Meditation Minute

My Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ

Book 4 Chapter 17: On a Burning Love and Eager Desire to Receive Christ

“Blessed Lord, eternal love, my highest good and never-ending joy, I desire to receive You with such longing as any of the Saints have had.”

Ultimately, it is what is in our heart that drives us.  We must develop a deep burning love and desire for Christ.  It is in the desire that we develop our devotion.  How can you develop a devotion for something you do not desire?  The deeper the desire, the greater the devotion. The greater the devotion, the deeper the longing to receive Christ.  One builds upon the other.  Without this longing and desire the heart will grow weak and become easily distracted by the world.  We should desire to receive Christ every single day whether we can go to Mass or not.  We should long for the time when we can process to the Altar of the Lord and say Amen, I believe.  We should desire to receive Him with “great affection, reverence, praise and honor, with such gratitude, worthiness and love.”  It is how we approach the Eucharist that determines the depth of our faith.  The Blessed Mother of God gave us the greatest example when she said yes to the Angel Gabriel.  It was in her yes that she allowed Christ to fill her womb.  We must follow Mary’s example if we want the Blood of Christ to flow through our veins.  We must also be like John the Baptist who leap for joy when he was still in his mother’s womb.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, he was overcome with the desire to receive Christ and to become the messenger that prepared the way.  We must offer the all the praise and glory that rests in our heart to our Father in Heaven so that He may be glorified now and forever. By your example, you become the witness to others so that they too can develop a deep longing for Christ.  With my prayers and dispositions, I invite and implore all the heavenly spirits that have gone before me and all the faithful people who receive Christ to join me in thanking Christ for the great sacrifice He made for us.  It is in this communion of souls that I enjoin You, my heavenly Father.

A Simple Prayer

O Lord, when I obtain the devotion I so desire and the spiritual union with You at Your holy and heavenly altar – being greatly refreshed and consoled – may You remember me, a poor creature and servant of God.