Today my weary, downtrodden soul was refreshed with the Holy Mass and the Eucharist. Of course I know that every mass and every time I receive the Eucharist that He is Life to me, because Jesus said so.
But today the mass was particularly lovely. It was the First Friday of the month, a day that we honor and make reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. So, a beautiful statue of Jesus with His Sacred Heart greeted me, situated beside the altar where Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament was taking place. (On the last Feast of Our Blessed Mother Mary, the pastor had her statue covered with a beautiful mantle and crown, with flowers at her feet.)
When mass began, the first reading and the Gospel spoke to me, and it was Jesus speaking to me. It was His words penetrating my mind and heart. And I tried to hang on to a few of them, to ponder later.
When the priest very reverently and lovingly raised the Sacred Host, and Chalice, speaking those words “This is My Body….This is My Blood”, I felt suspended in time, pouring out my love and my heart to Jesus as I could see Him in my mind, suspended on that cross… for me.
At the time for Holy Communion, I was allowed (encouraged even) to kneel and receive Jesus from the priest who very carefully and slowly placed the Eucharist in my mouth. All the while and in the minutes after, I was thanking, thanking, thanking, and praising, praising, praising my Lord. Receiving my Lord in this way...I can’t even begin to tell you what this does for my soul!
After going back to the pew, my eyes were closed, and I was absorbed in prayer. And just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, the priest begins softly singing a hymn while he finished putting things away on the altar.
I don’t think I have ever heard it before, yet something about it was familiar and touched me deeply. And the congregation began to sing it too.
It was a beautiful hymn to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
I will leave a link, and the lyrics to this decades old hymn. May it refresh your soul as well.
Some may ask, what difference do these things make, the mass is always the mass, and Jesus is always present in the Eucharist. Of course, this is true. But I am witnessing that these Catholic “touches”, some of which we have lost, or now fear, DO make a difference for our faith. They remind us of where our real Home is, Who it is we adore, and like the song repeats, they help us to love Jesus “more and more”. They just do.
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