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The Disciple
THESE are all Your words, O Christ, eternal Truth,
though they were not all spoken at one time nor
written together in one place. And because they are
Yours and true, I must accept them all with faith and
gratitude. They are Yours and You have spoken them;
they are mine also because You have spoken them for
my salvation. Gladly I accept them from Your lips
that they may be the more deeply impressed in my
heart.
Words of such tenderness, so full of sweetness and
love, encourage me; but my sins frighten me and an
unclean conscience thunders at me when approaching
such great mysteries as these. The sweetness of Your
words invites me, but the multitude of my vices
oppresses me.
You command me to approach You confidently if I wish
to have part with You, and to receive the food of
immortality if I desire to obtain life and glory
everlasting."Come to me," You say, "all you that
labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you."(6)
Oh, how sweet and kind to the ear of the sinner is
the word by which You, my Lord God, invite the poor
and needy to receive Your most holy Body! Who am I,
Lord, that I should presume to approach You? Behold,
the heaven of heavens cannot contain You, and yet You
say: "Come, all of you, to Me."
What means this most gracious honor and this
friendly invitation? How shall I dare to come, I who
am conscious of no good on which to presume? How
shall I lead You into my house, I who have so often
offended in Your most kindly sight? Angels and
archangels revere You, the holy and the just fear
You, and You say: "Come to Me: all of you!" If You,
Lord, had not said it, who would have believed it to
be true? And if You had not commanded, who would dare
approach?
Behold, Noah, a just man, worked a hundred years
building the ark that he and a few others might be
saved; how, then, can I prepare myself in one hour to
receive with reverence the Maker of the world?
Moses, Your great servant and special friend, made an
ark of incorruptible wood which he covered with
purest gold wherein to place the tables of Your law;
shall I, a creature of corruption, dare so easily to
receive You, the Maker of law and the Giver of life?
Solomon, the wisest of the kings of Israel, spent
seven years building a magnificent temple in praise
of Your name, and celebrated its dedication with a
feast of eight days. He offered a thousand victims in
Your honor and solemnly bore the Ark of the Covenant
with trumpeting and jubilation to the place prepared
for it; and I, unhappy and poorest of men, how shall
I lead You into my house, I who scarcely can spend a
half-hour devoutly -- would that I could spend even
that as I ought!
O my God, how hard these men tried to please You!
Alas, how little is all that I do! How short the time
I spend in preparing for Communion! I am seldom
wholly recollected, and very seldom, indeed, entirely
free from distraction. Yet surely in the presence of
Your life-giving Godhead no unbecoming thought should
arise and no creature possess my heart, for I am
about to receive as my guest, not an angel, but the
very Lord of angels.
Very great, too, is the difference between the Ark of
the Covenant with its treasures and Your most pure
Body with its ineffable virtues, between these
sacrifices of the law which were but figures of
things to come and the true offering of Your Body
which was the fulfillment of all ancient sacrifices.
Why, then, do I not long more ardently for Your
adorable presence? Why do I not prepare myself with
greater care to receive Your sacred gifts, since
those holy patriarchs and prophets of old, as well as
kings and princes with all their people, have shown
such affectionate devotion for the worship of God?
The most devout King David danced before the ark
of God with all his strength as he recalled the
benefits once bestowed upon his fathers. He made
musical instruments of many kinds. He composed psalms
and ordered them sung with joy. He himself often
played upon the harp when moved by the grace of the
Holy Ghost. He taught the people of Israel to praise
God with all their hearts and to raise their voices
every day to bless and glorify Him. If such great
devotion flourished in those days and such ceremony
in praise of God before the Ark of the Covenant, what
great devotion ought not I and all Christian people
now show in the presence of this Sacrament; what
reverence in receiving the most excellent Body of
Christ!
Many people travel far to honor the relics of the
saints, marveling at their wonderful deeds and at the
building of magnificent shrines. They gaze upon and
kiss the sacred relics encased in silk and gold; and
behold, You are here present before me on the altar,
my God, Saint of saints, Creator of men, and Lord of
angels!
Often in looking at such things, men are moved by
curiosity, by the novelty of the unseen, and they
bear away little fruit for the amendment of their
lives, especially when they go from place to place
lightly and without true contrition. But here in the
Sacrament of the altar You are wholly present, my
God, the man Christ Jesus, whence is obtained the
full realization of eternal salvation, as often as
You are worthily and devoutly received. To this,
indeed, we are not drawn by levity, or curiosity, or
sensuality, but by firm faith, devout hope, and
sincere love.
O God, hidden Creator of the world, how
wonderfully You deal with us! How sweetly and
graciously You dispose of things with Your elect to
whom You offer Yourself to be received in this
Sacrament! This, indeed, surpasses all understanding.
This in a special manner attracts the hearts of
the devout and inflames their love. Your truly
faithful servants, who give their whole life to
amendment, often receive in Holy Communion the great
grace of devotion and love of virtue.
Oh, the wonderful and hidden grace of this Sacrament
which only the faithful of Christ understand, which
unbelievers and slaves of sin cannot experience! In
it spiritual grace is conferred, lost virtue
restored, and the beauty, marred by sin, repaired. At
times, indeed, its grace is so great that, from the
fullness of the devotion, not only the mind but also
the frail body feels filled with greater strength.
Nevertheless, our neglect and coldness is much to be
deplored and pitied, when we are not moved to receive
with greater fervor Christ in Whom is the hope and
merit of all who will be saved. He is our
sanctification and redemption. He is our consolation
in this life and the eternal joy of the blessed in
heaven. This being true, it is lamentable that many
pay so little heed to the salutary Mystery which
fills the heavens with joy and maintains the whole
universe in being.
Oh, the blindness and the hardness of the heart of
man that does not show more regard for so wonderful a
gift, but rather falls into carelessness from its
daily use! If this most holy Sacrament were
celebrated in only one place and consecrated by only
one priest in the whole world, with what great
desire, do you think, would men be attracted to that
place, to that priest of God, in order to witness the
celebration of the divine Mysteries! But now there
are many priests and Mass is offered in many places,
that God's grace and love for men may appear the more
clearly as the Sacred Communion is spread more widely
through the world.
Thanks be to You, Jesus, everlasting Good Shepherd,
Who have seen fit to feed us poor exiled people with
Your precious Body and Blood, and to invite us with
words from Your own lips to partake of these sacred
Mysteries: "Come to Me, all you who labor and are
burdened, and I will refresh you."
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