H
HagiaSophia
Guest
Those of you familiar with the blog of Fr,Bryce Sibley know that besides his absolutely outrageous sense of humor he is a man of deep faith and spirituality - he has been posting a series of Eucharistic reflections and I liked this one because it is different.
Usually as we approach Eucharist we speak of what we are getting - in this one Fr. addresses what we are giving:
Eucharistic Reflection no. 11
So often we approach Holy Communion to only “receive” Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament never realizing that we must also “give” to the Lord while we are there.
As Bishop Fulton Sheen once wrote, “The communion rail is a place of exchange. The people give time and they receive eternity; they give self-denial and receive life; they give nothingness and receive all.” Jesus gives himself to us in the Eucharist, but we must also give ourselves to him there – our lives, our joys, or trials, and our sufferings.
It is truly an exchange of gifts. If we approach the Eucharist only looking to receive, the Lord will not be able to work the miracle of grace in us that he so desires to accomplish. We come bearing the gift of our entire existence and he will take it up into his perfect gift of self transforming and perfecting it.
by Fr. Bryce Sibley
Usually as we approach Eucharist we speak of what we are getting - in this one Fr. addresses what we are giving:
Eucharistic Reflection no. 11
So often we approach Holy Communion to only “receive” Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament never realizing that we must also “give” to the Lord while we are there.
As Bishop Fulton Sheen once wrote, “The communion rail is a place of exchange. The people give time and they receive eternity; they give self-denial and receive life; they give nothingness and receive all.” Jesus gives himself to us in the Eucharist, but we must also give ourselves to him there – our lives, our joys, or trials, and our sufferings.
It is truly an exchange of gifts. If we approach the Eucharist only looking to receive, the Lord will not be able to work the miracle of grace in us that he so desires to accomplish. We come bearing the gift of our entire existence and he will take it up into his perfect gift of self transforming and perfecting it.
by Fr. Bryce Sibley