Sacrament of love

“If you take part frequently in the Eucharistic celebration, if you dedicate some of your time to Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the source of love which is the Eucharist, you will acquire that joyful determination to dedicate your lives to following the gospel.”

Pope Benedict XVI

Foreword

Adoration of the Eucharist is a special time

•to visit Jesus, the converging point of the sufferings of the humanity;

•to meet with Jesus, our Lord and friend;

•to stay with Jesus, our Savior;

•to sit beside the Lord at his feet listening to him;

•to praise Jesus’ love, the manifestation of God’s mercy;

•to ask Jesus for pardon;

•to thank God for granting us grace, joy and hope;

•to be united with Jesus in the sacrament of love;

•to be like a lamp in front of the Tabernacle;

•to pray for our family, parish, vocation, unity of the Church, peace of the world,…

This little booklet is to support you who come to adore Jesus the Eucharist.

Whenever you come to adore Jesus in the Eucharist, you are free to use any theme in this little book to meditate and pray to Him.

May Jesus the Eucharist be with you and light the lamp of your heart with his flaming love.

Theme 1: Few people saw the blood and water flowing out from Jesus’ side

Gospel (Jn 19:31-37)

Now since it was preparation day, in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath, for the sabbath day of that week was a solemn one, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken and they be taken down. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out. An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true; he knows that he is speaking the truth, so that you also may (come to) believe. For this happened so that the scripture passage might be fulfilled: "Not a bone of it will be broken." And again another passage says: "They will look upon him whom they have pierced."

Meditation:

Kneeling before the Eucharist to meditate on the love and the suffering of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is very suitable because the sacrament of the Eucharist is the sacrament of love which is a symbol of his Sacred Heart.

The moment Jesus was crucified on the cross is the summit of the manifestation of the love of God the Father through the Sacred Heart of His son Jesus Christ: “One soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out.” (Jn 19:34) This moment was the completion of the institution of the sacrament of the Eucharist that was started during the Last Supper of the Lord.

Unfortunately, at that time, only a few people saw the blood and water flowing out from the heart of Jesus. The soldiers saw but did not believe in Him. Those who saw and believed were Mary, Jesus’ Mother, John the Apostle, Mary Magdalene, another Mary, Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus. This fact has become very clear as John wrote: "They will look upon him whom they have pierced."

We believe that right after Mary, Jesus’ Mother, and the others who were standing at the foot of the cross gave homage to Jesus, especially to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. They continued to do so until they finished burying Jesus’ Sacred Body in the tomb. We may say that the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus had already started from that moment. We think so because right from the first centuries of Christianity, some Christians already started to practice this devotion. At least Mary, Jesus’ Mother, did adore his Sacred Heart and then the others followed her example.

The first figure who had a thought on devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is St. Augustine (4th century). Later on, we have St. Bernard (12th century), St. Bonaventure (13th century), St. Gertrude (13th century) and St. Catherine of Siena (14th century).

In the medieval time, the Catholic Church was persecuted and had to face several schisms which went against the Church. Catholic faith became very weak and the majority of Church members turned their attention to the schisms.

In order to protect the faith of His children and bring them back to the Church, God the Almighty in heaven showed his power through the Sacred Heart of Jesus: He wanted the world to adore the Sacred Heart of Jesus so that the flame of His love might be lighted up again in the hearts of the faithful.

Prayer:

Now, before you, Jesus the Eucharist, I recognize that sometimes my heart is cold, sometimes my heart is not ardent enough. I ask you to abide in my heart at this time, burn within me and keep the flame of your love ablaze in me. Jesus, I love you, but encourage and help me so that I may be strong.

Theme 2: Jesus the Eucharist, the cornerstone

Reading (1 Corinthians 1:26-31)

Consider your own calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God. It is due to him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, so that, as it is written, "Whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord."

Meditation:

We all know that Jesus revealed His Sacred Heart to Margaret Mary Alacoque in the 17th century. Jesus appeared to her and asked her to adore his Sacred Heart. He taught her how to do so and asked her to spread this devotion to all people. This was the same heart of Jesus who was being nailed to the cross where Mary and some of his disciples stood and watched in sorrow.

St. Margaret said: “In 1678, one day during a retreat, when I was adoring the Eucharist, Jesus appeared to me and said: ‘I want you to tell all people that how much my Heart loves them; my Heart is the treasure of grace available to save all men out off the eternal corruption. I have taken care of you and granted you numerous grace since your childhood so that you may know that I want to choose you to spread the devotion to my Sacred Heart. I know you are incapable and powerless, but I have chosen you so that everyone knows that I myself initiate this work. You are in my hands just as the axe is in the hands of the worker.”

After hearing these words, she trembled with fear and lay with her face downward. She asked Jesus to choose other people who were more capable and worthy. But Jesus encouraged her saying: “I have chosen you because you recognize that you are small and weak. Yes, with your own ability, you can do nothing. But be strong and fear nothing. I will help you. Don’t you know I usually use the weakness to overturn the powerful? I usually use the weak to do great works because the humble only wish to glorify my name. Only one thing is necessary. You should be humble and really believe that without my help you can do nothing. Be faithful and be strong, I will help you to be successful in the work I command you to do.”

When looking at Jesus the Eucharist, the world thinks that he is weak because he is present under a little host. But the world does not know that Jesus, “the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes?” (Mk 12:10-11)

Those who sink into the love of Jesus the Eucharist will be like him who looks weak in the eyes of the world, but will be powerful and wonderful in the kingdom of God.

Prayer: (Psalm 115: 5-10, 12-14, 16-17)

Let us use Ps. 115 to pray to Jesus the Eucharist with meditative sentiment:

Gracious is the LORD and just; yes, our God is merciful.

The LORD protects the simple; I was helpless, but God saved me.

Return, my soul, to your rest; the LORD has been good to you.

For my soul has been freed from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.

I shall walk before the LORD in the land of the living.

I kept faith, even when I said, "I am greatly afflicted!"

How can I repay the LORD for all the good done for me?

I will raise the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD.

I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people.

LORD, I am your servant, your servant, the child of your maidservant; you have loosed my bonds.

I will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the LORD.

Theme 3: His Heart was pierced: the fullness of the manifestation of God’s love

Gospel: (John 19:31-37)

Now since it was preparation day, in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath, for the sabbath day of that week was a solemn one, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken and they be taken down. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out. An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true; he knows that he is speaking the truth, so that you also may (come to) believe. For this happened so that the scripture passage might be fulfilled: "Not a bone of it will be broken." And again another passage says: "They will look upon him whom they have pierced."

Meditation:

In Greek, there are different terms that mean “love.” The two more meaningful terms are “eros” and “agape.” In his first encyclical, Pope Benedict XVI explains to us the meaning of these two terms.

The Pope says that God’s love is eros. He calls this eros the “mad eros” of God. It means, God so loves the world that he becomes mad in loving us. And this “mad eros” led Jesus to dwell among us and putting Himself into the one who is the same as each and everyone of us, except that He is without sin. We are sinners and we deserve to die. But this “mad eros” even led Jesus to endure extreme sufferings as a consequence of our offences and finally in submission to death. Definitely, there is no other “eros” that is greater than his eros: There is no other love that is more intensive than His love.

On the cross, Jesus was pierced. The Pope has recalled us to look at Christ nailed and pierced on the Cross! Such suffering is the unsurpassing revelation of God’s love: There is no other way to manifest the greatness of his love better than this way! This love is both agape and eros. These two, agape and eros, are not opposed to each other, but one enlightens the other. We can see God Himself on the cross, extending his hands to beg for the love of His creature: He is thirsty for the love of every one of us. Why? Because his love is both agape and eros.

St. Thomas recognized Jesus as “Lord and God” when he wished to put his hand into the wound of His side. Not surprisingly, many of the saints found in the Heart of Jesus the deepest expression of this mystery of love. In reality, the revelation of God’s eros toward man is the supreme expression of His agape. In other words, God’s love is the combination of agape and eros. These two should go together. God’s eros enlightens God’s agape in the sense that it completes the fullness of the manifestation of God’s love for man. It means that Jesus sacrificed Himself for the sake of all people and at the same time, He has a strong desire to live among us so that we are united with Him through the Eucharist. Jesus only thinks about men, and sacrifices for men. At the same time, he humbly lives with men. His joy comes from the fact that he lives among his people, as the Psalm says.

Prayer

Jesus the Eucharist, I adore you! I praise the greatness of your love and sacrifice! I thank you for revealing to all humanity your Father’s love through the mystery of the cross and the suffering of your Sacred Heart! With your Father’s mercy, forgive all of the sins I have committed and continue to cleanse my heart with your Most Holy Blood so that I may be united with you and possess your Sacred Heart for me, for my salvation and for the salvation of those who do not know you yet and also those whom I meet throughout the journey of my life.

Theme 4: How can our heavy cross become light?

Gospel: (John 12: 24-32)

Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me. "I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it and will glorify it again." The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder; but others said, "An angel has spoken to him." Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come for my sake but for yours. Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself."

Meditation

St. Augustine said that: “Love first, then you can do whatever you wish.” It means, when I wish to love my brothers and sisters, I have to sacrifice for them, I have to carry my cross. And if I have a contract of love with God, he then loves me and sacrifices for me, and at the same time I promise to love him and do whatever I can for him. Then whatever I sacrifice for him and for my brothers and sisters will bring me joy. This joy comes from God through the contract of love between God and me. The heavy cross that I am carrying will become very light because there is joy in my heart. Through the contract of love, whatever God is and has are shared with me and that is the spiritual effect of this mystical life.

Through this meaning, we now understand the following words of Jesus: “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself” (Jn 12:32). The response that the Lord ardently desires of us is above all that we welcome His love and allow ourselves to be drawn to Him. In the contract of love between God and us, God does his best and we do our best. But what we do cannot be compared to what he does. It is unfair for him, right? But He does not care about this, because He loves us so much, and because he is love, and his love is both agape and eros.

Therefore, we should try hard to do whatever we can for him on our part. Similarly, the Pope said: “Accepting His love, however, is not enough. We need to respond to such love and devote ourselves to communicating it to others.” If we accept his love, we already do a part of his will. But that is not enough. We should also do whatever we can to express our love to him. At the same time, We share his love with our brothers and sisters. The Pope said: Christ “draws me to Himself” in order to unite Himself to me, so that I learn to love the brothers with His own love.” This is a marvelous mystery of our Christian life! We cannot find it in other religions.

In fact, Jesus became man, lives among us and dwelt with us in order to draw us to himself. The central place where Jesus draws us to himself is the Eucharist.

Prayer

You have seen the weight of my cross. Come, give me your strength and help me so that my cross may become light.

Jesus the Eucharist, attract me by your love and draw me close to you by your power!

Sanctify me by your Most Holy Blood! Strengthen me with your Bread of life!

At this moment, I want to renew what I have promised to you (each one of us may present to Jesus what we had planned or now plan to do in order to serve Him through serving our brothers and sisters).

Theme 5: Jesus, look at me with kindness and mercy!

Gospel: (Matthew 9: 9-13)

As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him,“Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.

While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples.

The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples,

“Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” He heard this and said, “ Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

Meditation

“Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.”

In order to understand these words, we should try to understand the person of Matthew and the Gospel according to him.

Matthew was a public sinner. He was also a publican (Mt 10:3) because he eagerly collaborated with a foreign authority which deserved a lot of hatred from among the Jews.

In the Gospel, there were many quotes such as “publicans and sinners” (Mt 9:10; Lk 15:1) and “publicans and prostitutes” (Mt 21:31). Moreover, publicans were seen as example of greed. (Lk 5:46)

What makes it hard to understand is: Why did the Lord choose such a sinner?

Through Matthew’s story, Jesus did not exclude anyone in his friendship. Moreover, He invited them to co-operate with him in his works. In fact, Matthew is a symbolic case: Jesus called him to be an apostle and an evangelist, who later wrote about Jesus’ life.

We all know that the main author of the Gospel is God who revealed and inspired man who subsequently became His author on earth. With his pen, Matthew shared with us his knowledge and experience about God’s love. The Gospel written by him is called the Gospel of God’s mercy. He shared with us how God loved him, a sinner. He affirmed that God particularly loves the sinners. He makes the important declaration: “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” (Mt 9:12.13b)

But we agree that not all sick people are cured. In order to be cured,

-they should recognize their own sickness;

-they should believe in the doctor;

-they should go to see the doctor for medical examination and prescription.

Lacking the above conditions, sick people cannot be cured.

It is the same in spiritual life: In order to be cured,

-we should recognize that we are sinners and we are spiritually sick;

-we should believe in God, the doctor;

-we should come to see God for spiritual examination and prescription.

Where should we go for examination and prescription?

Spiritual hospital is the church, pharmacy is the tabernacle and the doctor is Jesus himself because when we attend mass, we come to see Jesus present in the Eucharist, who is the greatest and most powerful doctor, who can heal all kinds of sickness. The Eucharist, namely the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus, is the divine medicine which is given to us without any charge. At the same time, Jesus is the director of the non-profit health care company that serves everyone, especially the poor people.

So now, before Jesus the Eucharist, let us ask him to help us recognize our spiritual sickness and cure us.

Prayers

Jesus the Eucharist, I recognize that I am a sinner. I have different kinds of sickness. Look at me with kindness and mercy as you looked at Matthew! Forgive all the sins that I’ve committed in my whole life as you forgave Matthew! Love me with the paternal love of your Father as you loved Matthew! Convert me as you converted Matthew! Heal me with your divine talent and power as you healed Matthew! Bring me into a deeper friendship with you and your Father! Use me as you wish for your works!

Jesus the Eucharist, come and stay in my heart as you came and stayed in Matthew’s heart! Amen.

Theme 6: Mass should be extended in our daily lives

Reading: (1 Kings 17:7-16)

The brook where Elijah was hiding ran dry, because no rain had fallen in the land. So the LORD said to Elijah: “Move on to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have designated a widow there to provide for you.” He left and went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the entrance of the city, a widow was gathering sticks there; he called out to her, “Please bring me a small cupful of water to drink.” She left to get it, and he called out after her, “Please bring along a bit of bread.” She answered, “As the LORD, your God, lives,

I have nothing baked; there is only a handful of flour in my jar and a little oil in my jug. Just now I was collecting a couple of sticks, to go in and prepare something for myself and my son; when we have eaten it, we shall die.” Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid. Go and do as you propose. But first make me a little cake and bring it to me. Then you can prepare something for yourself and your son. For the LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the LORD sends rain upon the earth.’”

She left and did as Elijah had said. She was able to eat for a year, and Elijah and her son as well; the jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, as the LORD had foretold through Elijah.

Meditation

“But first make me a little cake and bring it to me. Then you can prepare something for yourself and your son.”

The reading talks about a widow. Through this passage and some others in the Bible, we can see clearly that God has mercy on the widows in a particular way because they are very poor and lonely.

God loves the widows. He gives them a chance to take part in serving Him and the community. In the above story, the prophet told the widow: “But first make me a little cake and bring it to me. Then you can prepare something for yourself and your son.” God gives her a chance to serve him through serving the prophet, the man of God and God’s representative.

The prophet requested her to serve him first and then go home to serve herself and her son later. She had to make a cake for the prophet first, even though the prophet knew that she and her son would be starving.

In this situation, was God unreasonable and did He request too much? Was God supposed to be good? Yes, absolutely He is a good God, He is the Holy One! The widow in the first reading might feel hard when God put her on a test to see how generous and faithful she was to him. It was just a test because right after that the prophet told her: “For the LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the LORD sends rain upon the earth.” A miracle had happened to her: “She left and did as Elijah had said. She was able to eat for a year, and Elijah and her son as well; the jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, as the LORD had foretold through Elijah.”

The flour symbolized the future Body of Christ. The oil symbolized the future Blood of Christ and “the day when the LORD sends rain upon the earth” symbolized the day when God the father sent his Only Son into the world and granted salvation upon the earth. ‘The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry” symbolized the Holy Body would not go empty and the future Blood of Christ would never run dry.

Yes, Jesus had already been sent into the world. He has become our spiritual food that never go empty and spiritual drink that never run dry.

I believe that what happened to the widow in the reading will happen the same way to all of us: The widow symbolized each one of us who are the pitiful because we are spiritually poor. Jesus has come to give us happiness and nourish us with his Holy Body and Blood. However, in order that we may participate actively in God’s works, God requests each one of us to do a little sacrifice, which is to offer all that we have to him as what was requested from the widow in the reading. As a matter of fact, the attendance of the celebration of the Eucharist requires our sacrifice. We should sacrifice ourselves totally to God. We do it with the faithfulness that God will never forget any little offerings we present to him.

Some practical sacrifices may be: to love poor widows, to share what you have to the pitiful, the unlucky, the victims and remember that if God requested the widows to offer themselves totally to Him, He would request even more from you.

The mass should be extended in our daily lives.

Prayers

Jesus the Eucharist, thank you for all that I have. At this moment, abide in me and make me generous and courageous to give all that I have to you. Keep me in the depth of your heart so that my heart may be filled with your love. Help me to share the food and drink I have received with others, with people who are much poorer than me, including those whom I do not know and those who are living too far away from me.

Jesus the Eucharist, before you, may I present to you all that you have granted to me, particularly my children. I also offer you all the children and the young people in my parish community. Keep my children and all of them in your care, touch their souls, inspire their hearts, hold their hands, embrace their bodies and lead them in your ways. May you sanctify them with your Holy Body and Blood. May you draw them to your heart and make them light of the world as you wish. Amen.