By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM
Part 21
Apart from the increase in sanctifying grace we receive in Holy Communion, there is still another grace we receive from our Lord every time we communicate worthily: It is the sacramental grace, that is, a grace specific to the Sacrament of the Eucharist, which perfects and disposes our souls by charity for a greater union with God in Christ.
By this grace also we are given a claim to all those generous actual graces which will help to keep us safe in God’s love, and to live our lives in childlike docility to Him.
It is never too much to emphasize this incredible reality that after receiving the Blessed Eucharist, Christ in His sacred humanity dwells within us, as long as the species of bread remains.
Let us stop for a moment to consider what we are talking about. This is the Divine Person, God the Son, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, who assumed a human nature in the sacred womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was conceived in Nazareth, born in Bethlehem, died and rose again in Jerusalem; who, by His divine power, transubstantiated bread and wine into His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, and gave to His priests the power to do the same in His memory — so that Divine Person in His human nature lives in us when we receive Holy Communion!
In some mysterious way that we do not understand, the Soul of Jesus is united with ours in Holy Communion. Let us ponder these words carefully: Holy Communion produces a union of love between Christ’s human soul and ours. His Soul breathes into ours its own spirit of Divine Love, so that we may say with St. Paul: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”
After receiving the Blessed Eucharist, as long as the species of bread remains, Christ in His sacred humanity dwells within us. Not only do we obtain a great increase of sanctifying grace, but His soul is united to ours in some mysterious way.
Every time we say the Creed, we affirm our belief in the Catholic Church and the communion of saints. What some of us may not have realized is that by uniting us with Christ, Holy Communion unites us with all the faithful in the Catholic Church: “Because there is one Bread,” says St. Paul, “we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one Bread” (1 Cor. 10:17).
As bread is made of many grains of wheat, and wine from the juice of many grapes, so, through this mystical food and drink, all who partake of it are made one in Christ: The same spirit of Christ dwells in all, and draws all together into a perfect union.
More: Holy Communion is the food and medicine of the soul. It helps to blot out venial sins and preserves us from mortal sin. Let us see it this way: It is the food of the soul. As a lamp needs oil to keep it burning, so does the body need food to keep it alive. What food does for the body, the Blessed Eucharist does for the soul by giving it new energy, fervor, and life.
This is so because, just like the body, if the soul is left without food, it will grow weak. The soul, in regard to its spiritual life, is subject to an incessant decline in fervor caused by the venial offenses which we daily commit. Thus, the Eucharist is the medicine of the soul. As medicine can render the body stronger against the microbes of disease, so the Blessed Eucharist can preserve the soul from mortal sin. Frequent Communion is the best medicine for that dread disease which turns the steps of so many toward Hell.
Spiritual gladness is another gift that comes from receiving Holy Communion worthily. By spiritual gladness, I do not mean just a feeling of joy or sweetness, although this is often the effect of Holy Communion; but rather a greater eagerness, a keener willingness, to do all that Christ and His Church command us.
But the best of all is that Holy Communion is a pledge of our glorious resurrection. Indeed, in Holy Communion the body becomes ennobled, because it is brought into contact with the Sacred Species, and, therefore, indirectly with the living Flesh of Christ.
After all of this richness and benefits, before receiving we should ask ourselves: Who is it that comes to me? And we answer: It is the Son of God who was born at Bethlehem and died on Calvary and rose again. He is here in the Blessed Sacrament. I adore Him. Venite, Adoremus.
Why does He come to me? He comes because He loves me, and wants to make me like Himself. To whom does He come? He comes to a poor sinner. I am sorry from my heart for having offended Him. I love Him all the more for coming to one so imperfect.
After receiving Him we should spend some time in prayer. During the first few minutes we should try to pray without a book, making acts of faith, adoration, and thanksgiving, offering ourselves to God and begging His grace.
We should then take up our prayer book and read the prayers after Holy Communion with deep attention. I especially recommend My Meditation on the Gospel by Fr. James E. Sullivan; I meditate on one short chapter every day to give me ideas for the thanksgiving. This book is available from TAN Books and from other outlets as well.
Cling To Our Savior
Those moments during which Christ is really present within us are amongst the most precious of our lives.
Our private prayers have then a virtue which they have at no other time: As Jacob held the angel fast and would not let him go, saying, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me,” so we should cling to our Savior, and not let Him leave us, until He gives us all He so much desires to give, if we but ask Him.
We should ask for ourselves and for others, for the souls in Purgatory, for the Christians suffering persecution in pagan lands, for the welfare of the entire Church, for the living and for the dead.
Next article: The Sacrifice of the Mass prefigured in the sacrifices of the Old Law.
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(Raymond de Souza, KM, is a Knight of the Sovereign and Military Order of Malta; a delegate for International Missions for Human Life International [HLI]; and an EWTN program host. Website: www.RaymonddeSouza.com.)
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