Eucharistic feast and Missionary work.

Eucharistic feast and Missionary work.
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Receiving Holy Communion is
by far the greatest of all our actions,

because,  through it we receive

God Himself into our soul.

Nobody on earth can ever compare one Holy Communion to any other created reality.

The entire created universe

from the stars, planets, immense oceans, lofty mountains, and starry skies

to all the living beings taken together

cannot equal even one, just one Holy Communion.

Why?

The reason is simple but very sublime:

Holy Communion is God himself!

God is the origin of all the things that exist

and the only purpose of our existence!

God created all of us out of pure and unconditional love

to love Him in this life

so as to be with Him

and to love Him for all eternity in Heaven!

The last words of Jesus before   His ascension   were:

“And behold I will be with you always even until the end of time.” (Mt. 28: 20 )

If Jesus went up to heaven

then how can He still be with us

and even until the end of time,

until the end of the world?

  He is and ever will be   in His Mystical Body

which is the Church

that He established for our
salvation.

He is really present in the Holy Eucharist,

which is the greatest of all of the Sacraments.

Holy Eucharist is really God;

it is really Jesus Christ, the Bread of life.

 The Holy Eucharist is

truly

and

substantially

the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ!

Even the smallest consecrated Host,

even half of the Host,

even a small particle of the consecrated Host

is Jesus,

the  God of the universe!

The success of any activity depends on proper preparation

The same can be applied

to a fervent and worthy reception of Our Lord

in Holy Communion.

Even before   receiving a guest into our house, we make a lot of preparation.

While receiving Holy Communion,

we receive God Himself as our guest

into our souls.  

What type of reception

do we  give the Eucharistic Lord, Jesus,

when we receive Him into our soul,

when we receive Him in Holy Communion?  

How is He received?

we should all make a concerted effort

to improve and upgrade the efficacy

of our reception of the Eucharistic Lord.   

The whole structure of Christian life is built on the foundation of faith.

The building can stand permanently only if the foundation is strong.

Only if our faith is strong our Christian life can be worth its name.

Sad but true to say that the faith of many Christians is not as strong as it should be.

It may be due to the worldliness of the people

living around them.

But we cannot blame others as our first parent did.

We are responsible for our actions, not others.

Faith is like a seed planted in the ground.

It must put forth leaves

grow,

blossom

and flourish until we reach heaven!

If we really believe that Jesus is really present in the Holy Eucharist and He is God,

we would genuflect before Him, not merely bow our heads,

We would receive Him in our tongue, not in our hands,

We would give Him the central
place in the altar,

and

We would not chat within the church.

Due to lack of strong faith

many people fail

to properly appreciate

what Jesus has done

to be with us

till the end of time. .

They have simply become accustomed or used to Mass and Holy Communion.

Result?

They take the Lord for granted.

Atmosphere is essential for life,

but many people just take it for granted

as it is available without their effort.

We should not take Holy Communion for granted.

We must appreciate it for its most important place in our spiritual life.

We must receive Jesus with  love and appreciation.

not  merely as an object.

Jesus  would prefer not to be received

than to be received like a mere object

and out of mere routine,

to be received mechanically!

Priests should celebrate every Mass

with faith and fervour. 

They should  celebrate  every Mass

as if it were their first Mass,

last Mass,

and only Mass.” 

We should receive every Holy Communion

as if it were our first,

last

and

only Holy Communion.

The cleaner and  purer the soul,  the more abundant the graces in receiving Holy Communion.

A  dirty glass pane prevents the sun from entering the room fully.

Likewise,

a dirtied or sullied soul

will block the graces,

that come from

the powerful presence

of the Eucharistic Lord.

'First come first served' is a table phrase.

What would we do

if we were invited

for an expensive and exquisite meal

in a fashionable  restaurant?

Would we not try to be the 'First come'?

Should we not then be early

to welcome the King of Kings

and the Lord of Lords

into our hearts?

Eucharistic feast is only a part of the Holy Mass.

We must attend the full Mass, right from the beginning till 'Ite, missa est'.

We don't go for Mass merely to observe what is going on

on the Altar,

as if it were a play, a show, or an opera.

We go to church to participate in the Mass fully

and actively.

  We are  to listen attentively to the Word of God,

respond to the Word,

and to sing with all our hearts

in praise and worship of the Lord.

We should have it as our policy

to come to church fifteen minutes

before Mass

and Leave it fifteen minutes after Mass.

During the    fifteen minutes after receiving Communion

we must converse with Jesus heart to heart.

We should thank Him

for being kind enough

to come our heart

which is in fact

unworthy of Him.

Let us join our hearts, minds and voices with the Psalmist and acclaim: 

 “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His mercy endures forever.”

We should humbly beg the Blessed Virgin Mary

to lend us her Immaculate Heart

so that we can love her Son as intensely as she loved Him.

St. Pope John Paul II makes a beautiful parallel.

He compares Our Lady’s “Yes” or fiat in the Annunciation

to our “Amen”.

Her yes resulted

in the conception of Jesus in her womb.

Our “Amen”  brings Jesus into our heart.

It is not enough that we receive Jesus,

We must give Him to others.

Take Our Lady as an example.

After conceiving Jesus in her womb in the Annunciation,

she went in haste to bring Jesus to her cousin Elizabeth

who in her old age was with child.

Mary hurried to bring Jesus to others.

We should follow her example.

After receiving Jesus in Holy Communion

we should
become a fiery Apostle

in order to bring our Lord Jesus to others.

We should   preach both our example and by our word.

We should invite others to Church,

to confession,

to Mass

and Holy Communion.

by our example.

By our life  we should be missionaries!

The harvest is rich but the laborers are few.

We are right now called to work in the vineyard with the Lord.

We are called to go fishing with the Lord and to save souls.

One of the most efficacious tools

to save souls

is to help the wandering sheep,

the stray Catholics,

to come back to Church,

make a good Sacramental Confession

and then to receive the Lord

Jesus in Holy Communion.

Venerable Archbishop Fulton Seen expresses it  in just five words :  

“First come and then go!” 

 First we should come

and receive Jesus

with great fervour, faith and love;

then we go out to the whole world

to bring this good news of salvation

to every living being!

 “I am the Bread of life.

Whoever eats my Body

and drinks my Blood

will have everlasting life

and I will raise Him up on the last day.”    Jesus.

Lourdu Selvam.