Presence of God

O Jesus, grant that I may always answer Your invitation and participate worthily in Your banquet.

Meditation

I. Today’s Gospel (Lc. 14, 16-24) fits in perfectly with the feast of Corpus Christi. A certain man made a great supper, and invited many. The man who makes the supper is God; the great supper is His kingdom where souls will find full abundance of spiritual blessings while on earth, and eternal happiness in the next life. This is the real meaning of the parable, but we can also interpret it more specifically, seeing in the supper and in the man who prepares it a figure of the Eucharistic banquet and of Jesus, inviting men to partake of His Flesh and Blood. The table of the Lord is set for us, sings the Church, Wisdom [the Incarnate Word] has prepared the wine and laid the table (RB). Jesus Himself, when announcing the Eucharist, addressed His invitation to all : I am the Bread of life! He that cometh to Me shall not hunger, and he that believeth in Me shall never thirst... Your fathers did eat manna in the desert, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven; that if any man eat of it, he may not die (Jo. 6, 35, Jo. 6, 49, Jo. 6, 50). Jesus does not limit Himself, like other men, to preparing the table for a supper, inviting many, and serving delicious food; His is an unheard-of procedure, which no man, however rich and powerful he might be, could ever imitate. Jesus offers Himself as Food. St. John Chrysostom said to those who wanted to see Christ in the Eucharist with their bodily eyes, Behold, you do see Him; you touch Him, you eat Him. You would like to see His garments; He not only permits you to see Him, but also to eat Him, to touch Him, and to receive Him into your heart... He whom the angels look upon with fear, and dare not gaze upon steadfastly because of His dazzling splendor, becomes our Food; we are united to Him, and are made one body and one flesh with Christ (RB).

II. Jesus could not offer men a more precious banquet than the Eucharist. Yet, how do men answer His invitation? Many, like the unbelieving Jews, shrug their shoulders and turn away, with a skeptical smile on their lips : How can this man give us his flesh to eat? (Jo. 6, 53). However, it is not want of faith alone that keeps us from the Eucharist. Very often this is accompanied by, or sometimes derived from, the moral disorders which are mentioned in today’s Gospel : I have bought a farm and I must needs go out and see it; I pray thee, hold me excused, replies one. Another says : I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to try them; I pray thee, hold me excused. Excessive preoccupation with earthly goods and attachment to them, total absorption in business affairs cause many people to refuse Jesus’ invitation. There is still another reason : I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come, replies a third, representing those, who, being immersed in the pleasures of the senses, have lost their taste for the things of the spirit, and go their way, not even asking to be excused.

We cannot help shuddering at the terrible blindness of a man who prefers the things of earth and the vile pleasures of the senses, which vanish as quickly as mist before the sun, to Christ’s Gift, the Bread of Angels and the pledge of eternal life. And yet, how easily can a shadow ofthis blindness cover the eyes and hearts even of those whom Christ has invited to follow Him, and whom He has called by the sweet name of friend. They do not refuse His invitation, but they often accept it coldly, almost through force of habit. Is it not true that we pay very little attention to preparing ourselves each day as worthily as we can for the Eucharistic banquet, while we allow ourselves to be absorbed in so many other things : our work, family and friends? Perhaps Jesus comes to us every morning, but does He always get a warm, delicate, attentive, loving welcome? Alas, too often He finds the hearts of His friends filled with a thousand thoughts, trifles, and worldly affections, while there is so little room for Him, the divine Guest! Yet everything should be reserved for Jesus. The thought of our daily meeting with Jesus in the Eucharist should dominate every other thought!

Colloquy

O Sacrament of mercy! O seal of unity! O bond of charity! He who wishes to live, finds the home and the dwelling where he can live. O Lord, I approach Your table with faith, there to become incorporated in You in order to be vivified by You.

Grant, O Lord, that I may be inebriated with the riches of Your house, and let me drink from the torrent of Your delights. Since You are the fountain of life, there with You, and not elsewhere, is the source of my life. I will drink of it in order to live; I will not rely upon myself and be lost; I will not be satisfied with what I have and die of thirst; I will approach the source of the spring where the water never fails.

I will do away with vain excuses and draw near to the banquet which will enrich me interiorly. Let me not become haughty through pride, and do not permit illicit curiosity to draw me away from You! May sensual pleasure never prevent me from enjoying spiritual joy!

Permit me to approach You and be refreshed. Allow me to come, a beggar, weak, crippled, and blind, for the wealthy and strong scorn Your banquet; they consider themselves on the right path and believe their sight is sure. They are presumptuous, and so much the more incurable the prouder they are. Although a beggar, I come to You because You invite me; You, who being rich became poor for me, so that Your poverty would make me rich. Weak as I am, I shall draw near, for it is not the healthy who need the physician, but the sick. I shall approach you like a cripple and say : ‘ Set my feet in Your paths. ’ I shall come like a blind person and say : ‘ Give sight to my eyes, that I may never sleep the sleep of death ’ (St. Augustine).