CHAPTER 12 : Catechism on Holy Communion
TO SUSTAIN the soul in the pilgrimage of life, God looked
over creation, and found nothing that was worthy of it. He then turned to
Himself, and resolved to give Himself. O my soul, how great thou art, since
nothing less than God can satisfy thee! The food of the soul is the Body and
Blood of God! Oh, admirable Food! If we considered it, it would make us lose
ourselves in that abyss of love for all eternity! How happy are the pure souls
that have the happiness of being united to Our Lord by Communion! They will
shine like beautiful diamonds in Heaven, because God will be seen in them.
Our Lord has said, Whatever you shall ask the Father in My
name, He will give it you. We should never have thought of asking of God His own
Son. But God has done what man could not have imagined. What man cannot express
nor conceive, and what he never would have dared to desire, God in His love has
said,
has conceived, and has executed. Should we ever have dared to ask of God
to put His Son to death for us, to give us His Flesh to eat and His Blood to
drink? If all this were not true, then man might have imagined things that God
cannot do; he would have gone further than God in inventions of love! That is
impossible. Without the Holy Eucharist there would be no happiness in this
world; life would be insupportable. When we receive Holy Communion, we receive
our joy and our happiness. The good God, wishing to give Himself to us in the
Sacrament of His love, gave us a vast and great desire, which He alone can
satisfy. In the presence of this beautiful Sacrament, we are like a person
dying of thirst by the side of a river - he would only need to bend his head;
like a person still remaining poor, close to a great treasure - he need only
stretch out his hand. He who communicates loses himself in God like a drop of
water in the ocean. They can no more be separated.
At the Day of Judgment we shall see the Flesh of Our Lord
shine through the glorified body of those who have received Him worthily on
earth, as we see gold shine in copper, or silver in lead. When we have just
communicated, if we were asked, "What are you carrying away to your
home?" we might answer, "I am carrying away Heaven. " A saint
said that we were Christ-bearers. It is very true; but we have not enough
faith. We do not comprehend our dignity. When we leave the holy banquet, we are
as happy as the Wise Men would have been, if they could have carried away the
Infant Jesus. Take a vessel full of liquor, and cork it well - you will keep the
liquor as long as you please. So if you were to keep Our Lord well and
recollectedly, after Communion, you would long feel that devouring fire which
would inspire your heart with an inclination to good and a repugnance to evil.
When we have the good God in our heart, it ought to be very burning. The heart
of the disciples of Emmaus burnt within them from merely listening to His
voice. I do not like people to begin to read directly when they
come from the holy table. Oh no! what is the use of the words of men when God
is speaking? We must do as one who is very curious, and listens at the door. We
must listen to all that God says at the door of our heart. When you have
received Our Lord, you feel your soul purified, because it bathes itself in the
love of God. When we go to Holy Communion, we feel something extraordinary, a
comfort which pervades the whole body, and penetrates to the extremities. What
is this comfort? It is Our Lord, who communicates Himself to all parts of our
bodies, and makes them thrill. We are obliged to say, like St.
John
No comments:
Post a Comment