Eucharistic Reflection - We Have Not Welcomed You!

"But I hear You complain, O my Sacramental Jesus:  I was a stranger, and you took Me not in (Matt. xxv. 43); that You came on earth to be our guest for our good, and that we have not welcomed You. You are right, Lord, You are right; and I am one of these ungrateful creatures who have left You alone, without even visiting You. Chastise me as You please; but not by depriving me of Your presence, which is the chastisement I deserve. No, I will repair my fault, and the indignities which I have heaped upon You. From this day forward I will not only visit You often, but will remain with You for as long a time as I can." 

(St. Alphonsus Liguori from Visits  to the Most Blessed Sacrament and to the Blessed Virgin Mary)

Eucharistic Reflection - We Have Time for Everything But God

"Why (as St. Peter Julian Eymard observed more than 100 years ago) do we have time for everything except for visits to our Lord and God, Who is waiting and longing for us in the Blessed Sacrament?"

Why do so few visit You? Why are those who try to do so often locked out? Why are Your Church and its members so timid and so silent about this great mystery and gift? Why have we lost reverence for and belief in Your Real Presence?

(Excerpt from I Thirst For Your Love)

Eucharistic Reflection - He Listens to Everything

"[Jesus] He listened to everything. To the petition made in faith and spoken from the heart by the woman with a hemorrhage, to Zacchaeus, to the blasphemous shouts in the Praetorium, to the triumphant Hosanna, and to the false testimony, to the silent weeping of the penitents and to the evil thoughts of His enemies. He listened to everything!

He continues living in this way in the Tabernacle: listening to everyone and to everything. But there's a big difference between His way of listening and the way man listens. Man is wont to listen only with his ear - sometimes, maybe, with his mind. Jesus in the Tabernacle listens with His ear and with his mind, that is, with understanding. He also listens with His heart because He loves us.

And to think that there are tabernacles where there is no one present to talk to Him. He Who is so good! Immaculate Mother, angels of the Tabernacle, speak to the ear of your Jesus in those tabernacles where there is so much painful silence." 

(From The Bishop of the Abandoned Tabernacle)

 

Eucharistic Reflection - Come To The Altar

"You envy the opportunity of the woman who touched the vestments of Jesus, of the sinful woman who washed His feet with her tears, of the women of Galilee who had the happiness of following Him in His pilgrimages, of the Apostles and disciples who conversed with Him familiarly, of the people of the time who listened to the words of grace and salvation which came forth from His lips. You call happy those who saw Him...But, come to the altar and you will see Him, you will touch Him, you will give to Him holy kisses, you will wash Him with your tears, you will carry Him within you like Mary Most Holy."

 

(Attributed to Saint John Chrysostom)

Eucharistic Reflection - His Heart Is Open To Receive You

"How your life would change if you went to Him often as a friend. Can you be thinking Jesus won’t want to welcome you as a friend? If that’s what you thought, it would be a sign you don’t know Him. Jesus is all tenderness, all love for His sinful creatures. He lives in the tabernacle with His Heart open to receive us, waiting for our arrival so He may console us." 

(Saint Teresa of the Andes)

 

Eucharistic Reflection - Let Me Teach You Who I Am

“If you want to experience true peace, come to the Tabernacle.  Oh, what love you will feel.  My Father waits for you: He waits until you are ready to sit and honor His Son.  He waits for you to open your heart: to believe He is there, so that He can give you the warmth of His Love and His Peace.  For if you believe I am there, all things are possible.  What happened?  Your families before you, honored Me.  They sat with Me: talked with Me.  Churches were full, and because of their love for Me, and the one who sent Me, they did all they could for my Church. 

A lot has happened in the last 30 [50+] years.  I am the same God, yet there is no reverence for Me or my Son.  You come with your hands in your pockets, not folded in prayer; children eat, laugh and play in the real presence of my Son.  Some look away, as if they don’t know what to do; most don’t know who I am.  Come to the Tabernacle and learn who I am.  I am Love, Peace and Joy in your times of darkness, in your times of sorrow.  I have always loved you.  Do you remember, I died for you? 

Come, come to the Tabernacle so that I can teach you Who I am.”

“Try every morning, when you have the joy of receiving Communion, to ask our Lord to remain with you all day in your soul…When I think now of how I used to be envious of Mary Magdalene for having had Jesus in her home so often, for having heard Him, I’m ashamed, since He has not abandoned this world. He’s present in the Tabernacle. I gaze upon Him in faith, and hear Him.” 

St. Theresa of the Andes

Eucharistic Reflection - Give Him Five!

"There are 1440 minutes in each day. Can you give God just five of them?

Stop in and see Him! He's waiting for your visit."

Eucharistic Reflection - I Visit For Love

Plan on visiting our ever-present and loving Lord:

"I visit for love. To both give my love and to receive His love.  This all-knowing Love that embraces, corrects, restores, and sees exactly who I am.  I come to remember John 3:16: “For God so loved the world”…and the love that He gives is here in the Blessed Sacrament, His Son Jesus Christ. 

When I enter, the Church aura is heavy with love.   His love for us His adorers. Our love for Him the One adored.  The love shared between fellow adorers, and the love of the Heavenly adorers for Him and for us.

I am here both alone in love with Him, and yet in a cherished communion with all who seek to adore.

When I am a lover, at my very best, I approach with gratitude, praise, and thanksgiving. I wish to give love for Love, no matter what the time 5 minutes or 3 hours. I give my love, as best I can, yet often a cacophony of need can consume me. My thoughts burst into the silence with my challenges, sorrows, needs, and desires.

His love and tender embrace hear my every cry, expression, and concern, and when I leave I am a better version of myself.  I have been fully and completely loved, and nothing is lacking." 

Joanna Mary Ladipo, Our Lady of Providence/St. Thomas Aquinas Fraternity, Providence, RI

(Excerpted from Godhead Here In Hiding Whom I Do Adore - Lay Dominicans Reflect on Eucharistic Adoration)

Eucharistic Reflection - My Life, My Hope, My Treasure

(Photo©Father Lawrence Lew, O.P. - Used With Permission)

“O my most amiable, most sweet, most beloved Jesus, my life, my hope, my treasure, the only love of my soul; oh, what has it cost Thee to remain thus with us in this Sacrament! Thou had to die, that Thou might thus dwell amongst us on our altars; and then, how many insults hast Thou not had to endure in this Sacrament, in order to aid us by Thy presence! Thy love, and the desire which Thou hast to be loved by us, have conquered all.

Come then, O Lord ! come and take possession of my heart; close its doors forever, that henceforward no creature may enter there, to divide the love which is due to Thee, and which it is my ardent desire to bestow all on Thee. Do Thou alone, my dear Redeemer, rule me; do Thou alone possess my whole being; and if ever I do not obey Thee perfectly, chastise me with rigor, that thenceforward I may be more watchful to please Thee as Thou wiliest. 

Grant that I may no longer seek for any other pleasure than that of giving Thee pleasure ; that all my pleasure may be to visit Thee often on Thy altar ; to entertain myself with Thee, and to receive Thee in Holy Communion. Let all who will, seek other treasures; the only treasure that I love, the only one that I desire, is that of Thy love; for this only will I ask at the foot of the altar. Do Thou make me forget myself, that thus I may only remember Thy goodness. Ye blessed seraphim, I envy you, not for your glory, but for the love which you bear to your and my God; oh, do you teach me what I must do to love Him, and to please Him.

Ejaculatory prayer. My Jesus, I will love Thee only; Thee only do I desire to please.”

 

(From The Complete Works of St. Alphonsus Liguori: The Holy Eucharist))

Eucharistic Reflection - Jesus Christ In The Tabernacles Is Our Friend

"If we really love the good God, we will find it a joy and happiness to spend some time near Him, to adore Him, and keep company with so good a friend. He is there in the tabernacle. What is He doing, this good Jesus, in the sacrament of His love? He is loving us. 

If you pass a church then, go in to salute Him. Would you pass the door of a friend without saying good-day? And Our Lord is a friend who has been so good to us. It would be a very ungrateful person who would not visit Him. 

Come to adore Him because He is your divine friend, your Creator, and your sovereign Master? You owe Him the homage of your whole being. Bow down before Him and praise Him.

Come to keep Him company in the solitude in which the Christians leave Him. 

Come, my soul, redouble your fervor. You are alone to adore your God. His eyes regard you alone.

Come to His feet to thank Him, and then recall the benefits of redemption; the adoption of sons; the right to eternal life; so many pardons; so many Communions received, each of which brought you an increase of the supernatural life. 

Come to show your love to Him. He will say to you: “My child, give Me your heart.” Oh! open it then, dilate it, and give Him love for love!"

(The Eucharistic Meditations of the Cure of Ars)

EucharistIc Reflection - Be In His Company

(Photo©Father Lawrence Lew, O.P. - Used With Permission)

"Loving souls can find no greater delight than to be in the company of those whom they love. If we, then, love Jesus Christ much, behold we are now in His presence. 

Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament sees us and hears us; shall we, then, say nothing to Him? Let us console ourselves in His company; let us rejoice in His glory, and in the love which so many enamored souls bear Him in the Most Holy Sacrament.

Let us desire that all should love Jesus in the Holy Sacrament, and consecrate their hearts to Him; at least let us consecrate our affections to Him. He should be all our love and our whole desire."

(St. Alphonsus Liguori)

Eucharistic Reflection - Visit Him!

"Nowhere have holy souls made more admirable resolutions than here at the feet of their hidden God. Out of gratitude to my Jesus, veiled in this great Sacrament, I must declare that it was through this devotion, visiting Him in the tabernacles, that I withdrew from the world where, to my misfortune, I had lived until the age of twenty-six. Happy will you be if you can separate yourself from it earlier than I did and give yourself wholly to that Lord who has given Himself wholly to you."

(From St. Alphonsus de Liguori on the Eucharist – EUCHARISTIC ADORATION (perpetualeucharisticadoration.com)

Eucharistic Reflection - Find Pleasure In His Company

"Good friends find pleasure in one another's company. Let us know pleasure in the company of our best Friend, a Friend who can do everything for us, a Friend who loves us beyond measure. Here in the Blessed Sacrament we can talk to Him straight from the heart."

(St. Alphonsus Liguori from Visits to the Most Blessed Sacrament and to the Blessed Virgin Mary)

Eucharistic Reflection - What Are We To Do?

"And what are we to do in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament?

Love Him. Praise Him. Thank Him. Ask of Him.

What does a poor man do in the presence of a wealthy man? 

What does a sick person do in the presence of a doctor? 

What does a thirsty person do at the sight of a fountain of sparkling water?"

           (St. Alphonsus Liguori from Visits to the Blessed Sacrament)

Eucharistic Reflection - He Is Not An Invention!

"He looks at me and I look at Him. That gaze is enriching. I let God observe me, to dig deep inside me, to form my soul, to mold it. He is truly present, not an invention. He is there. If everyone could realize that, they would run to it! If everyone believed in this truth, how their lives would change for the better!"

(From My Son Carlo: Carlo Acutis Through the Eyes of His Mother, by Antonia Salzano Acutis

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 - He Is Waiting

"Our Lord is here in all His Divinity and Humility in the Holy Eucharist, waiting for us to come. To come, to spend time with Him in Adoration, to receive Him into our bodies during Mass, to unite with Him. Our ever loving, merciful Father is present with us, we can look upon Him, speak to Him. God our Father is waiting to hear our joys and sorrows, triumphs and failings. Waiting. Waiting for our attention in the busyness of life, to pause, to worship, to adore, to praise our merciful God who loves us, provides for us and bestows abundant graces upon us so that we have eternal life with Him. Can we pause? Can we listen for the voice of God in the quietness? Can we give the gift of our attention to God? He is waiting."

(Dr. Kathleen Cuddihy, OP, from Godhead Here in Hiding Whom I Do Adore - Lay Dominicans Reflect on Eucharistic Adoration)

Eucharistic Reflection - Go To Jesus

"Beloved souls, in suffering and in joy, go to Jesus hidden in the Sacred Host and let the sweetness of His loving gaze fill you. Like the sick who expose their diseased bodies to the healing rays of the sun, expose your miseries, no matter what they are, to the beams of light streaming forth from the Sacred Host."

 (Reflections and Prayers for Visits with our Eucharistic Lord - John J. Cardinal Carberry)

Eucharistic Reflection - Pour Out Your Ardent Yearnings

"In the course of the day, when you can do nothing else, call Jesus, even in the middle of your tasks...Fly with your spirit to the tabernacle, when you cannot do so with your body, and pour out your ardent yearnings, speak and pray and embrace the Delight of souls, and even better if you can receive it Sacramentally". 

(Saint Pio of Pietrelcina)

(An excerpt form Stirring Slumbering Souls - 250 Eucharistic Reflections)

Eucharistic Reflection - If We Really Loved God

"If we really loved the good God, we should make it our joy and happiness to come and spend a few moments to adore Him, and ask Him for the grace of forgiveness; and we should regard those moments as the happiest of our lives."

 (Saint John Vianney)