the Eucharist

[Gary12]

St. Alphonsus Ligouri, a great lover of the Eucharist, wrote about why we sense bread and wine when what we receive is truly the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus - everything that He is. If we could see the fullness of what we receive, we would be terrified and overwhelmed by the majesty of the Blessed Sacrament. Instead, Jesus humbles Himself to hide from our physical senses all that He is.

“Why hidest Thou Thy face. 24. Job feared when he saw that God hid His face: but to know that Jesus Christ veils His Majesty in the Most Blessed Sacrament should not inspire us with fear, but rather with greater love and confidence; since it is precisely to increase our confidence, and with greater evidence to manifest His love, that He remains on our altars concealed under the appearance of bread. Novarinus says: ’ that whilst God hides His face in this Sacrament, He discloses His love.’ And who would ever dare approach Him with confidence, and lay bare before Him his affections and desires, did this King of Heaven appear on our altars in the splendour of His glory!” -St. Alphonsus Ligouri

Another great saint struggled with this and prayed for faith. I love knowing that even a saint like St. John Vianney needed to ask for help.

“O Jesus, without wishing to aspire after the favours granted to your saints, give me, I pray, the proof of your presence in Holy Communion by the unction of your grace, by the spiritual joy and generous enthusiasm in the practice of virtue.” -St. John Vianney

I hope these quotes help. They have helped me and inspired me to pray for help in my faith in the Eucharist. Those prayers have been answered in ways I never expected.

 

[Divine3]

St. Alphonsus Ligouri, a great lover of the Eucharist, wrote about why we sense bread and wine when what we receive is truly the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus - everything that He is. If we could see the fullness of what we receive, we would be terrified and overwhelmed by the majesty of the Blessed Sacrament. Instead, Jesus humbles Himself to hide from our physical senses all that He is.

When I think of the Eucharist I also thank God for the priesthood because without the gift of the priesthood there would be no Eucharist. There is a wonderful priest who lived from communion to communion who died on this Holy Thursday – March 24, 2016

" Fr. James Flanagan: The Most Influential Catholic You Have Never Heard Of --Fr. James Flanagan, the founder of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT), passed away on March 24 at the age of 91. Few people are familiar with this saintly man who preferred a hidden life while touching the lives of so many through the ministries of SOLT priests, consecrated and lay people.
Born on May 29, 1924, the Feast of the Ascension, James Henry Flanagan always had a special connection to Our Lady. In his youth, the Boston native was given a deep faith by his parents, James and Rose. His father took young James and his three brothers and sister to daily Mass, planting the seeds for his future priestly vocation. ."

Great article – Gress you are some writer!
Read more: ncregister.com/blog/cgress/fr.-james-flanagan-the-most-influential-catholic-you-have-never-heard-of/#ixzz44Q0roawK

Read more: ncregister.com/blog/cgress/fr.-james-flanagan-the-most-influential-catholic-you-have-never-heard-of/#ixzz44Q0jqLVbncregister.com/blog/cgress/fr.-james-flanagan-the-most-influential-catholic-you-have-never-heard-of/

 

[Gary12]

When I think of the Eucharist I also thank God for the priesthood because without the gift of the priesthood there would be no Eucharist. There is a wonderful priest who lived from communion to communion who died on this Holy Thursday – March 24, 2016

Agreed. The Eucharist is beyond comprehension, and the priesthood is an even greater mystery. That Christ would humble Himself before a priest in this way is amazing. We are truly blessed to have our priests who dedicate their lives to serving God and us, and even more blessed that God loves us so much that He would give us priests to give us everything He is!

 

[Divine3]

Agreed. The Eucharist is beyond comprehension, and the priesthood is an even greater mystery. That Christ would humble Himself before a priest in this way is amazing. We are truly blessed to have our priests who dedicate their lives to serving God and us, and even more blessed that God loves us so much that He would give us priests to give us everything He is!

carriegress.com/articles/2016/3/30/fr-james-flanagan-the-most-influential-catholic-you-have-never-heard-of:shamrock2:

 

[Nita]

(51) As a result of transubstantiation, the species of bread and wine undoubtedly take on a new signification and a new finality, for they are no longer ordinary bread and wine but instead a sign of something sacred and a sign of spiritual food; but they take on this new signification, this new finality, precisely because they contain a new “reality” which we can rightly call ontological. For what now lies beneath the aforementioned species is not what was there before, but something completely different; and not just in the estimation of Church belief but in reality, since once the substance or nature of the bread and wine has been changed into the body and blood of Christ, nothing remains of the bread and the wine except for the species—beneath which Christ is present whole and entire in His physical “reality,” corporeally present, although not in the manner in which bodies are in a place.
source: w2.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_03091965_mysterium.html

Thanks Sudy for the link. I think Pope Paul VI explained it beautifully.

Just so there’s no confusion, your quote occurs in paragraph 46. The “(51)” is a footnote number for the previous sentence.

 

[Nita]

I’m still having difficulty with what is a sacramental presence.

It’s connected to the definition of the word “Sacrament”. The Catholic Church has 7 Sacraments, the Eucharist being one of them.

A Sacrament is an outward, or visible,** sign **instituted by Christ to give grace.

So, the sacramental presence means the full presence of Jesus (grace) under the outward sign of bread and wine.

 

[Nita]

YES! I sometimes think some division comes from over-defining things.

Actually, it’s almost always the other way around.
As different and conflicting views (division) arose around a Church teaching, the Church was sort of compelled to define the true meaning.