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On the Feast of Corpus Christi, June 19, 2022, the Catholic Bishops of the United States began a very important initiative, a nationwide Eucharistic Revival. Known also as “Eucharistic Amazement,” the spiritual initiative is meant for us to revitalize (in some cases, discover) our love for and, quite literally, our amazement in Jesus Christ, His real Presence, in the Holy Eucharist.
When we recite our weekly Thursday Rosary for Vocations, the meditation for the First Luminous Mystery, the Baptism of our Lord, speaks about the personal call to holiness we received at our Baptism. Holiness, at its core, is a close personal relationship with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. It is Him.
This understanding became profoundly real for me several years ago when our oldest daughter was a high school senior. We attended a showing of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ in a local theater with the senior class. The film is breathtakingly powerful.
Afterwards, we accompanied the students directly to our parish church where we celebrated the Mass together. I was completely moved by the experience. As I approached Holy Communion, I couldn’t help but recall the scourging scene in the movie: Jesus’ body shredded by the flagellum wielded by the Roman soldier. The scene seemed interminable. As a doctor, I thought of it all on the cellular level. Millions/billions of cells (blood and flesh) were ripped away from his body with every scourge. Yet he rose, and walked on, and even carried His cross. I previously questioned (because my faith was shallow) how Jesus could really be present in that form of bread (and wine) I receive at Mass?
The scourging was sufficient for me to not only concretely, but spiritually, understand and accept that, indeed, He could be present—no, He is present—in every host, in every drop of the Precious Blood, every single time I receive Him. Of course! It’s not just possible, it is reality: Jesus comes to us, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, in Holy Communion.
I wept that day as I received Communion. I simply could not hold it in. Knowing also that He endured that pain and suffering for me personally (oh, yes, he endured that pain and suffering for you personally, too!) only further solidified my belief and intensified my shame in having ever doubted the truth. Jesus became personal.
We are blessed, as Serrans, to share the Holy Eucharist together on the occasions that we do so. We are also blessed on a regular basis to come together in Holy Hours of Adoration at 11:00 AM on the First Friday of each month at Church of the Holy Spirit, and at 6:00 PM on the First Tuesday of each month at Curé of Ars. The Blessed Sacrament is exposed; it is time for us to continue to deepen our personal relationship with Jesus. Both Holy Hours are offered for vocations to the priesthood and religious life in the Archdiocese. If you have never been to a Holy Hour (First Friday or First Tuesday) check the website calendar for details and make a commitment to attend. You will be glad you did. And so will Jesus.
Pope St. John Paul II, in his 2003 encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, (The Church from the Eucharist) invited Catholics to regain a sense of “Eucharistic amazement,” a sense that is, in today’s culture some 20 years later, likely unknown to some, if not many. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass links our time to the time of Christ’s passion, suffering and death, and inexplicably, to His resurrection. We walk the experience with Him during every Eucharistic liturgy in which we participate. This fact alone should give us reason to pause, and consider, “Why does this NOT amaze me?” when we find ourselves approaching Mass with a nonchalant, casual attitude.
The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass should be all ‘amazement,’ all the time! If we are not amazed, we need to examine our attitude.
To help my attitude when it’s not where I desire it to be, I think of the words of St. Thomas Aquinas in the beautiful hymn, Adoro Te Devote (Godhead Here in Hiding):
Godhead here in hiding whom I do adore / Masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more. / See, Lord, at thy service low lies here a heart / Lost, all lost in wonder at the God thou art.
Seeing, touching, tasting are in thee deceived; / How says trusty hearing? that shall be believed; / What God's Son has told me, take for truth I do; / Truth himself speaks truly or there's nothing true.
There’s more, but these two verses suffice for hours of meditation. The poetry is sublime.
Finally, a prayer for Eucharistic Revival from Our Lady of Fatima:
My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love You! I beg pardon for those who do not believe, nor adore, nor hope, nor love You. Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly. I offer You the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He is offended. And, through the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of You the conversion of sinners.
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
