Holy Eucharist | AirMaria.com

Apr 8 – Homily – Fr Bonaventure: “I Am the Bread from Heaven”

apostolate — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 12:04:54 +0000

Homily #080408 ( 07min) Play – When we eat normal food the food becomes what we are, but when we eat Holy Communion we become what it is, we become Divinized.
Ave Maria! Mass readings
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Apr 9 – Homily – Fr Angelo: Unless You Eat My Body and Drink My Blood You Will Have No Life In You.

apostolate — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:37:54 +0000

Homily #080409 ( 09min) Play – Was Our Lord speaking figuratively when He said in the sixth chapter of St John that He was the Bread of Life?. Our Protestant brethren believe so. Fr Angelo explains what they miss in this scripture.
Ave Maria! Mass readings
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We Adore Thee, O Christ, and We Praise Thee

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 19:00:10 +0000

Ave Maria Meditations

Jesus is very near to us: in Christian countries where there are so many tabernacles we are hardly ever more than a few miles from Him. How difficult it is not to see the walls or at least the spire of some church whether we are in the middle of a crowded city or traveling by road or by train. Christ is there! It is the Lord! ?our faith and our love exclaim. We can say it because Our Lord is present there really and substantially: He is the same one who appeared to the disciples and who has always shown such interest in everybody.

Jesus has remained in the Blessed Sacrament. In this memorial Sacrament He is really, truly and substantially present, his Body and Blood together with his Soul and Divinity and, consequently, the whole Christ. The presence of Christ in the Blessed Eucharist is real and permanent, because once Mass is over, Our Lord remains in each one of the consecrated hosts that has not, been consumed. He who is present is He who was born, died and rose again in Palestine, the one who is at the right hand of God the Father. ?We meet with Him in the tabernacle and He sees us and knows us. We can speak to Him as the Apostles did and tell Him what things we are enthusiastic about and what things are causing us concern. There we always find true peace, of the kind that endures in spite of all sorrow and every obstacle.

The Visit to the Blessed Sacrament.

Eucharistic piety, says Pope John Paul II, should be centered above all on the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, which perpetuates the pouring out of His love on the Cross. But it has a logical prolongation … in the adoration of Christ in this divine Sacrament, in the visit to the Blessed Sacrament in prayer beside the Tabernacle, as well as in those other exercises of devotion both personal and collec?tive, private and public, which you have been practicing for centuries … Jesus waits for us in this Sacrament of Love. Let us not be mean with our time when it comes to going to meet him in adoration, in contemplation that is filled with faith, and disposed to make reparation for the grave faults and crimes of the world.

Jesus is there in the nearest Tabernacle. Perhaps just a few miles away or even perhaps a few yards … How could we not go to see Him, to love Him, to tell Him about our affairs, to ask Him for things? What a lack of consistency on our part if we were not to do this with faith? How easy it is to understand that centuries-old custom of the daily visit to the divine tabernacle. There the Master has been waiting for us these past twenty centuries and we can be together with him like Mary, the sister of Lazarus – the one who chose the better part.

Jesus is waiting for us to visit Him. It is, in a way, a return of His visit to us in Holy Communion, and it is a proof of gratitude, an expression of love, an acknowledge?ment of the Lord’s presence. It is a continuation of our act of thanksgiving for the previous Communion and a preparation for the next. ?When we find ourselves before the tabernacle we can indeed say in all truth and accuracy: God is here! And in the presence of this mystery of faith there is no room for any other attitude except that of adoration – Adoro te devote … 0 hidden God, devoutly I adore You; of respect and astonishment; and, at the same time, of unlimited confidence. Dwelling with Christ Our Lord, the faithful enjoy his intimate friendship and pour out their heart before Him for themselves and their dear ones, and pray for the peace and salvation of the world. They offer their entire lives with Christ to the Father in the Holy Spirit, and receive in this wonderful exchange an increase of faith, hope and charity.. . Thus they nourish those right dispositions which enable them with all due devotion to celebrate the memorial of the Lord and receive frequently the bread given us by the Father.??

Fruits of this act of piety.

The Visit to the Blessed Sacra?ment is an act of piety that only takes a few minutes; nevertheless, what a lot of graces and what fortitude and peace does Our Lord give through it. There we find that our sense of presence of God throughout the day is improved and we gather new strength to take the difficulties of the day in our stride. There our desire to work better is enkindled and we are provided with a good supply of peace and joy to take with us to our family life. Our Lord, who always pays generously, is grateful for the fact that we have gone to visit Him. And as to paying us, he is so careful about this that you need to have no fear He will leave us without our reward if only we raise our eyes to Heaven and remember Him.

In the Visit to the Blessed Sacrament we go to keep Jesus company for a few minutes. It could be that on a par?ticular day not many have gone to visit him even though He was expecting them. Therefore He is all the more pleased to see us there. We shall say some of the usual prayers to Him as well as making the spiritual Communion. We’ll ask Him for help – both spiritual and material; we’ll tell Him what is causing us concern and what we are happy about; we’ll tell Him that, in spite of our miseries, He can count on us for the re-evangelization of the world and we’ll tell Him, perhaps, that we want to bring a friend close to Him. What shall we do, you sometimes ask, in the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament? Love Him, praise Him, thank Him and ask Him for things.

What does a thirsty person do when he sees a pure clean fountain? ?When we leave the Church after these moments of prayer, we will have in us greater peace, a determination to help others, an eager longing to receive Holy Communion, because the only way that intimate union with Jesus can be fully realized is in the Eucharist. It will effectively have helped us to increase our sense of the presence of God in the course of our work and our daily tasks. It will be easy for us to keep up a relationship of friendship and confidence with him throughout the day.

Once we are in the church, we can easily find out where the tabernacle is – which is the first place we should direct our attention to – because it should be located in a truly prominent place … suited to private prayer. And there the presence of the Blessed Eucharist will be indicated by the small lamp which as the sign of honor to Our Lord, will be continuously burning before it. As we finish our prayer we ask our Mother Mary to teach us how to love Jesus really present in the tabernacle as she loved Him all those years of His life in Nazareth.

from Fr. Francis Fernandez (In Conversation with God)

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My God, if You exist, make Your existance known to me!

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:00:56 +0000

Ave Maria Meditations

A cry from the heart: My God, if You exist, make Your existance known to me!

from Bl. Charles de Foucauld before his conversion

As soon as I believed there was a God, I understood I could do nothing else but live for him, my religious vocation dates from the same moment as my faith: God is so great. There is such a difference between God and everything that is not.

EXCERPTS FROM THE WRITINGS OF BLESSED CHARLES (feast day is Dec. 1st)

July 15, 1916

Love consists not in feeling that we love, but in wanting to love. If it comes about that we do succumb to a temptation, it is because our love is too weak, not because it does not exist. Like St. Peter, we should weep, like him we should repent and humble ourselves – but also like him, we should say three times: “I love You, I love You…You know that despite my weakness and sins, I love you.” As for Jesus’ love for us, He has proved it to us clearly enough for us to believe in it without being able to feel it. To feel we loved him and he loved us would be heaven. But heaven is not; except at rare moments and in rare cases, for us here below.

PRAYERS OF CHARLES DE FOUCAULD AT THE TABERNACLE

Lord Jesus, You are in the Holy Eucharist. You are there a yard away in the tabernacle. Your body, Your soul, Your human nature, Your divinity, Your whole being is there, in its twofold nature. how close You are, my God, my Savior, my Spouse, My Beloved!

You were not nearer to the Blessed Virgin during the nine months that she carried You than You are to me when You rest on my tongue in Holy Communion. you were no closer to the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph in the caves at Bethlehem or in the flight into Egypt or at any moment of that divine family life than you are to me at this moment – and so many others- in the tabernacle.

Mary Magpalene was no closer to you when she sat at your feet at Bethany than I am here at the foot of this altar. You were no nearer to your apostles when you were sitting in the midst of them than you are to me now, my God. How blessed I am I!

It is wonderful. my Lord. to be alone in my cell and converse there with you in the silence of the tabernacle.

PRAYER:

I have confidence in Your love that however ungrateful and unworthy I may seem to myself to be. I can still have hope in it and still count on it, still remain convinced that You are ready to accept me as the father accepted his prodigal son – and even more ready – and still remain convinced too that you will not stop calling me to your feet inviting me to come to them and giving me the means to do so.

O God You were not speaking here only to Your apostles but to all those who, though able to watch with you and to give their company , do not do so….They do not understand that watching at your feet is an incomparable joy, a happiness of which even the saints and angels are not worthy. They do not rejoice to be in your presence as one rejoices to be in the presence of someone one loves passionately. and they do not long passionately to console you and relieve your agony.. If they were as conscious as they should be of the infinite joy of praying at your feet in your presence, would they not stay praying to You indefinitely not noticing that time was passing and having only one fear in their joy- the fear of seeing it come to an end?

ON PRIESTHOOD:

The priest is a monstrance. His role is to show Jesus. He must disappear and make Jesus seen. I must leave a good impression on all who come to see me. I must be everything to everyone. I must laugh with those who laugh, cry with those who cry to lead them all to Jesus.

-December 1909

My apostolate must be one of goodness. I must make people say this when they see me: “This man is so good that his religion must be good.” If someone asks me why I am gentle and good, I must reply, “Because I serve One who is much better than I am. If only you knew how good my Master, Jesus, is. I want to be so good that people will say, “If that is the servant, how, then, is the Master?”

Be kind and compassionate, and do not be insensitive to any misery. See Jesus in all people. Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. In light of the love and the virtue of the saints, we must humiliate ourselves and convert ourselves: what they have done we can do. God has never forsaken man. At every opportunity, enlighten your neighbor and bring good to him. Be firm but gentle, Keep severity for yourself. Be prepared to sacrifice all to help your neighbor: “What you do unto one of these children, ye have done unto me.”

ON MARTYRDOM

To prepare oneself constantly for martyrdom, and accept it without a shadow of reluctance, like the Divine Lamb-in Jesus, through Jesus, for Jesus- I must try and live as if I were to die a martyr today. Every minute I must imagine I am going to be martyred this very evening.

OUR LORD TO BL. CHARLES IN PRAYER ON HIS WISH TO BE A MARTYR:

“This life will be followed by death. You wish for a martyr’s death. You know how cowardly you are, but you know too that you can do all things in Him who gives you strength, that I am all powerful in My creatures. Ask day and night for it but always with this condition, that it be My will, and for My glory and my pleasure which I know you desire and pray for above all things. And have confidence; I will grat what you ask, that which is for My greater glory. It is good to ask for this, for ‘there is no greater love than to give your life for the beloved,'” and and it is right to wish to give Me this ‘greatest love of all’ “’

ON SUFFERING

All we are trying to do is be one with Jesus, to reproduce His life in our own, to proclaim His teaching from the rooftops in our thoughts, words, and actions, to let him rule and live in us. He comes into us so frequently in the Holy Eucharist—may He establish His kingdom within us! If he gives us joys, we should accept them gratefully; the Good Shepherd gives us such sweet grasses to strengthen us and make us fit to follow him later along dry pathways.

If he gives us crosses, we should embrace them; to be given a cross is the best grace of all: it is to walk hand in hand with Jesus more closely than ever, to relieve him by carrying his cross for him, as Simon of Cyrene did. It is our Beloved’s invitation to us to declare and prove our love for him. In torments of soul and bodily suffering, “Let us rejoice and be glad”; Jesus is calling us, telling us to tell him we love him, and to go on telling him as long as our suffering lasts.

And to a friend he wrote: Now I should like to ask something of you myself: pray that I may love; pray that I may love Jesus; pray there I may love His cross; pray that I may love the cross, not for its own sake, but as the only means, the only way of giving glory to Jesus: “The grain of wheat does not bring forth fruit unless it dies …. And I, if I be lifted up … will draw all things to myself.” As St. John of the Cross points out, it was at the moment of His supreme abasement, the hour of His death, that Jesus did the most good; that He saved the world.

So then ask Jesus that I may truly love the cross, for it is indispensable if we are going to do good to souls. And I carry it very little, J am cowardly. Virtues are ascribed to me which I do not possess – and I am the most fortunate of men. So pray for my conversion, that I may love Jesus and do at all times what would be most pleasing to him. Amen.

-February 27, 1903

WRITTEN THOUGHTS ON HUMILITY

For me indeed Humility is the truth. Truth is for me to despise myself. Truth for me who falls every day, every hour, is to think meanly of myself, of the baseness of my past and my present life, of the mean prompting of my spirit. I, who have so often deceived myself must think of the weakness of my virtue which every day I see fail before the smallest temptation. I must be humble. in thought, knowing myself and facing my own misery, past and present, the faults that I have and the virtues I have not, the infirmaties that I have, and the natural gifts that I do not possess.

I must be humble in in my desires, without any ambition or any wish for man’s esteem, but desire on the contrary that they should know the truth and take me as my real value as a worm, as something proud, cowardly, obstinate, and ungrateful. I must not indulge in day dreams (it is a waste of time), especially in evil imaginations full of vanity and worldliness, inspired by ambition; I must be afraid of myself, afraid of my own judgment and integrity and courage. I must attribute to God only whatever good there may be in me, and to myself alone the evil I do.

Humble in speech. I must speak little, saying no good of myself, never revealing unless under great necessity, all the God gives me; never saying anything which could give good opinion of myself to others except under necessity. I must hide all that might give a good opinion of myself others of my natural and supernatural gifts (though none come from myself, but all from God alone). I must hide any good that I may do if God does any through me. “Let not your right hand know what your left hand does.” “When you pray shut your door and let God alone see you.” I must speak humbly and gently and never give a proud answer to those who speak proudly to me; I must be humble and gentle with great or small whether I am reproached or praised, whether in prosperity or adversity; whether I be flattered or menaced I must be humble in speech and humble in the thought of death.

Humble in actions. I must believe no work beneath me, since Jesus was a carpenter for thirty years, and Joseph all his life. With this example I should, on the contrary, look upon any occupation or work as a great privilege. I must welcome with love and readiness any occasion for humility, any humiliation that emulates the humility of Jesus, and since if my sins were known to men nothing would seem to them bad enough for me, let me avoid all lofty occupations and all high positions because Jesus was lowly and despised. I must accept no promotion whatever it may be, unless obedience imposes it on me and if I see that it is a duty and the will of God.

-Retreat at Nazareth, November 1897

THE BEATITUDES

[Jesus speaks:] “Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who reject not only material things,which is the first step, but who also climb higher, emptying their souls completely of every attachment, every liking, every desire, every search of which I am not the object.

Such poverty of spirit leaves the soul completely empty, voiding it of love for material things, for one’s neighbor and for oneself, expelling everything, absolutely everything from it, leaving it a completely empty space which, can be filled wholly by Me. Then I can make divine the love for material things they have expelled from their souls so as to give all the room in them to me. They have expelled all these different loves from their souls, and I occupy them completely, so that they are empty of everything else and full of Me. Then in Me and for My sake they begin to love, all these other things again, no longer for the sake of the things themselves but for Mine. Then shall their charity he ordered aright; they love all created things for My sake.

Blessed are those who hunger for justice, the rule of justice on earth, for My reign on earth, who hunger to see Me glorified by every soul, who hunger to see My will perfectly fulfilled by all creatures. You should never be without this great hunger for justice, for seeing my will perfectly fulfilled by both yourself and all mankind, for your own total sanctification and the perfect sanctity of all men. This is the hunger that weighs on my own Heart. Feel it more and more, not for your own sake, or for man’s, but for God’s sake, for the love of God. You will then be blessed indeed, for you will be in perfect harmony with My own heart.

Blessed are they that mourn – because they are unhappy, poor, bereaved, sick, suffering in body or soul, tried in whatever way. They are blessed because their sufferings will be effective in expiating their sins, because their sufferings detach them from the world and lift up their gaze to Me and attach them to Myself. More blessed still are those who mourn their sins. And yet more blessed those who weep for sorrow at not seeing Me and at being exiled far from Me in this vale of tears. Even more blessed are those who mourn My sufferings, My passion and all the sufferings I endured on earth. And most blessed are they who weep from love alone, who weep because they love Me, who weep for no particular reason – not from pain nor yet longing, but merely because when they think of Me their whole heart melts and they cannot restrain their tears.

Blessed are they that are hated and persecuted for My sake – blessed indeed for they are imitating Me, sharing My lot. True spouses, they share fully in the lot of their Spouse. Blessed, because is there anything more loving than to suffer with the one you love? Blessed, because they have this double happiness: suffering with their Beloved and for Him. Blessed, because through these very sufferings their love for Me will grow, increasing proportionately to their sufferings for My sake – and their growing love will not be transitory, but enduring: it will last through time and into eternity. O blessed are they who suffer persecution with Me, whose love is growing continually under persecution! Never reject or fear pains, hatred, and persecution suffered for My sake; on the contrary, accept them with joy, blessing, thanksgiving, gratitude to God and men, thanking Me from the bottom of your heart, praying for your enemies and executioners, joining with the holy guardian angels in begging me for their conversion, rejoicing from the depths of your hearts at having been found worthy to undergo suffering and humiliation for love of Me.

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MORE WORDS FROM JESUS:

Here and now I am saying to other souls – to all those I who have been given me and now lead hidden lives, possessing Me without having been given a mission to preach, I tell them to sanctify souls by silently carrying Me among them.

To souls in silence, leading the hidden life in solitude far from the wor1d, I say, “All of you work for the sanctification of the’ world; work in the world as My Mother did, wordlessly, silently; go and set up your devotional retreats in the midst of those who do not know Me, carry me among them by setting up an altar among them, a tabernacle, carrying the Gospel to them not by word of mouth, but by the persuasive force of example, not by speaking, but by living: sanctify the world, carry Me into the world, all you pious souls living a hidden and silent life -as Mary carried Me to John.’ ”

Charles de Foucauld was born on September 15, 1858 in France. He was attracted to the military life and entered the Saint-Cyr Military Academy, he later joined the 4th Hussar regiment; in 1880 his unit was sent to Setif, Algeria. He would later be discharged from the service for misconduct, including passing off his French mistress as his wife. But Charles had became so fascinated with the Arabs that he had met that he spent 15 months learning Arabic and Hebrew, and then traveled into Morocco. In May 1885 he received the Gold Medal of French Geographic Society He explored Algeria and Tunisia, returning to Paris to work on his book. But at the age of 28, he would have a profound conversion and from that moment on, all of his life was fixed on living the Gospel and his love for Jesus.

After a variety of experiences as a Trappist monk and a time spent in the Holy Land, he conceived of a new form of religious life, a life closer to the daily lives of the poor. As Jesus at Nazareth, he wanted to live amidst the people, rooted in a culture, sharing the condition of those who live from day to day by the work of their hands– of those who have no security at all and who are the poorest of the poor. He did not envision preaching the Gospel in words as such, but by crying it out with the witness of his whole life; a life lived in shared friendship, silence and prayer. He wanted to go beyond all of the boundaries of religion and race and to become known as a “universal little brother”; the little brother of his beloved Jesus. Most of all, he wished to bring the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament into the desert place.

Brother Charles hoped to found small fraternities of brothers…”What I dream of is something very plain and few in number, similar to the little communities of the first Christians…living the life of Nazareth, through work and the contemplation of Jesus…a little family, a little home, very small, very plain”… This dream would not be realized until after his death. Brother Charles of Jesus died on December 1, 1916 at Tamanrasset in the midst of the Sahara. An innocent, defenseless victim of an assassin’s bullet he fell to the sand like the grain of wheat which dies so that it can bring forth its fruit… Throughout the world today there are many little groups (religious brothers and sisters) which claim as their spiritual father– Charles de Foucauld. He was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI in 2005.

The Prayer of Abandonment of Brother Charles of Jesus

Father, I abandon myself into Your hands;
do with me what You will.
Whatever You do I thank You.
I am ready for all, I accept all.
Let only Your will be done in me,
as in all Your creatures,
I ask no more than this, my Lord.
Into Your hands I commend my soul;
I offer it to You, O Lord,
with all the love of my heart,
for I love You, my God, and so need to give myself–
to surrender myself into Your hands,
without reserve and with total confidence,
for You are my Father.

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May 13th: Our Lady of Fatima; Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Tue, 12 May 2009 20:00:36 +0000

Ave Maria Meditations

MAY 13TH: OUR LADY OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT/

OUR LADY OF FATIMA

OUR LADY OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT

This title was given to our Blessed Mother in May 1868 by Saint Peter Julian Eymard to honor her in her relationship to the Holy Eucharist and to place her before us as a model in our duties and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. Our Lady gives witness to being Christian. In her conduct toward the Blessed Sacrament, we learn what ours should be!

She believed in the reality of Christ’s presence in the Holy Eucharist. In other words, the virtue of faith was as necessary for her as it is for us. Great was her faith in her son, the Son of God, our Savior, and in all his teachings and deeds. This faith of hers found its particular exercise in regard to the Blessed Sacrament, the mystery of faith, the denial of which implies the destruction of the whole structure of our belief.

A second point in which Mary conformed to the general body of the faithful was her Sunday attendance at the Eucharist. And still another point in which the Blessed Virgin is our model is in her reception of Holy Communion during her life, and at the moment of her death. By her faith in and her love for our Lord in the Eucharist, Mary is an example for Christians and thereby brings us to fervent devotion to him.

Truly, we can call Mary, Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, and follow her faith and love for Jesus in the Eucharist. Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament is the chosen and official patroness of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament. Her feast day is celebrated on May 13, the date on which the new Congregation received Archdiocesan approbation in Paris in 1856.

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PRAYER TO OUR LADY OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT

Blessed are you, Mary, exalted Daughter of Sion! You are highly favored and full of grace, for the Spirit of God descended upon you. We magnify the Lord and rejoice with you for the gift of the Word made flesh, our bread of life and cup of joy. Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, our model of prayer in the Cenacle, pray for us that we may become what we receive, the body of Christ your son. Amen.

In all of Our Lady’s true apparitions, she desires there to be built a church where the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass can be offered and where her Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, can be adored and worshipped. Just one example of this occurred at Fatima, Portugal on May 13, 1917. It was the Feast of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament…

Prayers from Fatima

Pardon Prayer:
My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love You. I implore Your pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love You. Amen.

Angel’s Prayer:
Most Holy Trinity – Father, Son, Holy Spirit – I adore You profoundly and offer You the most precious Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the earth, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifference by which He Himself is offended. And by the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and those of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of You the conversion of poor sinners. Amen.

Eucharistic Prayer
Most Holy Trinity, I adore you! My God, my God, I love you in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

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One Minute Meditation: St. Paschal Baylon

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Sat, 16 May 2009 18:24:23 +0000

May 17^th: St. Paschal Baylon (1540-1592)

Patron of Eucharistic Congresses

This Franciscan lay brother had an extraordinary love for Jesus in the most Blessed Sacrament. This humble brother, devoted to prayer, would gather alms with a Rosary in one hand and God in his heart. He also fostered a special devotion to the Blessed Mother. This simple brother, who never learned to read or write, was instructed by God and was sought out for his counsel. It is said that even while in the fields, when he heard the bells announcing the consecration at the Holy Sacrifice, the Blessed Sacrament was shown to him in a monstrance held by angels for his adoration.

PRAYER:

O God, who didst adorn the Blessed Paschal, Thy confessor, with a wonderful love for the mysteries of Thy Body and Blood, mercifully grant that we may draw from the Divine Banquet the same fullness of spirit that he did. Who livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen.

St. Paschal, help us in our devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and to Mary, our Mother.

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Mysterium Fidei

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 23:00:26 +0000

Ave Maria Meditations

The Mystery of Faith: TRANSUBSTANTIATION

The words of Our Lord cannot be watered down: the bread which I

shall give is my flesh for the life of the world.

This is the mystery of Faith, we proclaim immediately after the

Consecration at Mass. It has been and is the touchstone of the Catholic

faith. By transubstantiation, the species of bread and wine are no

longer common bread and common drink, but rather the sign of

something sacred and the sign of spiritual food. But they take on a

new expressiveness and a new purpose for the very reason that they

contain a new reality: which we are right to call ‘ontological’. For

beneath these appearances there is no longer what was there before

but something quitedifferent, since on the conversion of the bread and

wine’s substance, or nature, into the Body and Blood of Christ,

nothing is left of the bread and wine but the appearances alone.

Beneath these appearances Christ is present whole and entire, bodily

present too, in his physical reality although not in the manner in

which bodies are present in a place.

We look at Jesus present in the Tabernacle, perhaps just a few yards

away, and we tell him that we know, through faith, that he is present.

In Holy Communion Christ himself, perfect God and perfect man,

gives himself to us; he is mysteriously hidden, but wishes to

communicate divine life to us. When we receive him in this sacrament,

his Divinity acts on our soul by means of his glorious Humanity, with a

far greater intensity than when he was here on earth. None of the

people who were cured – Bartimaeus or the paralyzed man of

Capharnaum or the lepers -were as close to Christ as we are every time

we go to Holy Communion.

The effects produced by that Living Bread, Jesus, in our soul

are immeasurable and of an infinite richness. The Church expresses it

clearly in the following words: All the effect which material food and

drink have with regan1 to the life of the body, sustaining, restoring and

delighting it, is carried out by this sacrament with regan1 to the

spiritual life.

Hidden under the sacramental species, Jesus waits for us. He has

remained there so that we can receive him and be strengthened in his

love. We must examine our faith today; let us ask ourselves what our

love is like, how do we prepare ourselves for Communion, when so

many people neglect Our Lord entirely. We must say with Peter: we

have known and believed that you are the Christ. You are our

Redeemer, our raison d’etre.

The effects of Communion on the soul: it sustains, restores,

delights. Communion sustains the life of the soul in away similar to that in

which food sustains the body. The reception of the Blessed Eucharist

keeps Catholics in God’s grace, since the soul recovers its energies from

the continual wear and tear it suffers through the wounds of original

sin and of personal sins. It maintains the life of God in the soul, freeing

it from lukewarmness; and it helps us to avoid mortal sin and

struggle effectively against venial sins. The Blessed Eucharist increases

supernatural life also: it makes it grow and develop. And while it fills

the soul spiritually, it gives it an increasing desire for eternal goods.

Finally, the grace we receive in each Communion delights the person

who receives with good dispositions. Nothing can be compared to the

joy of the Holy Eucharist, to the friendship and nearness of Jesus,

present within us. Jesus Christ, during his life on earth, never passed by

anywhere without pouring out his abundant blessings, from which we

can deduce how great and precious must be the gifts which those who

have the happiness of receiving Him in Holy Communion must share;

or rather, that all the happiness we can have in this life consists in

receiving Our Lord in Holy Communion.

Communion is the remedy for our daily needs, the medicine of

immortality, the antidote against death, and food by which to live

forever in Jesus Christ. It grants to the soul the peace and joy of Christ

which is truly a foretaste of eternal happiness. Among all the practices of piety there is none whose sanctifying effectiveness can be compared to the worthy reception of this sacrament. In it, not only do we receive grace, but the Source and Fountainhead from which all

grace flows.

All the sacraments are ordained towards the Blessed Eucharist: it is the pivotal sacrament. Hidden under the accidents of bread, Jesus wants us to come and receive him frequently. The banquet, he tells us, is ready. Many indeed are those who are absent, and Jesus waits for us to tell all those others that he is also waiting for them in the Tabernacle.

We must ask Our Lady to help us go to Communion every day with better dispositions.

Fr. Francis Fernandez: In Conversation with Christ

The Mystery of Faith, that is, the ineffable gift of the Eucharist that the Catholic Church received from Christ, her Spouse, as a pledge of His immense love, is something that she has always devoutly guarded as her most precious treasure, and during the Second Vatican Council she professed her faith and veneration in a new and solemn declaration.

In dealing with the restoration of the sacred liturgy, the Fathers of the Council were led by their pastoral concern for the whole Church to regard it as a matter of highest importance to urge the faithful to participate actively, with undivided faith and the utmost devotion, in the celebration of this Most Holy Mystery, to offer it to God along with the priest as a sacrifice for their own salvation and that of the whole world, and to use it as spiritual nourishment.

For if the sacred liturgy holds first place in the life of the Church, then the Eucharistic Mystery stands at the heart and center of the liturgy, since it is the font of life that cleanses us and strengthens us to live not for ourselves but for God and to be united to each other by the closest ties of love.

Pope Paul VI: Encyclical Mysterium Fidei

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St. Alphonus Liguori

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 16:00:56 +0000

Ave Maria Meditations

August 1st: St. Alphonsus Liguori, founder of the Redemptorist Order

SAINT ALPHONSUS LIGUORI Bishop and Doctor of the Church (1696-1787)

An Act of Spiritual Communion

My Jesus, I believe that You are truly in the Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I long for you in my soul. Since I cannot now receive you sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart as though You have already come. I embrace You and unite myself entirely to you; never permit me to be separated from You!

I say that it is the will of God that all graces should come to us by the hands of Mary. Sooner would heaven and earth be destroyed than would Mary fail to assist anyone who asks for her help, provided he does so with a good intention and with confidence in her.

To learn more of this good doctor, continue on…

Saint Alphonsus was born near Naples, in 1696. He was a devout child and also a prodigy in many ways. At sixteen he became a doctor in civil law; and upon entering this career he met great success and fame A mistake, however, by which he lost an important case, showed him the vanity of human fame and glory. He decided to abandon the legal profession at the age of twenty-seven, to serve God alone.

Saint Alphonsus was ordained a priest in 1726, and he soon became as renowned a preacher as he had been a lawyer. He was an excellent confessor, and wrote a manual which has been used ever since for the instruction of those who administer the sacrament of Penance. A musician, Saint Alphonsus gave up his instruments to devote himself more perfectly to his priestly duties; he nonetheless composed joyous religious hymns for the poor folk he heard singing in the streets, that they might glorify God and not waste their voices and efforts in vain and worldly songs.

He later founded the missionary Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, for the evangelization of the poor. At the age of sixty-six he became Bishop of Saint Agatha and undertook the reform of his diocese . He made a vow never to waste a moment of time, and, though his life was spent in prayer and work, he also wrote many books. These volumes were filled with such great wisdom that in 1871 he was declared by Pius IX a Doctor of the Church.

Saint Alphonsus wrote his first book at the age of forty-nine, and in his eighty-third year had published about sixty volumes; at that time his director forbade him to continue writing. The best known of his books is his volume entitled “The Glories of Mary”, by which he exalts the graces and narrates the wondrous deeds of mercy of the Mother of God for those who invoke Her. He is also well known for his writings on the Holy Eucharist.

St. Alphonsus lived a long life and he came to know much suffering in his later years with arthritis and is the patron of those who suffer with this disease. He died in 1787 at age 91.

Reflection: Let us do with all our heart and attention the duty of each day, leaving to God the result as well as the care of the future.

To Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament

My Lord Jesus Christ, Who, through the love which You bear toward men, does remain with them day and night in this Sacrament, full of mercy and love, awaiting, inviting and receiving all who come to visit You, I believe that You are present in the Sacrament of the Altar.

From the abyss of my nothingness, I adore You. I thank You for all the graces which You have bestowed upon me, particularly for having given me Yourself in this Sacrament, for having given my Your most holy Mother Mary for my advocate, and for having called me to visit You in this church.

I pay my homage to Your most loving Heart for these three ends: first in thanksgiving for this great Gift; second to make amends to You for all the outrages which You do receive in this Sacrament from all Your enemies; third I intend by this visit to adore You in all the places on earth in which You are present in this Sacrament and in which You are the least honored and the most abandoned.

My Jesus, I love You with my whole heart. I am sorry for having offended Your infinite goodness so many times. I purpose, with the help of Your grace, never more to offend You; and, at this moment, mniserable as I am, I consecrate my whole being to You.

I give You my entire will, all my affections and desires and all that I have. From this day forward, do what You will with me and with everything that belongs to me.

I ask and desire only Your holy love, the gift of final perseverance and the perfect fulfillment of Your will. I commend to You the souls in Purgatory, particularly those who were most devoted to the Most Blessed Sacrament and to the Blessed Virgin Mary; and I also commend to You all poor sinners.

Finally, my dear Saviour, I unite all my affections with the affections of Your most loving Heart; and thus united, I offer them to Your Eternal Father, and I entreat Him, in Your Name and for Your sake, to accept and answer them. Amen.

When we have recourse to this Divine Mother, not only we may be sure of her protection, but that often we shall be heard more quickly, and be thus preserved, if we have recourse to Mary and call on her holy name, than we should be if we called on the name of Jesus our Savior. And the reason is that to Jesus, as a Judge, it belongs also to punish; but mercy alone belongs to the Blessed Virgin as a patroness. Meaning, that we more easily find salvation by having recourse to the Mother than by going to the Son–not as if Mary was more powerful than her Son to save us, for we know that Jesus Christ is our only Savior, and that He alone by His merits has obtained and obtains salvation for us; but it is for this reason: that when we have recourse to Jesus, we consider Him at the same time as our Judge, to whom it belongs to chastise ungrateful souls, and therefore the ,confidence necessary to be heard may fail us but when we go to Mary, who has no other office than to compassionate us as Mother of mercy, and to defend us as our advocate, our confidence is more easily established, and is often greater.

We often obtain more promptly what we ask by calling on the name of Mary than by invoking that of Jesus. Her Son is Lord and Judge of all, and discerns the merits of each one; and therefore if He does not immediately grant the prayers of all, He is just. When, however, the Mother’s name is invoked, though the merits of the suppliant are not such as to deserve that his prayer should be granted, those of the Mother supply that he may receive, Many things are asked from God, and are not granted but if they are asked from Mary, and are obtained. And how is this? It is because God has thus decreed to honor His Mother.

It is impossible for a client of Mary, who is faithful in honoring and recommending himself to her, to be lost. To some this proposition may appear, at first sight, exaggerated; but anyone to whom this might seem to be the case I would beg to suspend his judgment, and, first of all, read what I have to say on this subject. When we say that it is impossible for a client of Mary to be lost, we must not be understood as speaking of those clients who take advantage of this devotion that they may sin more freely.

And therefore, those who disapprove of the great praises bestowed on the clemency of this most Blessed Virgin, because it causes the wicked to take advantage of it to sin with greater freedom, do without foundation, for such presumptive people deserve chastisement, and not mercy, for their rash confidence. It is therefore to be understood of those clients who, with a sincere desire to amend, are faithful in honoring and recommending themselves to the Mother of God. It is, I say, morally impossible that such as these should be lost.

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An Apostle of Eucharistic Adoration

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 22:00:59 +0000

Ave Maria Meditations

August 2nd: St. Peter Julian Eymard, Apostle of Eucharistic Adoration

St. Peter Julian Eymard was born in France in 1811. He was ordained in 1834 for the Society of Mary. Because of his extraordinary love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and realizing there was no Order of priests dedicated to perpetual adoration, he was permitted to found such an Order–the Congregation of theBlessed Sacrament. He also founded the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament. His written works on the Holy Eucharist are classics in that field. He died in 1868 and his feast day is August 2nd. The following are a few excerpts from his writings.

EXAMINE YOUR CONSCIENCE IN THE MORNING UNDER THE EYES OF JESUS IN THE HOST

On awakening, make the sign of the cross. On arising say: “0 Sacrament Most Holy, 0 Sacrament Divine! All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment thine! Blessed be the Holy and Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God.

ADORE our Lord as your King who has called you today to work in his amiable service and for his honor and glory. Render him this day the homage of your mind, your heart, your body and your life for he deserves it all.

THANK our Lord for having kept you alive; thank him for all the graces received during your life (baptism, first communion, vocation). Rejoice at the honor and the happiness of spending this whole day in union with our Divine Lord in his Sacrament of love: such a day may be worth an entire life, the whole of Paradise.

ACKNOWLEDGE your weakness and your defects in your particular vocation. Confess your offenses of yester¬day. Detest the power of self-love, the feebleness of your will, the distractions of your mind.

PROMISE our Lord that you will correct your ruling passion; foresee the occasions of relapse and the opportunities of practicing opposite virtues. Remember your resolution for this month and determine for yourself a certain penance in case of failure to keep it. ASK our Lord for the grace of being more faithful today.

RECOMMEND yourself to the Blessed Virgin, to your Guardian Angel and begin work with the help of God’s grace. Consecrate the whole day to our Eucharistic Jesus. Place yourself in spirit, in his presence and humbly adore him on his nearest throne of Perpetual Exposition or in the nearest Tabernacle.

O sweet Jesus, your goodness and your might

Have brought me to this morning’s light.

Keep and preserve me every hour,

From sorrow, sin, temptation’s power.

Grant me your blessing, Lord, this day,

On all I think and do and say.

Jesus for your help I plead;

Mary for me please intercede.

After making this offering, form your intention to gain all the indulgences of the day. Then hasten to the church for your morning prayers, Holy Mass and Communion.

(from My Eucharistic Day)

The love of Jesus Christ reaches its highest perfection and produces the greatest harvest of graces in the ineffable union He contracts with the soul in Holy Communion. Therefore, by every desire for goodness, holiness, and perfection that piety, the virtues, and love can inspire in us, we are bound to direct our course toward this union, toward frequent and even daily Communion.

Since we have in Holy Communion the grace, the model, and the practice of all the virtues, all of them finding their exercise in this divine action, we shall profit more by Communion than by all other means of sanctification: But to that end, Holy Communion must become the thought that dominates mind and heart. It must be the aim of all study, of piety, of the virtues. The receiving of Jesus must be the goal as well as the law of life. All our works must converge toward Communion as toward their end and flow from it as from their source.

The manna that God sent down every morning into the camp of the Israelites had all sorts of flavors and virtues; it not only restored failing energies and gave vigor of body, but it was a bread of sweetness. The Holy Eucharist, which it prefigures, possesses likewise every virtue. It is a remedy for our spiritual infirmities, strength for our daily weaknesses, and a source of peace, joy, and happiness.

The Eucharist, according to the Council of Trent, is a divine antidote that delivers us from common faults and preserves us from mortal sin. It is a fire that, in an instant, consumes the chaff of our spiritual imperfections. Holy Communion is the war that God wages in us against our concupiscence and against the devil, whom our evil passions constantly invite and who, through his connivance with our unruly appetites, holds some part of us in thrall. Did not Jesus say, “Come to me, all you who labor beneath the burden of slavery of your past sins, and I will refresh and deliver you.”

The Holy Penance cleanses us from sin, yet, purified though we be, we are left with the marks of our chains, the tendency to fall again. The enemy, although driven out, still keeps his agents within the walls. So Jesus comes to us to destroy the vestiges of our sins, to counteract our evil tendencies, and to prevent the Devil from re-establishing his power over us. Holy Communion is more than a remedy; it is a force that gives us powerful assistance in attaining goodness, virtue, and holiness.

(from How to Get More out of Holy Communion)

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In this Year of the Priest: The Necessity of Eucharistic Spirituality

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:00:09 +0000

Ave Maria Meditations

excerpts from ECCLESIA DE EUCHARISTIA:

On the Eucharist in its relationship to the Church

Encyclical Letter of Pope John Paul II, April 2003

The Church draws her life from the Eucharist. This truth does not simply express a daily experience of faith, but recapitulates the heart of the mystery of the Church. In a variety of ways she joyfully experiences the constant fulfillment of the promise: “Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28:20), but in the Holy Eucharist, through the changing of bread and wine into the body and blood of the Lord, she rejoices in this presence with unique intensity…The Second Vatican Council rightly proclaimed that the Eucharistic sacrifice is “the source and summit of the Christian life. For the most holy Eucharist contains the Church’s entire spiritual wealth: Christ himself, our Passover and living Bread. Through his own flesh, now made living and life-giving by the Holy Spirit, he offers life to men”. Consequently the gaze of the church is constantly turned to her Lord, present in the Sacrament of the Altar, in which she discovers the full manifestation of his boundless love.

And so began the introduction to this great encyclical and from the Conclusion we read the following thoughts:

Several years ago I celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of my priesthood. Today…my heart is filled with gratitude. For over a half century, every day…my eyes have gazed in recollection upon the host and the chalice, where time and space in some way “merge” and the drama of Golgotha is re-presented in a living way…Each day my faith has been able to recognize in the consecrated bread and wine the divine Wayfarer who joined the two disciples on the road to Emmaus and opened their eyes to the light and their hearts to new hope. (Lk 24:13-35).

Allow me, dear brothers and sisters, to share with deep emotion, as a means of accompanying and strengthening your faith, my own testimony of faith in the Most Holy Eucharist…Here is the Church’s treasure, the heart of the world, the pledge of the fulfillment for which each man and woman, even unconsciously, yearns.. Here our senses fail us…yet faith alone, rooted in the word of Christ handed down to us by the Apostles, is sufficient for us. Allow me, like Peter at the end of the Eucharistic discourse in John’s Gospel, to say once more to Christ, in the name of the whole Church and in the name of each of you: “Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (Jn 6:68).

At the dawn of this third millennium, we, the children of the Church, are called to undertake with renewed enthusiasm the journey of Christian living… it is not an inventing a ‘new program’. The program already exists: it is the plan found in the Gospel and in the living Tradition; it is the same as ever. Ultimately, it has its centre in Christ himself, who is to be known, loved and imitated, so that in him we may live the life of the Trinity… the implementation of this program of a renewed impetus in Christian living passes through the Eucharist.

Every commitment to holiness, every activity aimed at carrying out the Church’s mission, every work of pastoral planning, must draw the strength it needs from the Eucharistic mystery and in turn be directed to that mystery as its culmination. In the Eucharist we have Jesus, we have his redemptive sacrifice, we have his resurrection, we have the gift of the Holy Spirit, we have adoration, obedience and love of the Father. Were we to disregard the Eucharist, how could we overcome our own deficiency?

By giving the Eucharist the prominence it deserves, and by being careful not to diminish any of its dimensions or demands, we show that we are truly conscious of the greatness of this gift…In the humble signs of bread and wine, changed into his body and blood, Christ walks beside us as our strength and our food for the journey, and he enables us to become, for everyone, witnesses of hope. If, in the presence of this mystery, reason experiences its limits, the heart, enlightened by the grace of the Holy Spirit, clearly sees the response that is demanded, and bows low in adoration and unbounded love.

Other thoughts on the centrality of the Eucharist in our spiritual life drawn from the encyclical include the following:

The Eucharist, as Christ’s saving presence in the community of the faithful and its spiritual food, is the most precious possession which the Church can have in her journey through history.

The worship of the Eucharist outside of the Mass is of inestimable value for the life of the Church. This worship is strictly linked to the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice…It is pleasant to spend time with him, to lie close to his breast like the Beloved Disciple (cf. Jn 13:25) and to feel the infinite love present in his heart.

If in our time Christians must be distinguished above all by the “art of prayer”, how can we not feel a renewed need to spend time in spiritual converse, in silent adoration, in heartfelt love before Christ present in the Most Holy Sacrament? How often, dear brother and sisters, have I experienced this, and drawn from it strength, consolation and support! Of all devotions, that of adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the greatest after the sacraments, the one dearest to God and the one most helpful to us.

Communion…presupposes the life of grace, by which we become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet 1:4), and the practice of the virtues of faith, hope and love. Only in this way do we have true communion with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Nor is faith sufficient; (There is)a specific moral duty incumbent upon Christians who wish to participate fully in the Eucharist by receiving the body and blood of Christ. The Apostle Paul appeals to this duty when he warns: “Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.”

Along these same lines, the Catechism of the Catholic Church rightly stipulates that “anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to communion”. I therefore desire to reaffirm that in the Church there remains in force, now and in the future. The two sacraments of the Eucharist and Penance are very closely connected. Because the Eucharist makes present the redeeming sacrifice of the Cross, perpetuating it sacramentally, it naturally gives rise to a continuous need for conversion, for a personal response… The judgment of one’s state of grace obviously belongs only to the person involved, since it is a question of examining one’s conscience.

If we wish to rediscover in all its richness the profound relationship between the Church and the Eucharist, we cannot neglect Mary, Mother and model of the Church…the Blessed Virgin Mary as our teacher in contemplating Christ’s face…Mary can guide us towards this most holy sacrament, because she herself has a profound relationship with it.

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