Despite

Surely, there is no greater love than the love of being able to literally lay down one’s life – and all their power – for another…?

Pope Francis and the Eucharist

The English Catholic Apologist, Ronald Knox said that human beings have disregarded almost every commandment of Christ.  Think only of love your neighbour, or be good to those who persecute you, and you will realise that we humans very actively and consciously disregard the commandments of Christ.

And yet – despite all of this – Knox says, we humans have not failed to obey one of the commandments of Christ – “do this in memory of Me.”  And this refers, of course, to the sacrament of the Blessed Eucharist.

Despite all the corruptions and modifications that have occurred over the twenty millennia since the birth and death of Christ, this one commandment to remember Christ through the Sacrament of the Eucharist, has not been forgotten or corrupted.

Once – some years ago – one of my sisters was attending Holy Mass with a non-Catholic friend.  When it came time to receive the Blessed Sacrament in Holy Communion, she stood up in her pew and prepared to walk down the aisle to receive the Sacrament.  Her non-Catholic friend also stood up.  My sister had to turn to her friend and gently explain that she could not receive this Sacrament because she was not Catholic and was not in a state of Grace.

At the time, that friend was quite insulted that she was barred from participating in the “ritual” as she saw it.  And it was an uncomfortable experience for my sister and certainly not an enjoyable one.  But the reality is that the Blessed Eucharist is not a ritual and not a symbol.  It is God Himself.  And a person who in a state to COMMUNE with God should not be receiving God into their soul.

Once, I attended a funeral and one of the bereaved, who was Catholic but clearly a non-practicing Catholic, decided to receive Holy Communion.  He proceeded down the aisle and took the Blessed Sacrament into his hand and then turned to walk away.  The priest at the altar stopped what he was doing and followed the man calling out to him “eat it.  Put it in your mouth.  You must eat it.”  And eventually the young man did eat the Blessed Sacrament.

And I remember watching this as I knelt in my place in the pew and thinking to myself that our priests and religious have a huge responsibility to protect God Himself.  And when you think about the perfect humility of a God who is perfectly willing to humble Himself to be in a position where he needs the protection of sinful men, then I am quite overcome.

In fact, when I think about how utterly helpless God decided to make Himself when He gave us the Sacrament of the Eucharist, I am quite overcome.  For surely, there is no greater love than the love of being able to literally lay down one’s life – and all their power – for another…?

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.