The Beauty of the Eucharist

My dear friends,

If we step back and take a ‘birds-eye-view’ of the Gospels, we see that all is centered around Jesus Christ and his encounters with various individuals and groups of people. And in each of these encounters is a noticeable pattern: every time someone approaches Jesus with a humble, believing heart they are blessed and their life is changed for the better. There are healings of body and soul, sins are forgiven, hearts are converted, new beginnings are made, and people are reconciled. In Jesus they encounter a Mercy that restores lost innocence, a Truth that liberates, a Life that gives deep joy, and a saving Love that fulfills and urges one on to live more generously for others.

If the Lord’s power and grace was unleashed for every open believing heart that sought Him in the Gospel, then what possibilities of grace await us in each and every encounter with the same Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament? If the Eucharist is truly Jesus Christ, His body, blood, soul and divinity (which our Catholic faith teaches us) then we are just as blessed as the people in the Gospel.  We too can be blessed and changed by His grace each time we receive and adore Him. It was this conviction that moved Blessed John Paul II to say, “the answer to all the world’s problems lies in that little, round, white host that is consecrated upon our altars and received in each Holy Communion.” Supporting this further is that beautiful line from the 2^nd Vatican Council on the Liturgy which says, “in the most blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ Himself.”

In our deep honesty, we not only want to be good Christian people, but we also want to grow and become better Christians than we are now. We want to be better men and woman, better spouses, better mothers and fathers, better children, students, and workers. I want to be a better priest. What will help us most toward this end?  The Word of God reveals to us that there is one thing we can do that will never fail: to approach Jesus with a humble, believing heart and spend heart-to-heart time with Him. The Mass provides the most privileged encounter with Christ each day, and nothing can take its place or equal its power to save. But outside of Mass, there is another way available to us here at St. Peter’s, which we see modeled in the lives of so many Holy women and men: spending time with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, either exposed for adoration, or simply praying before the Tabernacle in either of our two churches.

St. John Neumann, an American Saint who lived from 1811-1860, had a special love for Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. As the fourth Bishop of Philadelphia he labored tirelessly for the good of his diocese, working hard to improve the lives of children and the poor, opening 80 new churches and 40 Catholic schools, and writing two Catechisms that formed the faith of thousands. What was the secret of his holiness and the great success of his many apostolic labors? After his death they found this very revealing prayer in his diary:

“How much I love you, O my Jesus—I wish to love you with my whole heart. I have one desire, that of being near you in the Blessed Sacrament. My Jesus, my love, my all, gladly would I endure hunger, thirst, heat, and cold to remain always with you in the Blessed Sacrament. Would that in your Eucharistic Presence I might unceasingly weep over my sins. Take entire possession of me. To you I consecrate all the powers of my soul and body, my whole being. Would that I could infuse into all hearts a burning love for you.”

Neumann’s secret, at the source of everything he did, was his daily contact with Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, either in communion, or by his frequent visits with Jesus in the tabernacle. Deeply convinced by his own experience of the blessings and fruits of this practice, St. John Neumann was the first to implement the practice of 40 Hours Devotion on a diocesan level, which brought the people of his diocese more frequently into contact with Jesus Christ and helped to ensure that Catholic life in Philadelphia was rooted in the Eucharistic presence of Jesus.

Here at St. Peter’s we are so blessed, not only to have Mass offered here each day, but also to have two churches where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved, so that we can stop in to pray with Jesus Christ like St. John Neumann. We are equally blessed to have adoration of the Blessed Sacrament on Tuesdays from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Historic Church. Please come and experience the blessings of this special time with the Lord.

Inspired by the life and example of St. John Neumann and other Saints, and urged on by our own love for Jesus and desire to grow closer to Him and be more like Him, let us come and experience the blessings of this special time with Jesus. Let us come as often as we can to encounter the One who is most fully present to us in the Blessed Sacrament., the One who would never send us away empty, but is always ready to bless and save, to heal and console, to forgive and raise up.