Eucharistic Reflection - Indifference To Holy Communion

"You who only communicate rarely are like someone between two sleeps. You know that Jesus Christ is truly in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, that this food is absolutely necessary for your poor soul. Nevertheless, one sees in you little desire. There are long intervals between your

Confessions and Communions.

You decide to go because of a great feast or a jubilee or a mission, or because others are going, and not because your poor soul needs it. Not only do you not try to merit this happiness, but you do not even envy those who taste it more often. Thus you imitate the Jews. 

They are reproached for refusing shelter to Jesus Christ on the first Christmas night although they did not know Him. You treat Him with the same discourtesy, you who neglect to receive Him into your hearts in Holy Communion. 

Do not forget that at the Particular Judgment Jesus Christ will judge us on all the good we could have done. He will show you all the sacraments that you could have received during your life. How many more times you could have received His Body and His Blood if you had wished to lead a better life. Ah, great God!" 

(From The Eucharistic Meditations of the Cure of Ars)

Eucharistic Reflection - The Malice of Man

"In the Eucharist, Jesus exposes Himself without protection to the insults and outrages of the impious; and the number of his new executioners is very great. 

 

Photo by Jacob Bentzinger on Unsplash

His goodness is disregarded and despised by a large number of bad Christians.

His Holiness is defiled by so many profanations and sacrileges and that by His own children and His best friends.

The indifference of Christians leaves Him alone, abandons Him in the Tabernacle, refuses His graces, neglects and even despises Communion and the Sacrifice of the Altar.

The malice of man goes so far as to deny His presence in the adorable Host, to trample it underfoot, to feed it to filthy beasts, and to use it in diabolical magic.

At the sight of so much ingratitude on the part of man, Jesus must have been troubled and unsettled for a moment before instituting the Eucharist.

There were so many reasons against it, the strongest of which was assuredly ingratitude. What a shame for Him to live among His own like a stranger unknown to them, to be forced to take flight and seek the hospitality of pagans, of savages...

Well, in view of such a sad and discouraging picture of things to come what was the Heart of Christ to do? Unable to win the heart of man, was His love to admit defeat? And since His Eucharist was bound to be useless for some was it worth His instituting it all?

But His love triumphed over all these sacrifices. 'No,' exclaimed Jesus, 'it will not be said that man can offend Me more than I can love Him. I will love Him in spite of his ingratitude and crimes. I, his King, will wait for him to visit Me. I, his Lord, will offer him My love before he offers Me his. I, his Savior, will be at his beck and call. I, his God, will give Myself entirely to him so that he may give himself entirely to Me and that I may give him with My love all the treasures of My goodness, all the magnificence of My glory; so that I may triumph in him and that he may triumph through Me. If there are so many as a few faithful hearts, if there's only one grateful and devoted soul, I will be compensated for all My sacrifices. I will institute the Eucharist for that one soul; I will rule supreme over the heart of at least one man.'

And our Lord then instituted the adorable Sacrament of His all to great love.”

 (St. Peter Julian Eymard from A Eucharistic Handbook)

Worth Revisiting - Will They Hear?

Thank you once again, Allison Gingras at Reconciled To You  and Elizabeth Riordan at Theology Is A Verb  for hosting Worth Revisiting each week. It is a privilege to share our work with you and your followers.

Sometimes, one priest must have the courage to challenge some of his brother priests by writing frankly and truthfully. This is the time. Thank you Father Mark for doing so.

 

 

This is what I wanted to share this week:

 

Will They Hear?

 

 

 

(Originally posted on October 31, 2011)

 

Nothing so grieves my Heart
as the coldness and indifference of priests and of consecrated souls
to my living presence among them.
Had they not the privilege
of my abiding sacramental presence close at hand,
they might be excused for the hardness of their hearts,
but those who have me near,
those who dwell close to my tabernacles
have no excuse for the estrangement of their souls
from the Sacrament of my Love.
On the Day of Judgment I will hold them accountable
for the neglect and indifference
by which they alienated themselves from me,
while I, the living God,
the God who is love,
the God who is all mercy
and who sought their friendship and their company
waited for them,
and waited in vain.

Even you, O my priests,
my adorers, my chosen friends, consolers of my Heart,
disappoint me when,
although I wait for you
and although it is within your power to approach me,
to adore me even for a moment,
and to console me,
you pass me by
and live as though I were not here waiting for you,
yearning for your companionship,
ready to embrace you.

Come to me, then,
come to me as often as you can.
Come, even if only for a moment
to allow me to refresh you,
to inflame you with my love,
to illuminate your mind,
and to pacify your soul.
Come to me and, for a moment,
remain with me
for the sake of those who walk away from me.
Come to me
for the sake of those who pass me by.
Come to me for the sake of those
whose hearts are cold
and who seek their happiness in passing things.

Come to me, and I will welcome you.
Come to me, and I will bless you.
Come to me, and I will press you against my open Heart.
Come to me, and I will show you the beauty of my Eucharistic Face.
Come to me, and your soul shall live.
Come to me, and yours shall be the joy that the world cannot give.
Come to me, and I will place you next to myself.
Come to me, and know that I come to those who come to me,
together with my Father and the Holy Spirit.
Come to me, for I wait for you.

(From In Sinu Iesu - When Heart Speaks to Heart the Journal of a Priest at Prayer, used with permission))

Worth Revisiting - What Kind of Soul Am I? - Part 2

Thank you Allison Gingras at Reconciled To You  and Elizabeth Riordan at Theology Is A Verb  for  hosting Catholic bloggers at Worth Revisiting. 

 

It is a privilege for us to share our work with you and your readers. Stop by for a visit now.

 

Monday Musings - Which Kind of Soul Am I? - Part 2 

(Originally posted October 16, 2017)

(Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

[In The Golden Key to Heaven – An Explanation of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, St. Anthony Mary Claret discusses three distinct types of souls. Last week we looked at the first type (you can review that post here).  If you did not recognize yourself then, maybe what follows will be a more accurate description. This one might really smart - the Truth does that you know.]

"The second class of men consists of those who have a true will to aspire to perfection, but it is not an all-inclusive, generous will…Let us return to the example of sick persons.

Behold, my soul, another sick man very different from the first one. He desires to regain his health, and to achieve this he is ready to take medications and other remedies. But he is unwilling to take the iron or the caustic medications, or other similar disagreeable remedies. (He will take whatever medicine is prescribed, provided it does not taste bad.) Thus he, too, is unwilling to have all treatments that are necessary. What should be said of this sick man? It is true that he has a good will, but it lacks strength, whole-heartedness, and generosity.

A disposition resembling that of this sick man is that in which we find many spiritual people. They want to acquire perfection, and to obtain it they are ready to take some of the means, but not all. To bear up for many years with interior desolation and grave trials, to suffer humiliation and contempt without having given any occasion for it, and other things distasteful to corrupt nature, seems to these souls too great a burden for their shoulders. What should be said of these souls? One will say that they have some good will, but it is like that of the sick man unwilling to take all treatments that are necessary. What will follow for a will that holds back this way? Note this well, my soul and impress it well in your heart…Realize that:
 

Monday Musings - Stop and Ponder How He Feels