I. JESUS lived a hidden life in Nazareth until He was thirty years old; then He left His quiet home and entered upon His public life in Judea; so Jie leaves the tabernacle, that He may dwell within us.
II. He " went about doing good and healing all " (Acts x. 38). In holy communion He comes as the Supreme Good, as our Physician, to bring health and life to each individual soul.
III. We cannot remain in church all the time; we, too, must leave the tabernacle, but let us show by our good works that we have been with Jesus and that we have been healed of our infirmities.
CONSIDERATIONS
Whithersoever Our Lord entered, says St. Mark (vi. 56), "they laid the sick in the streets, and besought Him that they might touch but the hem of His garment; and as many as touched Him were made whole." Ld us cultivate the spirit of faith displayed by these sick people. As soon as they heard of the arrival of Jesus, they desired to be ir: His presence; they believed in His divine person. Faith is in us the principle of divine love; it is. the star which precedes the rising of the sun of grace, that dissipates the darkness of our understanding, and calls every virtue into life.
These sick people only requested permission to touch the hem of Our Lord's garment, believing that from His sacred robe some divine virtue would descend upon their infirmity.
We are so much more favored than they; we can come to Jesus whenever we please, and we may not only touch His sacred person, but even receive Him-true God and true Man-in holy communion. They merely hoped for their cure through the mercy and goodness of Our Lord; therefore, from all parts of the country, they thronged into the streets of the town, that they might see Him pass by.
And Jesus, the divine Physician in that land of faith, passed through with pitiful compassion. If our blessed Lord responded readily to the desires of those who looked only for physical health, simply because they were humble and felt the need of His almighty power, how great will be His mercy and kindness to us, if we humbly represent to Him the many needs of our soul. By sin we are cast down to the lowest abyss of nothingness; we have wandered far away from. God, and lost ourselves amid the miserable deceptions of vanity and pleasure.
How vile do we appear in the pure light of His holiness! How greatly we stand in need of mercy!
The Holy Eucharist confers its benefits under the veil of silence and obscurity, but this only enhances their sweetness to the loving soul that receives them. Behold, these poor, sick people were so eager to see Our Lord pass by that they were not afraid of cold or darkness, nor hesitated, even in their suffering state, to wait long hours, exposed to the inclemency of the weather. How humbled should we be for the coldness and indifference with which we await the moment of holy communion, and for the dissipation of our minds during the adorable sacrifice of the Mass! Does not this conduct seem as if we supposed that His sacred body were possessed of no more virtue than the hem of His garment?
"When we hasten to the church, it is not now in uncertainty of Our Lord's coming or as hoping only to contemplate Him for an instant. We do not go there expecting to touch the hem of His garment for the cure only of some corporal malady. "We know that we shall find Him in the tabernacle, ever ready to listen to us, to feed us with His adorable body, to sacrifice Himself upon the altar, to communicate His life and His strength to us.
O ever-blessed Host, bounteous Physician of our souls, true and living God, most loving Saviour, we praise and adore Thy goodness and Thy mercy. Thou didst come to seek and cure the weak and wandering sheep, and in Thy mercy and love to offer them health. If, while Thou wert on earth, there issued from Thy body such divine virtue that the sick who approached it were healed, as assuredly now Thy power is not weakened.
I know that l am all unworthy, but do Thou, the Son of David, have mercy on me! If Thou wiliest that I should be clean, speak only and I shall be cleansed. Say but the word, and my pride shall be destroyed, my unruly will restrained, my guilt washed away. I am ready to do Thy will, 0 my God. Here shall be no false tenderness. I will cut out and burn every inordinate earthly affection, that my malady may be cured, and that I may be saved through all eternity. Yes, dear Jesus, even so I hope. I embrace Thee; I bind Thee to my poor, but loving heart. Grant that I may always love Thee, that I may ever be loved by Thee. This is my hope, to love Thee, Who art the God of my soul, and to enjoy Thee eternally.
Our Lady of the Most Holy Sacrament, Mother and model of adorers, pray for us, who have recourse to thee.
St. Joseph, pray for us, that like thee we may die in the arms of Jesus and l\Iary.
PRAYER TO THE HOLY GHOST.
0 Holy Ghost, Thon 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 in thy heart as a kind and compassionate Physician, pouring forth from His hands and feet streams of His precious blood, as a bath in which thy soul may be wa:;:hed; regard thyself as the sick man by the pond called Beth- 8aida, lying there in thine infirmity for many years (vide John v. 5).
II. Seek to love Him purely and strongly, by with drawing thyself from all created things; and as one who hath learned wisdom from his sickness by turning away from those things that pleased thee before, turn thou now altogether from unlawful things, not holding thy head high in thy pride, but lying low in thy humility.
III. Ask thy Lord for the virtue of "Fidelity to the Inspirations of Divine Grace," that thou mayest imitate Him, Who for thy salvation humbled Himself and became obedient-even to the death of the cross (Phil. ii. 8).
ASPIRATION
Lord, behold, he, whom Thou lovest, is sick.
Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.
EUCHARISTIC GEMS
Examine and see if, after having eaten this divine food, your heart is more detached from all 'that is not God; if the life He has produced in you has penetrated to the exterior-your senses, habits, words, and works.-TAULER.
0 Food of life! Thou, Who dost give
The pledge of immortality!
I live; no, 'tis not I that live;
God gives me life: God lives in me.
He feeds my soul, He guides my ways,
And every grief with joy repays.