How I Found the Intimate Love of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist
I once attended a gathering of friends only to go home feeling misunderstood and alone.
I can’t remember the exact details now, but somehow, I felt as though even if I were there, people failed to see who I really was.
Have you ever felt like that? To be in the company of people who should have known you well and yet fail to connect with them like you wanted to? To be in a crowd and yet feel isolated?
At the back of my mind, I had this thought, “If only I could be known and understood. And if only someone could touch and see the very depths of me!”
Later on, as I reflected back upon that incident, I had this realization. I realized that Jesus answered this prayer long before I even knew I would have such a deep desire for intimacy. Indeed, the simple yet very profound answer that was given to me was this: the Holy Eucharist!
Through the Holy Eucharist, I receive Jesus Christ Himself.
By receiving this Bread from Heaven, I come in contact ever so intimately with Him who is my Lord! I think no one else could ever draw closer than that.
"Nowhere on earth are we more welcomed or loved than by Jesus in Eucharist."
-Mother Teresa
I know that even spiritually, Jesus can be with us. But sometimes, doesn’t it help to have someone you can see and touch? After all, we are human beings with both body and soul. We are not spirits only like the angels. And God knows all of our needs.
Even before He offered up Himself upon the cross, He already instituted this Holy Sacrament that He may always be with us. Indeed, even till the end of time! And He chose not only to be with us in Spirit, but also in the fullness of His Body and Blood – His Flesh!
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” - John 6:51 (NABRE)
When Jesus speaks about his flesh, He speaks about His physical body. He spoke about offering His flesh, and this He did upon the cross. Through the Eucharist, He offers us again His flesh, and we receive Him in full.
“In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist ‘the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained’” (CCC 1374).
"When you look at the crucifix, you understand how much Jesus loved you. When you look at the Sacred Host you understand how much Jesus loves you now.”
- Mother Teresa
Have you ever imagined actually seeing Jesus during the time of the apostles? Have you wanted to touch Him?
Jesus is still here, with us. He is not only in the past but in the present, in our very presence through the Holy Eucharist.
"How many of you say: I should like to see His face, His garments, His shoes. You do see Him. You touch Him. You eat Him. He gives Himself to you, not only that you may see Him, but also to be your food and nourishment." - St. John Chrysostom
When we look at Jesus at the Blessed Sacrament, we are not looking at a blank wall and imagining things. We are truly looking upon Him. By faith, we can believe that He is there. That He has made Himself available for us so we can approach Him anytime.
I can’t count the number of times I came to the Blessed Sacrament to pour out my heart and tears, to surrender my life and all of my worries.
I had a lot of stress while studying, reviewing for my Board Examinations and later on, while working. But that few minutes in front of the Blessed Sacrament refereshed my soul and helped me to carry on.
“Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament … There you will find romance, glory, honour, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves upon earth.”
–J.R.R. Tolkien, the Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Many people don’t believe in God because they can’t see Him.
But Jesus is now here for us even to touch and to see. He may not be in the form that we’d like to see, but it doesn’t change the truth that He is still among us today to fully satisfy our deep hunger for love.
Do you have any burden that you want to surrender to God? Do you have fears or worries that you want to confide to Someone who can understand you like no one else ever could? Then go to Jesus. Go to the Blessed Sacrament. He has been waiting for you to come!
“When you approach the tabernacle remember that he has been waiting for you for twenty centuries.” -St. Josemaria Escriva
“Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.” - John 6:53-56 (NABRE)
“How did Jesus love us? He became living bread that you and I might eat, that we might live. He became so small and so weak in order to meet our hunger for God. Bread, just bread, the simplest of all food to the point that even a child can eat it and understand it.” – Mother Teresa
Is Jesus in the Eucharist? Read the answer plus other questions and answers about the Catholic faith. See my book “Defending My Catholic Faith”.
Sisters in Christ. May He bless you too.
I agree. Nothing is more touching and healing than Jesus in the Eucharist. I praise him for giving us his daily presence. Very soothing, very comforting.