Since surveys on religious belief routinely indicate that most Catholics do not know or understand what the Church teaches about the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, our bishops have instituted a program for a national Eucharistic revival. A very worthy endeavor, to be sure, and perhaps, if we heard more preaching like this, that would help to change things for the better. This excerpt is taken from the Little Catechism of St Jean-Marie Vianney, the Curé d’Ars, whose feast is kept today. (Pictured right: St Jean-Marie in a stained glass window in the church of St Germain, St Germain-les-Belles, France; image from Wikimedia Commons by Reinhardhauke, CC BY-SA 3.0)
Our Lord is hidden there, waiting for us to come and visit Him, and make our request to Him. See how good He is! He accommodates Himself to our weakness. In Heaven, where we shall be glorious and triumphant, we shall see him in all His glory. If He had presented Himself before us in that glory now, we should not have dared to approach Him; but He hides Himself, like a person in a prison, who might say to us, “You do not see me, but that is no matter; ask of me all you wish and I will grant it.” He is there in the Sacrament of His love, sighing and interceding incessantly with His Father for sinners. To what outrages does He not expose Himself, that He may remain in the midst of us! He is there to console us; and therefore we ought often to visit Him. How pleasing to Him is the short quarter of an hour that we steal from our occupations, from something of no use, to come and pray to Him, to visit Him, to console Him for all the outrages He receives! When He sees pure souls coming eagerly to Him, He smiles upon them. They come with that simplicity which pleases Him so much, to ask His pardon for all sinners, for the outrages of so many ungrateful men. What happiness do we not feel in the presence of God, when we find ourselves alone at His feet before the holy tabernacle! “Come, my soul, redouble your fervour; you are alone adoring your God. His eyes rest upon you alone.” This good Saviour is so full of love for us that He seeks us out everywhere.Ah! if we had the eyes of angels with which to see Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is here present on this altar, and who is looking at us, how we should love Him! We should never more wish to part from Him. We should wish to remain always at His feet; it would be a foretaste of Heaven: all else would become insipid to us. But see, it is faith we lack. We are poor blind people; we have a mist before our eyes. Faith alone can dispel this mist. Soon, my children, when I shall hold Our Lord in my hands, when the good God blesses you, ask Him then to open the eyes of your heart; say to Him like the blind man of Jericho, “O Lord, make me see!” If you say to Him sincerely, “Make me see!” you will certainly obtain what you desire, because He wishes nothing but your happiness. He has His hands full of graces, seeking someone to distribute them to; Alas! and no one will have them. . . . Oh, indifference! Oh, ingratitude! My children, we are most unhappy that we do not understand these things! We shall understand them well one day; but it will then be too late!
Our Lord is there as a Victim; and a prayer that is very pleasing to God is to ask the Blessed Virgin to offer to the Eternal Father her Divine Son, all bleeding, all torn, for the conversion of sinners; it is the best prayer we can make, since, indeed, all prayers are made in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ. ...
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| From our first Corpus Christi photopost of this year; Benediction at Blackfriars, the Dominican house at Oxford Univ., during a station held as part of the procession from the Oxford Oratory. |
