Holy Thursday is the institute of the Eucharist. The Eucharist is our life line, in scripture Jesus says I am the way the truth and the life, and from Jesus giving himself to us in the Eucharist we experience all these things. I know in this time it’s almost been painful, I know for me I have cried multiple times because I can't physically receive Jesus. But something we may need to know at this time is that Jesus is not limited. Yes I know that receiving Jesus in flesh is the most beautiful and powerful and incredible experience, but that doesn't negate the spiritual communion we can receive. Jesus is constantly offering himself to us, we can see this within scripture; Jesus was constantly offering himself, his wisdom, his love, his guidance, his help, his hope, his strength. Jesus was constantly giving, to the point where he gave his life, and continued to do so after death. Most people in mass don't actually believe that it's Jesus in the Eucharist, they don't believe it's divinely the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, it doesn't look like Jesus, it doesn't taste like Jesus, so why should we believe? My hopes and prayer is at the time of having the physical host withheld from us, that we will be that much more appreciative, we will not take receiving him for granted.
When I had my conversion to become Catholic. It was through the Eucharist, Jesus revealed to me that he is fully and completely present in the Eucharist. The time between my conversion to the first time I received communion and was confirmed in the Catholic church was probably a year, and in that time spiritual communion was my life source. In this time of my life I deeply wanted to receive Jesus physically, (as I do now.) Something that I was able to learn, and receive and be more conscious of, was the fact that the spiritual communion I received at mass, as a blessing, wasn't a regular blessing. All blessings are beautiful and deep and profound, to receive spiritual communion is something deeply beautiful, it isn't a nice thought, or something to do in passing. YOU ARE SPIRITUALLY RECEIVING JESUS. When we die our body is dead, but our spirit remains, this spirit is what will be encountering the fullness of God in heaven. How could receiving him spiritually be anything less that miraculous? Jesus is able to enter into us spiritually as he is physically, this spiritual communion can be just as powerful, and just as moving in us. The only difference is that he is not in the physical form that he gave us, but that doesn't mean his spiritual form is any less powerful, is any less intimate. Jesus is all powerful, he is all knowing and all giving, and as such he is able to give us graces by whichever means he desires. At the last supper Jesus instituted the Eucharist, saying take and eat this is my body, and take and drink this is my blood. Which is crazy metal lol but he wasn't talking in parables, he wasn't talking in metaphors. He was talking literally, and hundreds of Eucharistic miracles prove this. Yet we still have people who don't believe it for themselves. As powerful as spiritual communion is, there is still a longing within us, to receive Jesus physically again. In this time there are two potentials of how we will enter church after this. One will be with ultimate and complete reverence and a yearning to receive Jesus again in his physical presence, and the other will be a lack of faith, and that this time of not being able to go to mass will bring about sloth in the people of God and they will not go to mass. Lets pray deeply for the future of the church coming out of this, and hope that it will stir in us the realness, and fullness of his presence in mass. Because at the end of the day, you can't force someone to believe something, you can't force someone to believe that Jesus loves them, you can't make someone believe that God is forgiving and merciful, free will takes those options away. We are given the choice to love and embrace and accept, and we are given the choice to regret, refrain, and deny. The issue isn't that people don't believe, like most issues it has to go into the why. Usually when we don't want to accept something it comes down to pride or fear, we are either prideful that if we believe something we will be humbled by either changing our original stance, or be humbled by the world not agreeing. Then we have fear, Jesus can change our life, he can heal us of so many wounds and he can free us from so much pain and anger but we have to give him control, we have to let go, and that's scary. God can change our life, but we often don't want him to change everything. Embracing the truth that Jesus is present in the Eucharist is scary, and overwhelming and confusing. But it is also beautiful beyond reason, deeper beyond comprehension, and life changing through and through. I would not be here today if I didn't have my conversion. If I didn't experience Jesus in the Eucharist I could only imagine where I'd be right now. Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist changed my life, because that's what God does. He changes lives, he gives us hope and strength. Faith doesn't take away the pain, it helps us through it. Attached are the links to Eucharistic miracles, as well as the website by a soon to be saint Carlo Acutis who recorded hundreds of Eucharistic miracles. Challenge yourself, and let yourself be open to God, to his truths and know that he knows your limits, he knows your heart and fears, trust him to take care of you. And the next time you get to receive communion, walk up the aisle knowing who it is, open yourself to the depths and truth and possibility of Jesus being the one you receive. And in the meantime join in and receive spiritual communion with the deepest of intention knowing spiritually WHO you are receiving. May your Holy Thursday remain Holy. God bless, Sarah De Coste Here is the link to Carlo Acutis website, there are many parts of this website where you can look for miracles in varying ways through country, era and much more. Enjoy these Eucharistic miracles and delight in spiritual communion. http://www.miracolieucaristici.org/en/Liste/list.html
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