Jesus--A Prisoner of Love

     In this Sacrament, then, under the appearance of bread, Our Lord and Savior gives us His Flesh and Blood for food for our souls. It was not enough for Him that He should become one of ourselves by adopting a human nature like our own. It was not enough that He should share the hardships of a life like our own – that He should suffer and die and atone for our sins, in our name. He loved us, and He would not rest until He should be completely united to us. And in His love, He devised the most extraordinary method of union, in which He Himself becomes our food! Truly a tremendous lover!” Dom Mary Eugene Boylan

     Our dear sweet Jesus is madly in love with us and has gone to extraordinary lengths to prove His love to us, yet many make a halfhearted effort to get to Mass, while others have walked away from their Catholic faith. 

     The reasons are varied: I’m really busy and just don’t have the time. Besides, I don’t get anything out of Mass. Maybe if the music was better. Maybe if the homilies were better. Maybe if they catered more to the youth. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

      If people truly believed in the True Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, they could never leave. In fact, they would do all in their power to make it a priority in their lives, and in the lives of their loved ones. But then again, think about it, this kind of love, God becoming our food, is sheer madness! 

     St. Jose Marie Escriva expressed this so well: “He was the greatest madman of all times. What greater madness could there be than to give oneself as He did, and for such people? It would have been mad enough to become a helpless Child. But even then, many wicked men might have been softened and would not have dared to harm him. He wanted to make Himself even less, to give Himself more lavishly. He made Himself food; He became Bread. Divine Madman! How do men treat You? How do I treat You?”

     Jesus has become a prisoner of Love in the Tabernacle out of His great love for us. He waits there for us…for our presence, for our love, to become our food, and be one with Him.

     St. Therese once said, “Our Lord does not come down from heaven every day to lie in a golden ciborium. He comes to find another heaven which is infinitely dearer to Him—the heaven of our souls.”

     Is my heart another heaven for Jesus? Do I welcome Him with tenderness and love? Do I speak with Him and tell Him how very much I love Him? Do I prepare my heart to receive Him beforehand by sincerely asking Him for forgiveness of my sins and failings by participating in the Sacrament of Penance? Do I long for Him, like I do for other people or desires? 

     Jesus longs to be with us, and on the night before He died, He instituted the sacraments of the Eucharist and the priesthood. He told His apostles, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” Lk22:15. 

     Realizing, that to remain with us, miracles would be needed. He handed down to His priests, the power to make Him present at the consecration at Mass.

    St. John Chrysostom declares: “It is not man that causes the things offered to become the Body and Blood of Christ, but He who was crucified for us, Christ Himself. The priest, in the role of Christ, pronounces these words, but their power and grace are God’s. This is my body, he says. This word transforms the things offered.” 

     According to St. Ambrose: “This bread is bread before the words of the Sacrament. But when the words of Christ come to it, it is the Body of Christ. Before the words of Christ, it is a cup full of wine and water. When the words of Christ become operative, the Blood which has redeemed the people is caused to be there.”

     In His great love for us, Jesus knew we would need His Presence in the Eucharist. 

     In the words of Fr. Peter Cameron, “Jesus Christ in the Eucharist is that real and permanent presence that we can approach. He beckons to us from the silence of the Eucharist because He knows that we cannot be ourselves without His presence to help us. We need a presence that will take us by the hand and lead us out of our isolation and misery. Only a presence—Christ’s presence—can reawaken our self, our “I,” and give us the courage and desire to live our life to its fullest. The real presence of Christ in the Eucharist saves us from the dread and decay of ourselves. We are made for this presence. That for which we do everything is this presence. Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the real presence that we can approach in the hope of being transformed, healed and forever changed.” 

     If just being in the presence of Christ, in the Eucharist, can cause this tremendous transformation within us, how much more powerful is consuming Jesus? 

     St. John Paul II teaches us, “Only through the Eucharist is it possible to live the heroic virtues of Christianity: charity, to the point of forgiving one’s enemies; love for those who make us suffer; chastity in every age and situation of life; patience in suffering and when one is shocked by the silence of God in the tragedies of history or of one’s personal existence. You must always be Eucharistic souls to be authentic Christians.”

     Strive to become a Eucharistic soul!

     During the difficult time of Covid, when churches were locked and we were unable to go to Mass and receive our dear sweet Jesus, I found it unbearable! I never thought I’d ever live through a time where I was unable to receive our Lord every day.

     This is a memory I will never forget, and it breaks my heart for Jesus to know that He is still often ignored and forgotten. He has given us Himself…totally and completely and waits for our love and our visits to Him. 

     Please, tell Him you love Him. Visit Him often. Receive Him with love and speak heart to heart. He’s crazy in love with you and longs for your presence. Give Jesus the gift of yourself, as He has given Himself to you…and please, don’t forget to thank Papa.

     Oh, dearest daughter, open well the eye of thy intellect and gaze into the abyss of My love, for there is no rational creature whose heart would not melt for love in contemplating and considering, among the other benefits she receives from Me, the special gift that she receives in the Blessed Sacrament.” God the Father to St. Catherine of Siena

     Blessed Dina Belanger beseeched Jesus, “O Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, I entreat Thee, by Our Lady of the Eucharistic Heart, reign over all souls as Thou dearest.” Jesus replied, “My Heart overflows with grace for souls. Bring souls to My Eucharistic Heart!”

     “DO WHATEVER HE TELLS YOU!” Jn2:5b