VIII — LET US PREPARE FOR UNION

Presence of God. — O Jesus, grant that I may make full profit from the grace of union with You, which each day You offer me in Holy Communion.

Meditation

1 — By its own power, the Eucharist unites us to Christ; physical union with Him is identical in all those who feed on his Body and Blood. And yet this union does not produce the same effects in all, so much so that for one who approaches the sacred Table unworthily it becomes an occasion of condemnation: “whoever eats the bread or drinks the chalice of the Lord unworthily,” says St. Paul, “... eats and drinks his own condemnation” (1 Cor. 11:27-29). However, even in those who approach the Eucharist worthily, the effects that derive from it are not the same, but are always proportioned to the goodness and perfection of their dispositions.

Jesus penetrates me and transforms me into Himself only to the extent that I place no obstacles before Him, to the extent that I am disposed to receive the particular grace of the Eucharist, the grace of “unification with Christ.” Great as this gift is, the physical union with Jesus that Holy Communion offers me is ordered to my spiritual union with Him, to my transformation in Him through love; and this union and transformation will be all the deeper the better the dispositions with which I approach the sacred Table. These dispositions consist precisely in preparing my heart for an ever fuller union with the Lord, a union that demands conformity of aspirations, tastes, feelings, and will. How could I enjoy the visit of a friend, spend moments of sweet intimacy and true union with him, if between him and me there were divergences of desires, affections, and intentions?

Here, then, is the finest preparation I can make for my Communions: to strive to remove from my life everything that can even minimally be discordant with the divine will, with the sentiments and dispositions of the Heart of Jesus. “Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5), St. Paul tells me; this must be the program of my remote preparation for Holy Communion.

2 — For the Eucharist to produce in me all its fruit and to be for me the occasion of a more intimate and full union with Jesus, it is not enough, as St. Augustine says, that I eat his Body materially; I must eat it “spiritually,” that is, my spirit must be well disposed and prepared to receive the Body of Christ, to let itself be invaded and transformed by Christ. When Jesus, coming into me, finds a heart, a will, affections, and sentiments wholly conformed to his own, nothing will be able to prevent Him from pouring Himself into me in the fullest way; his life, his spirit, his Divinity will penetrate the innermost fibers of my being and transform me into Himself, so that I can truly say with St. Paul: “it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20).

I must go to Communion with a heart enlarged in love, so that it may be entirely open to Jesus’ inpouring, entirely ready to let itself be penetrated and transformed by Him. Every Communion, besides Jesus’ physical presence, and precisely by virtue of this presence, brings me a new increase of grace and charity; but this increase too will be proportioned to my capacity to receive it. If my heart is closed in selfishness and self-love, if it is bound by attachments to creatures, if it is too occupied with earthly affections and concerns, it will have little capacity to make room for an increase of divine love, and Jesus will be, so to speak, constrained to restrict the outpouring of his charity, to lessen his gifts. Yes, in Communion Jesus gives Himself wholly to me in his Person as God-Man, and wholly unites Himself to me; but if I do not give myself wholly to Him, He cannot pour Himself totally into me as a friend pours himself totally into the heart of a faithful friend. Each day in Holy Communion Jesus offers me an actual grace to love Him more, to unite myself more to Him; each day I must offer Him a heart more open to love and union. Acts of intense faith in Jesus’ real presence in the Eucharist will help me reawaken love, place me in a present act of love; and precisely in this actuality of love Jesus will pour out the increase of his charity, the living flame of his infinite love.

Colloquy

“My soul, when you receive Holy Communion, try to revive your faith; do what you can to detach yourself from exterior things, and withdraw with the Lord into your interior where you know He has descended. Try to recollect your senses in order to make them understand the great good they possess or, rather, try to recollect them so that they may not prevent you from understanding it. Consider yourself at the Lord’s feet and, as though you saw Him with the eyes of the body, weep like Magdalene in the house of the Pharisee. This time is very precious, because then the Master instructs you: try to listen to Him, kiss his feet, grateful for such condescension, and beg Him to remain always with you. Even when you are deprived of sensible devotion, faith will not fail to assure you that the Lord is truly within you.

“Besides, unless I want to be foolish and close my eyes to the light, I cannot have any doubt on this point. O my Jesus, this is not a work of imagination as when I imagine You on the Cross or in any other mystery of your Passion, where it is I who represent to myself the event as it happened: here it is your real presence, and it is an indisputable truth. O Lord, when I receive Communion, I have no need to go far to seek You; for as long as the natural warmth has not consumed the accidents of the bread, You are in me! And if when You were in the world You healed the sick by the simple touch of your garments, how can I doubt that, dwelling in me personally, You will not work miracles, if I have faith? Yes, finding Yourself in my house, You will grant my every request, since it is not your custom to pay badly for the lodging given to You, when You are made welcome!

“O Lord, if the soul draws near to Communion well disposed and desiring to shake off all coldness, and lingers a while with You, it will be kindled with great love and will remain warm for many hours” (T.G. Ctm. 34, 7 and 8; 35, 1).