Eucharistic Reflection - Be Hungry

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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)