In the Footsteps of St. Louis Marie de Montfort

"Footsteps Online"

Autumn 2002 (Volume 7, Issue 2)

The Real Presence

Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you" (John 6.53-54)

What life? What is he talking about? Well, it's the life of Christ. The kingdom of God is not out there in the clouds or beyond. It is within you. "Some Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come. His answer was, 'The Kingdom of God does not come in such a way as to be seen. No one will say, "Here it is!" or "There it is!" because the Kingdom of God is within you.'" (Luke 17. 20-2 1)

Ever since we were baptised, God began to live in us. We became "Temples of the Holy Trinity". It is quite staggering to believe that God actually lives in each and every one of us, in every baptised person. It is even more staggering for me to believe that he loves ME and that he actually lives in ME. Once I realised the reality of this fact, my thinking changed, my direction changed, my life changed, because God is with me! God is in me! Rich or poor, sick or healthy, God is within me. He is not particularly walking in front of me or behind me. He is within me. I am a temple of God. I carry God around with me all the time.

Now, when Our Blessed Lord was on this earth, because he was human, as well as being divine - his humanity side got attached to the Apostles and disciples. He loved them and he did not want to leave them, naturally. So, what did he do? At his farewell gathering, the Last Supper, he changed the bread and wine into his own Body and Blood saying, "Take and eat", "Take and drink", "This is my Body", "This is my Blood". Then he finally said, "I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on till that day when I drink it anew with you in My Father's Kingdom." (Matt.26.26-29)

Besides humbling himself in becoming a man in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Son of God lowered himself even further by taking on the form of bread and wine. So, in actual fact, Christ has never left us, his people, he is present in the Blessed Sacrament in every Catholic Church throughout the world. We are a very privileged people.

Towards the end of the Sacrifice of the Mass, we come to Holy Communion. We receive the Body and Blood of the risen Lord, and we return to our benches or pews. And what has happened? Do we feel any better? Has our life changed? What is wrong? We have perhaps been coming for very many years to the altar to receive the Good Lord really, truly and substantially present; body, blood, soul and divinity in the Blessed Sacrament. We should be really appreciating the benefit of that action, but for some reason many of us, I would suggest, seem to be unaffected.

Many of the saints had this great awareness of the presence of Christ in their lives. So much so that when they received Holy Communion, they appeared to be totally absorbed into Christ and his presence. They became one with Christ. One or two of the saints went into ecstasy, their faces appeared to glow, their eyes fixed on a source of beauty that held their full attention.

This gift, and it is a gift, of being made one with Christ through the reception of Holy Communion is ours for the asking. We must sincerely pray with all our endeavour for the gift. Pray for the ability to see into the Sacred Host placed on our hands and experience the presence of God there, the risen Jesus. A flickering candle draws our attention. We become fascinated with it, as the flame dances around on the top of the candle. We begin to stare at it. We become absorbed with its movement. We then perhaps have difficulty turning our eyes away. In the same way, our attention is drawn to the real presence of Christ. We begin to just gaze and wonder at this wonderful gift the Father has given to us, his people - the gift of his Son, really and truly present before us.

In the western Church we desire to know the reasons for everything. We want to take things apart and analyse them. We even try to take God apart. We want to know what makes God tick. In the eastern Church, they just gaze and wonder at the Godhead. They do not ask questions. They just accept.

As the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, once said, perhaps we have to somehow bring the thinking of the east and the west together. Each complements the other.

St. Louis Marie de Montfort tended to just gaze and wonder at the Blessed Sacrament, but always in the company of Mary, his Blessed Mother. "The Blessed Sacrament is not there just to be visited and adored; Jesus gave us the gift of his body and blood with his soul and his divinity to transform us completely into himself. "He gives us his flesh to eat / His blood to drink / His soul and his whole being / To change us into himself." (Hymn 132:3) In Holy Communion "Jesus and the soul are one! They have everything in common." (Hymn 132:4) The communicant can say with Saint Paul, "I live now not with my own life, but with the life of Christ who lives in me". (Gal.2.20) (Jesus Living in Mary, Page 379)

Fr.Bob Ellwood, s.m.m.