Eucharistic Corner

   CCC 1380 “It is highly fitting that Christ should have wanted to remain present to his Church in this unique way. Since Christ was about to take his departure from his own in his visible form, he wanted to give us his sacramental presence; since he was about to offer himself on the cross to save us, he wanted us to have the memorial of the love with which he loved us “to the end,” even to the giving of his life. In his Eucharistic presence he remains mysteriously in our midst as the one who loved us and gave himself up for us, and he remains under signs that express and communicate this love:

   The Church and the world have a great need for Eucharistic worship. Jesus awaits us in this sacrament of love. Let us not refuse the time to go to meet him in adoration, in contemplation full of faith, and open to making amends for the serious offenses and crimes of the world. Let our adoration never cease.”

   A couple of weeks ago we talked about Blessed Carlo Acutis, one of the patron saints of the Eucharistic Revival. This Italian young man experienced the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. He wrote: “I think that many people do not fully understand the value of the Mass, because if they recognized the enormous blessing we have in a Lord who gives himself as our food and drink in the Sacred Host, they would go to Mass every day to participate in the fruits of the sacrifice and let go of so many superfluous things.” Blessed Carlo tried to go to adoration every day.

   Adoration transformed him. As he explained, “when we face the sun we get a tan, but when we stand before Jesus in the Eucharist, we become saints.” For that reason he was sad to see that many tabernacles were abandoned. Jesus was alone, waiting for his friends to come and spend time with him. “You see queues in front of a soccer match or an actor or rock singer, but you don’t see a queue for the tabernacle where there is the Real Presence of God who lives among us.”

   Every Thursday evening (from 6.30pm to 8pm) at St. Leo, we have Adoration and confessions. Jesus Christ, crucified and risen from the dead is there. “We can find God, with his Body, his Soul and his Divinity, present in all the tabernacles of the world! If we think about it, we are more fortunate than those who lived 2,000 years ago in contact with Jesus, because we have God really and substantially present with us always. It’s enough to visit the closest Church! We have Jerusalem on our doorsteps. Jerusalem is every Church! If only people visited tabernacles with the same devotion!”