I know I am among the throng who have increasingly complained about being unable to receive Holy Communion.
We have a right to feel that way; but let us not forget (as I have) that this painful experience is intended by God for our eternal benefit.
Ponder the wisdom of these words penned by Dom Lorenzo Scupoli more than four hundred years ago - advice that our ears and hearts may need to hear today:
“Show the same resignation [to God’s will] when, either under the direction of your confessor, or for some other reason, you are obliged to refrain for a time from Holy Communion. Rather than be disturbed by this loss, you should say with your heart:
Were
I not guilty of some failing or shortcoming before the Lord, I would not thus
be deprived of receiving Him; blessed be the name of Him Who has revealed to me
my true unworthiness. I know, O Lord, that in all the trials of my life I need
do nothing but bear them patiently in the hope of pleasing Thee, offering to
Thee a heart conformable to Thy holy will. I know that in giving my heart to
Thee it will be nourished in divine consolation and fortified from the
ever-threatening powers of hell. O Creator and Redeemer! Do with me as though
wilt – may Thy will be my strength now and forever! All I ask is a cleansed and
virtuous soul, worthy of receiving Thee, and desirous of executing Thy every
wish!”
(Dom Lorenzo Scupoli from The Spiritual Combat)
We pray Lord for the grace to bear with patience all the trials of our lives.
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