WE, who believe in Christ, of course,
know that this Bread
of Life is Christ himself who, even if he died and resurrected on the
third day and ascended into heaven, continues to be with us with his
living presence, offering us the merits of his redemptive work and
giving us his very own self as the imperishable food that brings us to
our ultimate state, eternal life in heaven.
He does not leave us only with some picture or souvenir or
symbol. He is truly and really with us even while he sits at the right
hand of the Father in heaven. And he accompanies us in our earthly
sojourn, giving us the ultimate means we need to tackle whatever we
may encounter in this life.
It’s a madness of love to which we have to correspond as
best as we could. God himself gives us the grace in abundance to
enable us to correspond to that love. We should not be scared of the
tremendous prospect before us. But it’s up to us if we choose to love
him or not. We should do everything to make use of what God is making
available to us.
We are told that if we are generous with God, God will
even be more generous with us, for he cannot be outdone in generosity.
He assures us that whatever little we give to him with our whole heart
will yield us a hundredfold. It’s always good to keep this divine
assurance in mind.
That is why we have always been encouraged to develop and
grow in our Eucharistic piety. We are prodded to know and appreciate
more deeply the real nature, character and purpose of the Holy
Eucharist, studying and assimilating the relevant doctrine, actively
participating at Mass, receiving Christ worthily in Holy Communion,
paying pious visits to the Blessed Sacrament, etc.
But we should not stop there. Being the Bread of Life,
Christ actually is showing us how to deal with all the situations,
issues, challenges and trials that we can encounter in life. And we
have to be quick to discern his will and ways.
We have to be wary of a subtle tendency to convert our
Eucharistic piety into something too personal as to be
individualistic. An authentic Eucharistic piety would increasingly
involve us in the issues and affairs of the world.
After all, God by becoming man and by remaining with us
the Holy Eucharist certainly would want us to engage the world as
fully as possible for the sake of God. And it is the things of this
world that provide us with the occasions and ways to develop our love
for God and for others.
To be sure, to be Christ-like as we ought to be, we should
see to it that our piety and our whole spiritual life is not confined
only to prayers and spiritual isolation. It has to be actively
involved in the things of the world, even if we happen to be
physically alone in a given moment or even for lifetime.
That is why we have to develop a special sensitivity to
any development in the world, monitoring the different events in the
various fields, and then clarifying things, sanctifying them and
reconciling them with God’s will and providence.
Though each one of us can only have a particular take on
things based on one’s circumstances, competence, etc., we all should
try our best to work in solidarity with everybody else so that we can
move toward our ultimate common good, making use of our temporal
affairs and concerns.
In our Eucharistic piety, whether we are attending Mass,
receiving Christ in Holy Communion, or visiting the Blessed Sacrament,
we should always ask our Lord what things of the world, what temporal
concerns does He like us to get involved in, and how should we handle
them.
At the moment, there are many worldly concerns and issues
that are practically screaming for human and Christian clarification.
They now appear to be in the hands of ideologues with theories and
principles that may appear convenient, practical and popular but are
actually dehumanizing.
We should not be indifferent to this development. Rather,
we have to be active in upholding the truth that comes from our human
nature and ultimately from God, our Creator and Father.
Our Eucharistic piety, our recourse to the Bread of Life,
should sharpen our sense of awareness and concern over the issues in
the areas of politics, social life, entertainment, human sexuality,
and faith and religion itself, etc.
of Life is Christ himself who, even if he died and resurrected on the
third day and ascended into heaven, continues to be with us with his
living presence, offering us the merits of his redemptive work and
giving us his very own self as the imperishable food that brings us to
our ultimate state, eternal life in heaven.
He does not leave us only with some picture or souvenir or
symbol. He is truly and really with us even while he sits at the right
hand of the Father in heaven. And he accompanies us in our earthly
sojourn, giving us the ultimate means we need to tackle whatever we
may encounter in this life.
It’s a madness of love to which we have to correspond as
best as we could. God himself gives us the grace in abundance to
enable us to correspond to that love. We should not be scared of the
tremendous prospect before us. But it’s up to us if we choose to love
him or not. We should do everything to make use of what God is making
available to us.
We are told that if we are generous with God, God will
even be more generous with us, for he cannot be outdone in generosity.
He assures us that whatever little we give to him with our whole heart
will yield us a hundredfold. It’s always good to keep this divine
assurance in mind.
That is why we have always been encouraged to develop and
grow in our Eucharistic piety. We are prodded to know and appreciate
more deeply the real nature, character and purpose of the Holy
Eucharist, studying and assimilating the relevant doctrine, actively
participating at Mass, receiving Christ worthily in Holy Communion,
paying pious visits to the Blessed Sacrament, etc.
But we should not stop there. Being the Bread of Life,
Christ actually is showing us how to deal with all the situations,
issues, challenges and trials that we can encounter in life. And we
have to be quick to discern his will and ways.
We have to be wary of a subtle tendency to convert our
Eucharistic piety into something too personal as to be
individualistic. An authentic Eucharistic piety would increasingly
involve us in the issues and affairs of the world.
After all, God by becoming man and by remaining with us
the Holy Eucharist certainly would want us to engage the world as
fully as possible for the sake of God. And it is the things of this
world that provide us with the occasions and ways to develop our love
for God and for others.
To be sure, to be Christ-like as we ought to be, we should
see to it that our piety and our whole spiritual life is not confined
only to prayers and spiritual isolation. It has to be actively
involved in the things of the world, even if we happen to be
physically alone in a given moment or even for lifetime.
That is why we have to develop a special sensitivity to
any development in the world, monitoring the different events in the
various fields, and then clarifying things, sanctifying them and
reconciling them with God’s will and providence.
Though each one of us can only have a particular take on
things based on one’s circumstances, competence, etc., we all should
try our best to work in solidarity with everybody else so that we can
move toward our ultimate common good, making use of our temporal
affairs and concerns.
In our Eucharistic piety, whether we are attending Mass,
receiving Christ in Holy Communion, or visiting the Blessed Sacrament,
we should always ask our Lord what things of the world, what temporal
concerns does He like us to get involved in, and how should we handle
them.
At the moment, there are many worldly concerns and issues
that are practically screaming for human and Christian clarification.
They now appear to be in the hands of ideologues with theories and
principles that may appear convenient, practical and popular but are
actually dehumanizing.
We should not be indifferent to this development. Rather,
we have to be active in upholding the truth that comes from our human
nature and ultimately from God, our Creator and Father.
Our Eucharistic piety, our recourse to the Bread of Life,
should sharpen our sense of awareness and concern over the issues in
the areas of politics, social life, entertainment, human sexuality,
and faith and religion itself, etc.
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