The Glorious Sacrament

"Yesterday on approaching the Most Blessed Sacrament, I felt myself burning and I had to withdraw. I am astounded that so many who receive Jesus are not reduced to ashes." St. Gemma Galgani

The blogger at lDymphna's Well posted these words, and I was blown away by their validity. In the Eucharist we have the True Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ. We have the most supreme gift to the human race - Our Lord Himself. Last night I went to Mass for Ash Wednesday, and it left a profound impact on my soul. Right before the consecration, when the bread and wine become Jesus Christ, the priest began, "On the night He was betrayed..."

Wow. Think about that. It was on the night that He knew He was to be betrayed and condemned to death that He gave each of us this gift - the ability to receive Him. But what tears me apart is seeing people receive Him in mortal sin. These people will say "Well, this sin (there are many that could apply) isn't a mortal sin. Why can the Church decide this?" So they rationalize their sins and receive Our Lord's precious Body in a state of sin. How horrible! Our Lord is still continually offended and insulted each day in this Sacrament, but in this Sacrament of Love he gives us to Himself. He gives us the highest gift. We must examine our consciences before receiving him!

Those who rationalize their sins, and claim a serious sin is infact not serious, act like those who stood beneath the Cross. The call out to the Church "Come down from there and we will believe" just as people called out to Christ. But neither Christ nor His Catholic Church will come down and change the firm rules of our faith. Our faith is set in stone. As Pope Benedict XVI articulated, "A mature faith is not one that follows the waves of fashion and the latest novelty."

So to those like the Catholic Democrats who signed the recent document thinking that think they can change the Church, you are wrong. To those who receive Christ in a state of mortal sin, stop now. I beg you in the words of St. Paul:

"Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself: and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice" (1 Cor 11:27-28).

And to those of you who do not believe in the Real Presence and view the Eucharist as a symbol:
"The bread and wine are not a foreshadowing of the body and blood of Christ—By no means!—but the actual deified body of the Lord, because the Lord Himself said: ‘This is my body'; not ‘a foreshadowing of my body' but ‘my body,' and not ‘a foreshadowing of my blood' but ‘my blood'" (St. John Damascene).

Lent is about changing our ways and repenting. Stop sinning, I beg you for each sin tore through Our Savior. Each mortal sin crucified our Savior. Instead, repent and believe. As my priest said last night as ashes were placed on my forehead, "Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel."

More information on the Eucharist can be found through my post, The Eucharist.

Image Source: Believed to be in the Public Domain