Meditation Minute

My Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

Book 4 Chapter 13: A Devout Soul Should Long with the Whole Heart to be United to Christ in the Blessed Sacrament

“This is my one desire and what I pray for: to be entirely united to You.”

What a profound desire, to be entirely united to Christ.  Jesus left us the Holy Eucharist so that we could not only share in His Passion, but that we could be in communion with Him. When we participate in the Mass and receive Holy Communion, we are profoundly connected with God and all the rest of the world who participated in the Eucharist Meal. If we truly desire the outpouring of grace from the Eucharist, we are desiring to be completely united with Him and all the Angels and Saints who have gone before us. It is in the Eucharist that I begin to “delight in the eternal things of heaven.” While our God is a truly hidden god (Isaiah 45:15), we are exposed to His love through the participation in the Mass.  He speaks to the humble and simple of heart through the Scriptures and nourishes our souls through the eternal offering of His Body and Blood.  It is in the offering of His Body and Blood that we are given “food and drink for our daily refreshment.” When we sit back and think about what God has done for us, we should marvel in His love for us.  What other people on the earth are as fortunate as the Christian people?  We get to share directly in His love through the Sacrament of the Eucharist and the sacrifice of the Mass.  God comes to us in the Mass in order to feed us His own glorious Body and Blood.  We should cry out, “O grace unspeakable, O marvelous condescension, O love without measure, bestowed only on human beings.” When we receive His glorious love through the Sacrament of the Eucharist, we are now commanded to “go forth” and share His love with those who have not received Him.  They will receive His love through us. We become the vessel through which they can participate in the Holy Eucharist.  There is nothing I can offer to God except myself when I receive Him.  It is in this reception that I should give my heart entirely to Him.  Then all that is in me is filled with joy.  This is the joy that I must take out into the world.  This is the only communion that nonbelievers will experience.  We must go forth with the joy of knowing that through us God is made present to the rest of the world.

A Simple Prayer

“Stay with me, Lord, I implore you;

For my desire is to be with You.

This is my whole desire: that my heart be united to You.”

Yours in Christ

Michael Marcon