Visit 1 Emmanuel: God With Us
I. In answer to the two disciples who followed Jesus, saying: "Master, where dwellest Thou? " He answered: "Come and see" (John i. 39). "Come and see" where He dwells now in the Blessed Sacrament.
II. Poor was His dwelling-place in the stable, in the desert, on the cross, in Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Judea and still for love of us how poor is His abode upon our altars.
III. And, alas! how poorly is He lodged within our hearts!
CONSIDERATIONS
The home of Jesus is the tabernacle. Our dear Lord and Saviour dwells among the poor as much as among the rich; He abides in the noisy, crowded city as well as in the lonely, quiet country; in stately cathedrals as well as in the poorest churches and most dilapidated chapels, hidden, away in rural lanes, on the mountionside, and in sequestered districts, seldom visited by strangers.
There He remains that all may be able easily to come to His dwelling-place, to converse with Him, to obtain graces from Him, a place to enter into the most intimate communion with Him. On the night in which the Redeemer took leave of His beloved disciples to go to His death, these faithful followers of Christ shed tears of sorrow at the thought of being separated from their divine Master, but Jesus consoled them, saying substantially: My children, I am going to die for you in order to show you the love which I bear you. But at my death you will not be left alone and separated from Me; I will remain with you in the Most Holy Sacrament; I leave you My body, my soul, my divinity; I leave Myself entirely to you. "Behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world " (1Matt. xxvii. 20).
Truly, the Gentiles have invented many gods; but, they could not imagine a god more loving and generous than our true God, Who remains so near to us and assists us with so much love. The soul that loves Jesus need not go far to find Him. He can be found in every church in which the Blessed Sacrament is preserved, and there the King of kings, our Lord, our Saviour, and our God, is content to remain shut up in a tabernacle of wood or of stone, often even without a lamp burning before Him and without any one to keep Him company.
And yet from His humble sacramental home we hear His voice: "This is my rest forever and ever; here will I dwell; for I have chosen it" (Ps. cxxxi. 14).
"My delights were to be with the children of men" (Prov. viii. 31).
Oh! how is it that men show so little love for Jesus and do not visit Him more frequently? From the tabernacle the pleading voice of our kind Father comes: ''My Son, give Me thy heart" (Prov. xxiii. 26), and we turn a deaf ear to His cry of love. The gold, the favors, and the pleasures of the world hold our hearts enthralled. We hear the cordial invitation: "Come to Me, all you that labor and are burdened and I will refresh you" ( Matt. xi. 28), and yet men run hither and thither for help in their distress before they think of Jesus in the tabernacle, Who holds in readiness there all the remedies for human woes. Real faith and ardent love are wanting to men; else they would show a greater appreciation of our divine Saviour's presence in our midst.
How tender is the devotion which pilgrims feel in visiting the Holy Land, the holy house of Loretto, the cave at Bethlehem, the hill of Calvary, or the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem-those hallowed places where Our Redeemer was born, or lived, or died, or where He was buried! But how much greater and more tender should be our devotion to the Real Presence of Jesus Christ upon our altars! We read of saints weeping at sight of the palaces of princes, filled with sycophantic courtiers, while churches, in which God the King of Heaven dwells, were solitary and neglected.
Oh! if the Lord remained only in one church on earth, for example, in St. Peter's at Rome-and only on one day in the year, how many pilgrims from all parts of the world would endeavor to have the happiness of being there on that particular day to pay their homage to Jesus Christ, Our Saviour and our God! If Christ, Our Lord, in the excess of His love, had not in instituted the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, who would have thought of such a favor?
But, alas! where is our gratitude?
Let us ask ourselves whether we in reality, by our conduct, display a living faith and show a proper love and veneration for this great sacrament? Do we always enter the house of God with appropriate interior dispositions and a respectful exterior deportment?
When we come into the presence of Jesus, is not our soul immersed in distractions, earthly affections, and worldly desires?
Let us not approach the tabernacle without profound respect mingled with holy fear and confidence.
Christ is holy and we must be holy to be pleasing in His sight. Let us remember that at the moment when Moses looked closely on the bush that was on fire without being consumed, a voice cried out to him: "Come not nigh hither; put off the shoes from thy feet; for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground" (Ex. iii. 5). The Divine Majesty hovered over the green yet burning bush.
Jesus is present in the tabernacle. Let us go to Him; but let us put off our shoes, that is· to say, let us shake off the dust of the world; let us fall upon our knees in respectful homage and ask the Holy Ghost to animate our faith in the sublime mystery of divine love and to give us humility and true sorrow for our sins; let us recollect ourselves in holy thoughts and pious Acts of Adoration, Thanksgiving, Reparation, and Supplication; let us make. protestations of the most fervent love, saying again and again: My Love, my Lord, my God and My All!
Let us promise to visit Jesus in the tabernacle more frequently and to think of Him often during the day; let us seek, in the hour of adoration, to rival in fervor the adoring angels, who surround the Altar and we may rest assured that the sweet perfumes of our piety will ascend to the throne of the Lamb of God, Who, from His sacred heart and pierced hands, will shower down graces and blessings upon ourselves and our families. Let us also be generous in giving alms to poor churches and foreign missions; let us aid, by joining either the Tabernacle Society or some other Eucharistic Association, all efforts to enhance the beauty of the house of God and to spread devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.
0 Jesus! My Lord, my Saviour and my God!
How much has it cost Thee to remain with us upon our altars!
This sacrament of Thy boundless love recalls to me Thy bitter passion and cruel death. How much hast Thou suffered and how much dost Thou suffer still in this Most Holy Sacrament from the negligence and insults of men! But I also have been guilty of unkindness and forgetfulness. I also have been slothful and careless in visiting Thee. From this day forward, 0 meek and humble Jesus, I will visit Thee more frequently; I will approach Thy holy table with greater fervor and better preparation. 0 Infinite Goodness! I love Thee. Grant that henceforth I may die to myself and live but for Thee, wholly occupied in pleasing Thee. My Lord, I will not forget the Garden of Gethsemane and the complaint that Thou didst make to Peter: "Simon, sleepest thou? Couldst thou not watch one hour with Me?"
In the future my great pleasure shall be to visit Thee often and to linger long at Thy sacred feet.
"For what have I in heaven? and besides Thee, what do I desire upon earth? Thou art the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion forever " (Ps. lxxii. 25, 26).
Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament, Mother and model of adorers, pray for us, who have recourse to thee.
St. Joseph, pray for me, that like thee, I may die in the arms of Jesus and Mary.
PRAYER TO THE HOLY GHOST
0 Holy Ghost, Thou Teacher and Sanctifier, Who givest light and strength to my soul, bless me that I may be more faithful to Jesus, my Saviour and my God, Who is hidden in the Blessed Sacrament, and that I may love Him more and more. In the light of the tabernacle I ask of Thee, 0 Holy Spirit, to fill my heart with pure desire for Jesus, the Living Bread. Give me grace to adore Him with the zeal and humble veneration of the holy angels; grant that His will may be done on earth as it is in heaven, and that His will be done in my soul. Help me to thank Him for all His gifts, and, most of all, for Himself. By this Holy Sacrament He strengthens souls on earth, gives rest to souls in purgatory, and gladdens souls in heaven. He is the hidden manna, promised by Himself to all who overcome themselves and love Him. May I taste the sweetness of Jesus! Set up more and more Thy kingdom in my soul, that I may keep my body under and bring it to subjection, lest I should be a castaway from Jesus and from Thee.
SPIRTUAL COMMUNION
0 Jesus, my Saviour, Who art truly present in the Blessed Sacrament for the nourishment of our souls! since I cannot now receive Thee sacramentally, I humbly and earnestly beseech Thee to refresh me spiritually. I love Thee above all things and I desire to possess Thee within my soul. Come into my mind to illumine it with the light of heaven; come into my heart to enkindle therein the fire of Thy love. Unite me so intimately with Thee, that it may be no more I that live, but Thou that livest and reigneth in me forever.
FRUIT OF THE VISIT
I. Behold Christ seated at thy heart, as a treasure house of infinite goodness; regard thyself as an abyss of miseries, receiving of His bounty every perfect gift.
II. Desire out of love to hold Hirn fast unchangeably, that thou mayest cleave to God with thine understanding and thy will, and that nothing may be able to separate thee from the charity of Christ (Rom. viii. 39).
III. Ask of the Lord a constant "Sense of the Divine Presence," that thou mayest walk before Hirn, and be perfect; and that, as His delights are to be with the children of men, so thy delight may be with the Son of God.
ASPIRATION
0 Lord, we have all things together in Thee alone; Thou art the light of our eyes and the comfort of our life; we ought not to let Thee go from us (Job x. 4, 5).
EUCHARISTIC GEMS
The life of Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Sacrament is an interior and hidden life, although He dwells in the midst of creatures; a life most pure and holy, though exposed to the impiety of sinners; it is a life, noble, excellent, and divine. Such should be your life, if you would live according to His Spirit.
Jesus, my Lord, my God, my All! How can I love Thee as I ought?
And how revere this wondrous gift, so far surpassing hope or thought?
Sweet Sacrament we Thee adore;
Ohl make us love Thee more and more.