|
A5-
|
“Worthy is the Lamb |
| “Worthy is the Lamb” is the Antiphon prayer
which begins the Mass of Christ the King. The Lamb is Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. He chose the Passover meal to institute the Holy Eucharist because He is the Sacrificial Lamb who is slain for our salvation. Good Friday follows Holy Thursday because the sufferings of Christ on the cross were the precious price the Lord paid in order to give us the gift of Himself in the Holy Eucharist. The Eucharist is the fruit of our Lord’s Passion. He gave up His Body on the cross that He may give to us His Body in the Holy Eucharist. He poured out His Blood on the cross that He may fill us with His divine love in the Holy Eucharist. Through His death on the cross, we have life in Him in the Holy Eucharist. Jesus chooses to come to us under the appearance of bread because bread is made from wheat. Wheat is beaten, broken, and crushed before it becomes bread. Jesus was willing to be beaten at the pillar, broken in Heart, and crushed in humiliation that He may be for us “the Living Bread come down from Heaven” (Jn 6:51). The question today is: “Do we adore Him whom we receive into our heart in Holy Communion?” The clear and unmistakable way in which Christ has consistently pleaded with us to adore Him is through the gift of His total presence among us in the most Blessed Sacrament. Are we willing to spend time with Him Who is really, truly, physically and personally present to us in the most Blessed Sacrament? Jesus’ appeal to His Apostles in the garden is His appeal to us today: “Could you not watch one hour with Me?” (Mt 26:40). His words to St. Margaret Mary are even more valid today: “I have a burning thirst to be honored by men in the Blessed Sacrament, and I find hardly anyone who strives, according to my desire, to allay this thirst by making me some return of love.” When one person loves another, they want to be with the person whom they love. This is true for every type of relationship: a mother and her newborn infant; a father and his child; friends, sweethearts, husband and wife. Love seeks to be with the object of its love. This helps us understand the great mystery of our Faith. Jesus said, “I will not leave you orphans” (Jn 14:18), “Behold I will be with you even unto the very end of the world” (Mt 28:20). The way He has chosen to be with us, dwell with us, remain with us, is through the most Blessed Sacrament. Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, Christ dwells with us seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day. Full of Grace and Truth At the height of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI wrote a prophetic encyclical titled Mysterium Fidei, Mystery of Faith. He stated that the Eucharist is the “spiritual center” of the parish. The Pope said that everyone should understand “the incomparable dignity” that the divine Eucharist bestows upon the Christian people. He proclaimed that “Christ is truly the Emmanuel, that is, ‘God is with us.’” Day and night He is in our midst. The Pope emphasized why Christ dwells with us in the Blessed Sacrament and the spiritual benefits that are given to those who come into His Eucharistic presence: He dwells with us, full of grace and truth. He restores morality, nourishes virtues, consoles the afflicted, strengthens the weak. He proposes His own example to those who come to Him that all may learn to be, like Himself, meek and humble of heart and to seek not their own interests but those of God. Anyone who approaches this august Sacrament with special devotion and endeavors to re turn generous love for Christ's own infinite love, will experience and fully understand—not without spiritual joy and fruit—how precious is the life hidden with Christ in God and how great is the value of converse with Christ, for there is nothing more consoling on earth, nothing more efficacious for advancing along the road of holiness. Pope Paul VI said that he wrote this encyclical “so that the hope aroused by the Council that a new era of Eucharistic piety pervade the whole Church—be not frustrated by the spread of the seeds of false opinions.” The Pope openly expressed his “serious pastoral concern and anxiety” over these false opinions which weaken devotion and faith in the Holy Eucharist. He pleaded with bishops and priests to “tirelessly” promote devotion to the Blessed Sacrament so that a new era of Eucharistic piety pervade the whole Church. Again, our Blessed Lord keeps appealing to us through His Vicar on earth, Pope John Paul II. In his encyclical Dominicae Cenae, On the Mystery and Worship of the Eucharist, the Holy Father wrote on February 24, 1980: The encouragement and the deepening of Eucharistic worship are proofs of that authentic renewal which the Council set itself as an aim and of which they are the central point. And this, venerable and dear brothers, deserves separate reflection. The Church and the world have a great need of Eucharistic worship. Jesus waits for us in this sacrament of love. Let us be generous with our time in going to meet Him in adoration and in contemplation that is full of faith and ready to make reparation for the great faults and crimes of the world. May our adoration never cease (Chapter I, Section 2). The Life of our Souls And again, in the Pope’s encyclical Redemptor Hominis, the Redeemer of Man, he stated: “Indeed the Eucharist is the ineffable sacrament.” He exhorted us by saying that our “essential commitment” in life is “to persevere and advance constantly in Eucharistic life and Eucharistic piety and to develop spiritually in the climate of the Eucharist.” The Pope called upon “every member of the Church” to be “vigilant in seeing that this sacrament of love shall be at the center of the life of the People of God, so that through all the manifestations of worship due to it, Christ shall be given back ‘love for love’ and truly become ‘the life of our souls’” (20). The Holy Father put his words into action by beginning Perpetual Adoration with the Blessed Sacrament exposed on December 2, 1981. Since December 2 there has been uninterrupted, continuous Adoration in the little chapel at St. Peter’s in the Vatican. This should be a tremendous light of encouragement shining out to all priests and laity alike. In his opening prayer, “Stay with us, Lord,” the Pope urged all parishes to begin Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration. Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is simply making Jesus the “center” of the life of the People of God as the Holy Father has exhorted us. Since the Pope started Perpetual Adoration on December 2, 1981, many parishes have begun this in their own church. There are only 168 hours in the week. The vast majority of parishes have two, three, four, five, or six times more people than there are hours in a week. If only one-half, or one-third, or one-fourth of the people in the parish are willing to make a Holy Hour each week, then Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is easily established. The practical advantage of Perpetual Adoration is that it opens up all 168 hours of the week. This makes it very easy for anyone to choose one of the hours to make a Holy Hour of prayer. When each hour is covered it also makes the Blessed Sacrament available to anyone at any time. When people know that they have an opportunity to visit our Blessed Lord any time they desire, it is surprising how many people respond to this opportunity. To Heal the Brokenhearted Today everyone experiences a deep need for personal prayer. The burden of being a faithful Christian is becoming heavier in a non-Christian world. To those who are heavily burdened and find life difficult, Jesus said, “Come to me” and “I will refresh you” (Mt 11:28). This hunger for prayer increases with the many trials and heartaches which many encounter in family life or the business world. Jesus dwells with us in the Blessed Sacrament to fulfill His mission of “healing the brokenhearted” (Is 61:1). How can we come to Him when most of our Catholic churches are locked? How is He to “restore morality,” “console the afflicted,” “nourish virtue,” and “strengthen the weak,” when we have so effectively separated Him from the people by making it almost impossible for anyone to visit Him in the Blessed Sacrament? The Apostles did the same thing to Jesus 2,000 years ago. The little children wanted to visit our Lord and come close to Him. The Apostles tried to “protect” Christ and told the little children to go away. It was one of the few times in the Gospel where the Lord became angry. He said: “Let the little children be, and do not hinder them from coming to me, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mt 19:13-15). A Room in the Inn Many wonderful priests across the country have found ways to make our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament completely available to the people, even though they lock the church doors because of safety measures. Some parishes make a Blessed Sacrament chapel in the body of the church, while keeping the rest of the church locked. This can be done by converting a baptistry in the back, or a sacristy in the front, into a Perpetual Adoration chapel. Parishes have converted a small room in a Church, monastery or school, by making a door with an outside entrance. In this way people have access to the Blessed Sacrament without violating the privacy of the rectory or convent. Where there is a will, there is a way to find “a room in the inn” (Lk 2:7) where people can come to their Lord and their God. It is tragic not to make a little place where the People of God can come to adore our Lord and receive the “living waters” of His grace and love. Mary Magdalene opened up the “alabaster jar” to give honor and praise to the Lord. Many around her apparently did not think that Jesus was worth it because they began to complain by calling it an “extravagant waste” (Mk 14:3-6). A priest must be like John the Baptist, who pointed to the Lamb of God (Jn 1:36). At His Eucharistic discourse, Jesus said that He is the “vine” and we “are the branches.” He said that “apart from the vine” we can do nothing, but whoever remains in union with Him will “bear much fruit” (Jn 15:19-22). Lay people must join priests so that together we point to the Lamb, Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, as the answer to all the ills of the Church and human society. From the Lamb flows the river, crystal clear, which provides the healing and the medicine for all the nations (Rev 22:1-2). The Lamb on the throne will shepherd us and lead us to springs of life-giving water (Rev 7:17). The lamp is the Lamb whose light casts out the darkness (Rev 21:22-24). Those in authority fight against the Lamb, but the Lamb is victorious because He is “Lord of lords and King of kings” (Rev 17:14). The war against the Lamb is the terrible indifference toward Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. There is a vast difference between an “intellectual faith” and a “living faith.” A priest who comes before the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament “knows” Him personally with a living faith. And to know Him is to love Him and want everyone else to love Him also. A priest who makes a daily Holy Hour is a priest who wants Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament to be adored perpetually. Never Left Alone Perpetual Adoration keeps with the message our Lord gave on the last day of the feast of tabernacles when He cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me” (Jn 7:37). The Lamb is worthy of the unceasing adoration. “Day and night without pause,” He receives honor, glory, and praise (Rev 7:9-15). The translation of this is simply that Jesus deserves it; Jesus deserves our unceasing adoration and thanksgiving! Hostility and Terrorism Sacre Coeur in Montmartre, Paris has had Perpetual Adoration for over 100 years without a single incident! St. John Neumann began 40 hours (of Adoration), in Philadelphia in the face of hostility and the terrorism of the No-Nothings! Through the power of Eucharistic Adoration the terrorism disappeared! Through the power of Eucharistic Adoration the same thing happens today. Many priests have reported that the incidence of crime in their area has declined since Perpetual Adoration began in their parish. Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is infinitely more powerful than all the armies that ever marched, or all the police forces which ever gathered. The Eucharist is our Risen Lord with all the power of His Resurrection flowing out to all who come into His Eucharistic Presence. His words to us today are the same as ever “Take courage. It is I. Do not be afraid!” (Mt 14:27). Through Perpetual Adoration Jesus longs to open up the floodgates of His merciful love on a troubled world. He longs to heal a broken humanity. Otherwise, He continues to weep in spirit and say: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you slay the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often have I wanted to gather your children together as a mother bird collects her young under her wings, and you refused me! Your temple will be abandoned I say to you, you shall not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord’” (Lk 13:34-35). Copyright, Missionaries of the Blessed Sacrament. All rights reserved. |
|
|
For
help and materials in starting Eucharistic Adoration, or to schedule a
P.
O. Box 1701, Plattsburgh, NY 12901 A-5 |
|
