvation willed that his arms would be nailed to the cross to be the consecration to his Father for reparation for OUR sins! His arms were open to open wide the doors to heaven for those who believe in Him without compromise. His arms were not only open to save us but to embrace us!
I remind my students at every Mass we have at school to reflect on the wonderful grace of receiving Christ in the Holy Eucharist. You and I become a tabernacle after receiving Him. He is held inside of us. He becomes a part of us, permeating every part of our being.
Are you prepared to receive Him?
"O Sacrament most Holy,
O Sacrament Divine,
All praise and all thanksgiving,
Be every moment Thine."
