Eucharistic Reflection - Thank You

"My Lord Jesus Christ, who, for the love You bear to mankind, do remain night and day in this Sacrament, full of pity and love, awaiting, calling, and receiving all who come to visit You; I believe that You are present in the Sacrament of the Altar; I adore You from the depths of my own nothingness; I thank You for the many graces You have given me, and especially for having given me Yourself in this Sacrament."

                                                          (St. Alphonsus Liguori)

Eucharistic Reflection - Where Is Our Gratitude?

“…we will confine ourselves, for the present, to the Eucharist, that Sacrament of sacraments, which gives to us - as our daily food and sovereign remedy - God Himself. He was offered once for us on the cross, but He is daily offered for us on the altar. ‘This is my body,’ Christ has declared; ‘do this for our commemoration of Me’.” (Luke 22: 19)

Oh! Sacred Pledge of our salvation! Oh! Incomparable Sacrifice! Oh! Victim of love! Oh! Bread of life! Oh! Sweet and delicious banquet! Oh! Food of kings! Oh! Manna containing all sweetness and delight! Who can fittingly praise Thee? Who can worthily receive Thee? Who can love and venerate Thee as thou dost deserve? My soul faints at the thought of Thee; my lips are mute in Thy presence, for I cannot extol Thy marvels as I desire.

Had Our Lord reserved this favor for the pure and innocent, it would still be a mercy beyond our comprehension. But in His boundless love, He does not refuse to descend into depraved hearts, nor to pass through the hands of unworthy ministers who are the slaves of Satan and the victims of their unruly passion. To reach the hearts of His friends and to bring them His divine consolations, He submits to innumerable outrages and profanations. He was sold once in His mortal life, but in this august Sacrament He is unceasingly betrayed. The scorn and ignominy of His Passion afflicted Him only once, but in this Sacred Banquet His love and goodness are daily insulted and outraged. Once He was nailed to the cross between two thieves, but in this Sacrament of love His enemies crucify him a thousand times.

What return then, can we make to a Master who seeks our good in so many ways? If servants obey and serve their masters for a paltry support; if soldiers from a like motive brave fire and sword, what do we not owe God, Who maintains us with this heavenly Food? If God in the Old Law exacted so much gratitude from the Isrealites for the manna, which, with all its excellence, was only corruptible food, what gratitude will He not expect for this Divine Nourishment, incorruptible in Itself, and conferring the same blessing on all who worthily receive It? If we owe Him so much for the food which preserves our bodily life, what return must we not make Him for the Food which preserves in us the life of grace? And, finally, if our debt of gratitude be so great for being made children of Adam, what do we owe Him for making us children of God? For it cannot be denied, as Eusebius Emissenus observes, that ‘the day we are born to eternity is infinitely greater than the day which brings us forth to this world, with all its suffering and dangers."

(Venerable Louis of Granada from The Sinner’s Guide)

Eucharistic Reflection - Our Blessed Mother Lovingly Challenges Us

(Photo©Michael Seagriff)

Mother Mary:…You receive in Communion the all-holy God, yet you yourself are far from holy.

A single Communion should be enough to fill you with all the fervor of the saints, yet all your Communions leave you as cold as you were before You are always to some degree reserved in dealing with Jesus, though He does not hold back at all in heaping His blessings upon you.

His presence when you have received Him indeed inspires in you great desires of virtue, and you promise Him much. But the desires and the promises soon fade.

You would certainly not deal in this way with an important man of this world if he honored you with a visit.

How aware you are of the gifts a friend gives you! How ready to thank him! Love cannot rest until it has found a way of expressing its gratitude.

Eucharistic Reflection - Open Your Heart

[When you next receive Holy Communion, pause and imagine our Blessed Mother standing at your side. Hear and ponder these words that flow from her most Immaculate Heart:]

(Photo©Michael Seagriff)

“My child if you knew the value of the gift Jesus gives you in giving Himself to you in Communion and the sentiments toward you which fill His soul, would you lack proper sentiment toward Him?

Here the creature is visited by the Creator; a beggar by the King of glory; an afflicted soul by the heavenly consoler; a man who is all sin by Him Who is holiness itself.

Humble yourself profoundly before Him; His goodness which is infinitely greater than anything you can imagine.

Loathe your own past ingratitude; ask His help for the future; promise Him undying fidelity.

Abandon yourself to the impulses of purest joy. Ask the angels and saints to offer Jesus thanks on your behalf, thanks that are adequate, if that be possible, to the splendid gift He give you.

It's Worth Revisiting Wednesday - Good Night Lord - Thank You For My Life and My Dominican Vocation

Thanks to the generosity and encouragement of Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan, an ever-expanding group of Catholic bloggers take the time each week to re-post their favorite articles on “It’s Worth Revisiting” Wednesdays.

Do yourself a favor: go there now (and every Wednesday) and let these authors bless and challenge you in your Faith journey.

During the rest of each week. visit Allison at  Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb.  You will be pleased with what they share.

I hope you find something of value in what follows:

Good Night Lord: Thank You For My Life and My Dominican Vocation

(Originally posted:  April 25, 2011)

(Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

There are two reasons why I may have some difficulty falling asleep tonight.

On my way to Mass this morning at a Church near where my son and his wife live, I was awestruck by a life size portrait of Our Risen Lord that was on display immediately in front of the Church's main entrance.  It was the most astonishing portrait that I had ever seen. I could not keep my eyes off of it. While gazing at it, I began to make a left hand turn down a side street and to a nearby parking area.  So distracted were my mind and eyes that I turned directly into the path of an on-coming vehicle.