DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS FOR JUNE 2009
+In this month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, let us contemplate our Redeemer’s Eucharistic Heart+
How shall I understand, sweet Jesus, what is happening to me, what is being done in secret behind the Sacramental veils, below all my thoughts and feelings, deeper than consciousness itself, within the very substance of my soul? It is there, sweet Eucharistic Jesu, we meet, beneath all surfaces and sounds and shapes of things, unseen, unheard, unfelt: Thou and I, substance with substance, deep calling unto deep, my nothingness to Thy infinitude, my feebleness to Thy strength. I need not to see Thy beauty, nor to feel Thy presence, not even to picture or imagine Thee. Thou art beyond all our imagining, no object now of mortal sense. Thy Body lives in that higher world and state that owes no obedience to material laws, but like free thought is where and how it wills to be. Hidden, silent, Thou art, dear Lord, in this sweet Sacrament, my hope and strength and joy, the object of my deepest love, the answer to all questionings. Thou art the anchor of my soul beneath the troubled sea of life. Thou art my refuge, my soul’s rest: my Lord, my God, my all. From Thy Eucharistic Heart comes all that soothes our life. Thou art happiness and goodness here on earth and in the world to come when, after a little while, I see Thee face to face – Thou whom now I have within me. The vision will bring ecstasy and eternal bliss. +Amen+
(Father W. Roche, S.J. “Mysteries of The Mass in Reasoned Prayers”. 1925)
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Bishop Anthony writes: The Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us! We say this, kneeling, in the Last Gospel at the end of every Mass. Yet do we ponder this as we should? My dear brethren, please ponder the above prayerful homily, the words of which transcend our humanity and bring us by our Saviour’s Sacred and Eucharistic Heart to our Destiny – which is sight of God, face to face! Jesus is our Companion in this life – He who deigned to be born and to dwell with us. It was Pope Benedict XV who, in November 1921 instituted the Mass of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus; the Feast speaks of the infinite love of our Lord Who, in the Holy Sacrament of the Altar, offers Himself for us, but also to us as Nourishment in this earthly pilgrimage, as Viaticum and Friend as we journey to Him. Father Roche says: “Thy Body lives in that higher world..” Yet because our Saviour as God is not subject to material law, His Body also resides in the Tabernacle of every Catholic Church, and Jesus comes to us with all His love when we receive Him in Holy Communion – eucharistically, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity. In his letter to the Ephesians, Saint Paul speaks of “the unsearchable riches of Christ”. The riches of Christ’s love which enabled Him to die for us, are indeed unsearchable; but if we seek Him in the quiet depths of our soul, we will find Him because He wants us to find Him and to walk with Him every day of our human journey. His Eucharistic Heart is waiting for us always in His most adorable Body and Blood.
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Let us pray: Lord Jesus Christ, Who pouring out the riches of Thy love towards mankind, didst institute the Sacrament of the Eucharist: grant, we beseech Thee, that we may love Thy most tender Heart, and ever worthily approach so great a Sacrament. Who livest and reignest God unto ages of ages. Amen.
And a Passing Thought
“You must taste my Love” [said Jesus]. So I did sit and eat.
(George Herbert in his poem ‘Christ Our Lord’)
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SACRED AND EUCHARISTIC HEART OF JESUS, HAVE MERCY UPON US!
BLESSED AND ADORED ART THOU, JESU, IN THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF THE ALTAR!
JESU, FROM THE ABYSS OF OUR NOTHINGNESS WE GIVE THEE OUR OWN POOR HEARTS!
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He that eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blood abideth in Me and I in him (St. John, Chapter 6)
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