If the angels could envy us anything, they would be jealous of our ability to receive Christ in Holy Communion.
I have been reflecting on the Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist. This is something that we as Catholics (and our Orthodox brothers and sisters) have that no other religion in the world could ever dream to have. And this is something so profound that it seems sacrilegious to even try to describe it…
Once – many years ago – one of my sisters attended Mass with a Christian (not Catholic) friend. When the time came for the congregation of Catholics to receive the Blessed Eucharist in Holy Communion, this friend prepared to make her way to the altar to receive the sacrament. My sister had to turn to this friend of hers and ask her to abstain from receiving Holy Communion. And her friend was very insulted. She felt that she was being discriminated against. And my sister did it anyway.
And there is a reason for this.
That little scrap of bread – that wafer, morsel – that is GOD. That is not a small thing. That is not a little thing. That is GOD. And we must make room for God. We must be ready to receive Him. In olden times, Catholics were not allowed to receive the Blessed Eucharist at any time. People received the Blessed Eucharist once or twice a year.
And I have been reflecting on that. That reception of the Blessed Eucharist was sacred. It was special. It was something that people waited for and anticipated and longed for. It was something that was profound and recognised as profound.
And what has changed in these modern times? Is it somehow less profound to receive the Blessed Eucharist in Holy Communion today then it was in olden times? Is it somehow less of God contained in that morsel of bread?
We are going to receive our Lord! It is a joyous occasion. That is not a SYMBOL of God – it is God Himself. Christ comes inside me in a physical and spiritual sense. Christ becomes one with me in a profound way – in a more profound way than I could ever understand in this lifetime.
Saint Faustina said that if the angels could envy us anything, they would be jealous of our ability to receive Christ in Holy Communion. And today – as I reflect on the miracle of the Eucharist, as I reflect on the moment of Transubstantiation, which happens during the consecration of the Holy Mass every single time, it seems to me that the blessings that I have are beyond words.
And as I think of this privilege of faith – that I have received through my inception into the Catholic Church and my preparation through the Sacraments – I am grateful beyond expression. For Our Lord God, King of the Universe, comes into my soul whenever I like and stays there with me. Because He loves me. That is why. Just because He loves me…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.