Eucharistic Reflection - Sweet Jesus You Are Calling Me

(Photo by Eric Mok on Unsplash)

 

"O my sweet Jesus, You are calling me to come aside to the quiet, to spend time with You. I come to You eagerly. I long to be with Magdalene, sitting at Your feet, listening to the sound of Your voice. With John, the beloved, may I place my head upon Your shoulder, for I hope one day to fully embrace You in Your kingdom.

In this uncertain world, the one thing that I have always known with certainty is that You love me. It is my earliest memory, perhaps a gift of Your grace to guide me and bring me to the path that You were placing before me. I was never distracted by the drama around me, because the one thing I knew with every fiber of my being was Your love for me.

Your love has carried me, and it now carries me into Your Eucharistic Presence, so that I may spend time with You, my Beloved. Here in Your Presence, the world outside ceases to exist. I bring the needs of my brothers and sisters to place before You, believing and trusting in Your love and mercy. The clamor outside is stilled, so I may listen attentively to You. I find joy and peace in being with You. 

Who am I, my Lord, that You choose to be housed in the tabernacle for me? To be a prisoner for my sake? It is by Your great love that You choose to remain here. Love and peace permeate this sacred space. I am content to sit quietly in Your Presence, my sweet Lord. All the words of love that I speak, pale in comparison. They fall short. I am trying to use finite words to speak of the infinite and eternal Love and Beauty which You are. 

Augustine has said our hearts are restless until they rest in You. The psalmist has said in listening to the voice of God, we enter His rest. When I step aside and enter the quiet to be with You, Lord, both are true. Indeed, my heart is restless to be with You, but when I enter into Your Eucharistic Presence to spend time with You and listen to Your voice, I do enter into that promised rest with You. I understand why our brother, Thomas Aquinas, placed his head against the tabernacle, so as to draw as close to You as possible to enter into that rest. He understood the reality and power of Your presence in the Blessed Sacrament. Thomas knew that You were offering a foretaste of Heaven and a pledge of future glory. 

Enlighten me, precious Jesus. Help me to understand as much of the mystery that I am capable of understanding in this life, and may I come to know the fullness of understanding when I am with you one day in Heaven. Until that time, direct and order my life, so I may bring others to You, my dearest Lord. I ask this in Your most holy name."

(Mrs. Melanie Von Gunten, OP from Godhead Here in Hiding Whom I Do Adore - Lay Dominicans Reflect on Eucharistic Adoration)