Daily Thought For August 12, 2018

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 The Beautiful Gift of the Eucharist

     Today our Lord forcefully reminds us that we need to receive him in Holy Communion in order to participate in the divine life, to overcome temptations, to foster and nourish the life of grace born in us through Baptism. Whoever receives Communion in a state of grace participates in the fruits of the Holy Mass and obtains benefits that are proper and specific to the reception of the Sacrament. He receives Christ himself, the source of all grace, really and spiritually. Thus, the Holy Eucharist is the greatest sacrament, the centre and summit of all the rest. The true presence of Christ in this sacrament gives it an infinite supernatural effectiveness. 
     There is no greater joy in this life than to receive our Lord. When we wish to give ourselves to others we often give them something that belongs to us, or something we know to symbolize a deeper attitude of affection, of love. But we always encounter some limitation to our self-giving. In Holy Communion, divine power surpasses all human limitations: under the Eucharistic species, Christ gives himself to us completely. Love achieves her ideal in this sacrament —compete identification with the person loved and longed for. When two pieces of wax are put into the fire, they melt and become as a single thing. Something similar occurs when we participate in the Body of Christ and in his Precious Blood. Truly there is no greater joy or greater good than to receive Christ himself in Holy Communion with dignity. 

From In Conversation with God by Francis Fernandez Volume 4 P.341-342.



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