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“To be induced to eat we
must be hungry; we must feel an imperative desire to take food if we do not
want to faint from starvation. For the act of eating is troublesome and sensual,
and the digestive process often tiresome and painful. The good God has consequently
given us our appetite to make us desire nourishment, and He has given a
pleasing taste to the various foods in order to attract us to them.
Similarly, there is a
hunger for Communion, a hunger for Jesus Christ, and it has its different
degrees; but the keener it is, the more profitable is our Communion. A healthy
stomach will desire food and digest it, whereas a sick stomach cannot retain anything.
This hunger for Communion
God Himself must place in our hearts, else we should never wish to receive Him.
So vast a distance is there between us and God that, of ourselves, we should
never dare to approach the Holy Table if grace did not excite an urgent hunger
within us, a hunger that makes us forget the infinite dignity of Jesus Christ
and think of nothing of our own need. God causes our spirit to be absorbed by
His grace in order that we may see not our own misery but His goodness, in
order that we may forget who we are and Who He is.
Man lives by desire, seeking
nothing, undertaking nothing of moment but what he has long desired. Well, a divine
desire urges us to receive Communion, a desire so strong that it give us courage
to approach the Judge of heaven and earth without dying of fear. This hunger
for God excuses our temerity. Surely, the poor unfortunate who takes a loaf of
bread in order not to starve to death is not a thief; his need excuses him.
“But,” you will perhaps
say, “I do not feel this desire.” If you never receive Communion, that is possible;
but if you do, I answer that God has kindled within you the desire for it; for
if you did not have some desire, however small, you would not dare to
communicate.
Tell me, what poor person,
even though he were at the point of starvation, would dare go to dine at a king’s
table unless he were invited? Such a thing is unthinkable. Yet the distance
which separates us from God is far greater; how then do we dare approach Him in
Communion? In truth, it is necessary that Jesus Christ, in His infinite mercy,
should veil our eyes before we can do in regard to Him what we would not do in
regard to any great person on earth: we invite ourselves to His divine banquet.
The true reason, then,
for receiving Communion is the hunger one feels for it. As this hunger comes
more acute, more urgent, go more frequently to Communion. If you are not
growing spiritually, if you are not becoming stronger, you are not eating
enough, or else you are eating without appetite. Arouse yourself, recognize your
need at any rate, even if you cannot feel the hunger of love.
(St.
Peter Julian Eymard from Holy Communion)
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