THE VOICE OF CHRIST:
“Come
to Me, all you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you.”
“The
bread which I will give is My Flesh, for the life of the world.”
“Take
you and eat: this is My Body, which shall be delivered for you.
“Do
this for the commemoration of Me.”
“He
that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, abideth in Me, and I in him.
“The
words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life."
THE DISCIPLE:
These are all Your words, O Christ, eternal Truth, though they were not
all spoken at one time nor written together in one place. And because they are
Yours and true, I must accept them all with faith and gratitude. They are Yours
and You have spoken them; they are mine also because You have spoken them for
my salvation. Gladly I accept them from Your lips that they may be the more
deeply impressed in my heart.
Words of such tenderness, so full of sweetness and
love, encourage me; but my sins frighten me and an unclean conscience thunders
at me when approaching such great mysteries as these. The sweetness of Your
words invites me, but the multitude of my vices oppresses me.
You command me to approach You confidently if I wish
to have part with You, and to receive the food of immortality if I desire to
obtain life and glory everlasting.
"Come to me," You say, "all you that labor and are
burdened, and I will refresh you."
Oh, how sweet and kind to the ear of the sinner is
the word by which You, my Lord God, invite the poor and needy to receive Your
most holy Body! Who am I, Lord, that I should presume to approach You? Behold,
the heaven of heavens cannot contain You, and yet You say: "Come, all of
you, to Me."
What means this most gracious honor and this friendly
invitation? How shall I dare to come, I who am conscious of no good on which to
presume? How shall I lead You into my house, I who have so often offended in
Your most kindly sight? Angels and archangels revere You, the holy and the just
fear You, and You say: "Come to Me: all of you!" If You, Lord, had
not said it, who would have believed it to be true? And if You had not
commanded, who would dare approach?
Behold, Noah, a just man, worked a hundred years
building the ark that he and a few others might be saved; how, then, can I
prepare myself in one hour to receive with reverence the Maker of the world?
Moses, Your great servant and special friend, made an
ark of incorruptible wood which he covered with purest gold wherein to place
the tables of Your law; shall I, a creature of corruption, dare so easily to
receive You, the Maker of law and the Giver of life?
Solomon, the wisest of the kings of Israel, spent
seven years building a magnificent temple in praise of Your name, and
celebrated its dedication with a feast of eight days. He offered a thousand
victims in Your honor and solemnly bore the Ark of the Covenant with trumpeting
and jubilation to the place prepared for it; and I, unhappy and poorest of men,
how shall I lead You into my house, I who scarcely can spend a half-hour
devoutly -- would that I could spend even that as I ought!
O my God, how hard these men tried to please You!
Alas, how little is all that I do! How short the time I spend in preparing for
Communion! I am seldom wholly recollected, and very seldom, indeed, entirely
free from distraction. Yet surely in the presence of Your life-giving Godhead
no unbecoming thought should arise and no creature possess my heart, for I am
about to receive as my guest, not an angel, but the very Lord of angels.
Very great, too, is the difference between the Ark of
the Covenant with its treasures and Your most pure Body with its ineffable
virtues, between these sacrifices of the law which were but figures of things
to come and the true offering of Your Body which was the fulfillment of all
ancient sacrifices.
Why, then, do I not long more ardently for Your
adorable presence? Why do I not prepare myself with greater care to receive
Your sacred gifts, since those holy patriarchs and prophets of old, as well as
kings and princes with all their people, have shown such affectionate devotion
for the worship of God?…
Many people travel far to honor the relics of the
saints, marveling at their wonderful deeds and at the building of magnificent
shrines. They gaze upon and kiss the sacred relics encased in silk and gold;
and behold, You are here present before me on the altar, my God, Saint of
saints, Creator of men, and Lord of angels!
Often in looking at such things, men are moved by
curiosity, by the novelty of the unseen, and they bear away little fruit for
the amendment of their lives, especially when they go from place to place
lightly and without true contrition. But here in the Sacrament of the altar You
are wholly present, my God, the man Christ Jesus, whence is obtained the full
realization of eternal salvation, as often as You are worthily and devoutly
received. To this, indeed, we are not drawn by levity, or curiosity, or
sensuality, but by firm faith, devout hope, and sincere love…
Oh, the wonderful and hidden grace of this Sacrament
which only the faithful of Christ understand, which unbelievers and slaves of
sin cannot experience! In it spiritual grace is conferred, lost virtue
restored, and the beauty, marred by sin, repaired. At times, indeed, its grace
is so great that, from the fullness of the devotion, not only the mind but also
the frail body feels filled with greater strength.
Nevertheless, our neglect and coldness is much to be
deplored and pitied, when we are not moved to receive with greater fervor
Christ in Whom is the hope and merit of all who will be saved. He is our
sanctification and redemption. He is our consolation in this life and the
eternal joy of the blessed in heaven. This being true, it is lamentable that many
pay so little heed to the salutary Mystery which fills the heavens with joy and
maintains the whole universe in being.
Oh, the blindness and the hardness of the heart of
man that does not show more regard for so wonderful a gift, but rather falls
into carelessness from its daily use! If this most holy Sacrament were
celebrated in only one place and consecrated by only one priest in the whole
world, with what great desire, do you think, would men be attracted to that
place, to that priest of God, in order to witness the celebration of the divine
Mysteries! But now there are many priests and Mass is offered in many places,
that God's grace and love for men may appear the more clearly as the Sacred
Communion is spread more widely through the world.
Thanks be to You, Jesus, everlasting Good Shepherd,
Who have seen fit to feed us poor exiled people with Your precious Body and
Blood, and to invite us with words from Your own lips to partake of these
sacred Mysteries: "Come to Me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I
will refresh you."
(From The Imitation
of Christ by Thomas a Kempis, Book 4, Chapter1)
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