Eucharistic Reflection - To Have The Right Intention

"There are some people who go to Holy Communion to gain the esteem of the world. It avails them nothing. Others go out of habit. Poor Communions, they have not the right intention. 

Go to Communion to obey Jesus Christ, who has commanded you to do so, under pain of not having eternal life. Go to Communion to obtain the graces that you need, humility, patience, purity. Go to the Holy Table to unite yourself to Jesus Christ so that He will make of you other Christ’s, which happens to those who receive Him worthily.

When you go to Holy Communion you should always have an intention, and say when about to receive the Body of Our Lord: 'O my good Father, who art in heaven, I offer you, at this moment, your dear Son, such as He was when He was taken down from the Cross, and laid in the arms of the Holy Virgin, and as she offered Him to You in sacrifice for us. I offer Him to You by the hands of Mary, to obtain such or such graces, faith, charity, humility.' 

My children, listen well to that. Every time I have obtained a grace, I have asked it like this; I have never been disappointed."

(St. John Marie Vianney, Meditation 15(3) from The Eucharistic Reflections of the Cure of Ars)

Eucharistic Reflection - The Best Hour

"Blessed opportunities to be with our Lord in Eucharistic Adoration are the best hours spent when it comes to healing a broken heart, a wounded soul. I find that when I am in my darkest hours, I run to the Adoration Chapel. There is no other comfort our earthly home can provide to soothe my soul when I am wounded. It is truly a privilege to be able to just go to the Chapel, where God resides, and be able to “stop in” for a visit, any day, any time, and find my dearest and best Friend waiting for me. Who could ask for anything more?

Time in Adoration is also the best place to go when discerning God’s providence. I find myself going there automatically when I need to know what God wants of me when I am making big decisions in life. It is an anointed time to be with God. He can reach my heart and mind in a way that breaks through the distractions I encounter when I talk to Him most anywhere else. It seems to me that He leads my mind in directions I cannot seem to go any other time. The best ideas and plans come to me in Adoration in prayer. When I go forth, and act on the direction I receive in prayer at Adoration, it is almost always the perfect plan or idea. Thanks be to God!..."

(Ms. Katrina Johnson, OP, from Godhead Here In Hiding Whom I Adore - Lay Dominicans Reflect on Eucharistic Adoration)

Eucharistic Reflection - The Single Greatest Remedy

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"My Presence in the Blessed Sacrament preached, and confessed, and surrounded by adoration, love, and heartfelt reparation is the single greatest remedy for the evils that afflict My Church and for the sorrows that weigh so heavily upon My priests. My ways are not your ways, nor do I act according to the principles of worldly success. I act in the silent, humble, hidden reality of My Eucharistic Presence. Adore Me, and the radiance of My Eucharistic Face will begin to change the face of the earth, even as it heals My priests, calls sinners home to My Heart, and enlivens the hearts of those grown weary and sad (like the disciples on the road to Emmaus) with a spark of divine vitality and with the fire of My Eucharistic love."

(From In Sinu Jesu, The Journal of a Priest)

Eucharistic Reflection - Do Not Be Afraid of Liturgical Silence!

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“I call Catholics to genuine conversion! Let us strive with all our heart to become in each of our Eucharistic celebrations ‘a pure Victim, a holy Victim, a spotless Victim!' Let us not be afraid of liturgical silence. How I would love it if pastors and the faithful would enter joyfully into this silence that is full of sacred reverence and love for the ineffable God. How I would love it if churches were houses in which the great silence prevails that announces and reveals the adored presence of God. How I would love it if Christians in the liturgy could experience the power of silence!”

 

(Robert Cardinal Sarah from The Power of Silence – Against The Dictatorship of Noise)