Jesus is waiting for you

“Jesus is waiting for you in the chapel. Go and find him when your strength and patience are giving out, when you feel lonely and helpless. Say to him: ‘You know well what is happening, my dear Jesus. I have only you. Come to my aid ...’ And then go your way. And don’t worry about knowing how you are going to manage. It is enough to have told our good Lord. He has an excellent memory.”


-- St Mary of the Cross (Jeanne Jugan, foundress of the Little Sisters of the Poor)

Eucharistic Miracle at Lanciano

"I thirst with an ardent desire to be loved by men in the Blessed Sacrament, and I find none who strives, in accordance with My wish, to quench this thirst, by making any return of love."

-- Our Lord to St Margaret Mary Alacoque

I seek alms of love for Jesus

"Allow me, since I have often sought your charity for poor children and for all the abandoned poor, to solicit your attention and cooperation today in favor of the most abandoned of all the poor: the Blessed Sacrament. I seek alms of love for Jesus in his Holy Sacrament... for the love of Mary Immaculate and for the love of this neglected Heart, I ask you to become a 'Mary' of all abandoned tabernacles."

-- Blessed Manuel González-García

Can you be lonely when this loving Heart awaits you

"Our Lord does not dwell within the tabernacle solely to immolate Himself upon the altar, but also to abide in the midst of His people. We should be assiduous in our visits to the Blessed Sacrament made with profound respect and love. Our Lord repeats, ceaselessly, 'I have not wanted to leave you, to leave you orphans.'

There is no need for a servant to announce your visits, as the rich of this world require. You will always be welcome at the Court of Christ. There are no other nations so privileged as to have their gods so near to them. It is here that our Lord is truly Emmanu-el. God-with-us. It is here that we fully comprehend those words: 'Behold, I am with you even to the consummation of the world.'

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How consoling it is to find oneself alone in a deserted church, alone with our Lord.

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'What happiness,' said St Francis de Sales, 'to be there alone, alone with God, without anyone's knowing what passes between Him and us, in that heart-to-heart communion in which we share our most secret thoughts and desires.' He continued, 'You come before our Lord hoping that He will speak to you, but that is seldom. Ordinarily it is to speak to Him, to tell Him your troubles, your sorrows. But very often we come before Him to witness by our presence that we desire to belong to Him.'

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In our visits to the Blessed Sacrament we must always observe a profound respect. There is the living God, the soul of our souls, the object of our love, of our faith. Of our faith, yes! Let that be shown in our attitude. He is there!

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A living faith must be shown in your attitude before the altar. You are in the presence of your King - your Divine Captive.

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The essence of our faith lies in the Real Presence of our Lord in the tabernacle.

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We must pray with all our hearts at the foot of the tabernacle, in response to the tender invitations: 'My children, give Me your hearts. Come to Me, not as a servant, but as a friend. Come to bring Me your love, to share with Me your most intimate secrets.' If you desire that our Lord treat you as an intimate, then you must be confidential with Him.

Let us heed the loving invitation of Christ: 'You who are weary and heavy-laden, come unto Me and I will give you rest.'

'O hearts wounded, forgotten, neglected, I call you to Myself. I open to you My own Heart. How often have I longed to enclose you within My Heart, as the hen gathers her little ones beneath her wings, but you would not. Come now, through yourself into My open arms!'

Can you be lonely when this loving Heart awaits you? Are you friendless, while He begs for your love?"

-- Seeds of the Kingdom: Notes from Conferences, spiritual directions, meditations by Almire Pichon, SJ

N.B.: Fr Pichon was the spiritual director of St Thérèse and her family prior to her entrance to Carmel.

I invite you all to this Banquet of the Sacrament of His Love

"In the Sacrament of His Love, Jesus is the only object of my life, of my songs, of my affection; to this Mystery I am indebted for all that I have...

My brethren, I invite you all to this Banquet. Once we taste it, all other food will be vapid! Young men of the world, I know your deceitful pleasures; I know of your pompous meetings that are resplendent for a moment and then followed by deadly sadness; I know what you are longing for; I have tasted your joys, and now I challenge you to deny that they leave behind anything but phantasms of sorrow and prostration!

Really, after feeding at this Table of the King of kings, all riches of the world are worthless to me. Since Jesus dwells within my soul, your palaces are miserable huts. Seeking light in the Tabernacle, all wisdom of the world is folly; sitting at the Spousals of the Lamb, all other feasts are gloomy; after reaching this port of salvation, I see you tossed on the ocean of human passions, but I can only wave my hand and call you to these shores. If you wish, I will be your pilot, for I know the seas and have endured many a tempest." -- Ven Augustine Mary of the Blessed Sacrament, ocd

-- Herman, Flower of Israel by Don Amadeo Rodino

Go to the good Lord very simply, like a small child

"[I]n the Blessed Sacrament Our Lord Himself is the light which manifests Him as our model and reveals His beauties to us. He is Himself His light, His means of being known, just as the sun is itself its own proof. To make Himself known, He has only to show Himself. Recognition of Him need not come from its being reasoned out. A child does not have to discourse with himself to recognize his parents. Our Lord reveals Himself through His presence, just as parents do. But as we grow to know His voice better and as our hearts become more sympathetic to Him in emptying themselves of what is not him, our Lord manifests Himself in a clearer and more intimate manner, which only those know who love Him. He gives the soul a divine conviction which overshadows the light of human reason. Look at Magdalen,: one word from Jesus and she recognizes Him. He acts the same way in the Blessed Sacrament: He says one word only, but it rings in our very hearts: 'It is I!....' We sense His Presence; we believe in it more firmly than if we were to see Him with bodily eyes."

"Go to the good Lord very simply, with the surrender of a small child. Tell the good Lord what you are thinking, what you want, what is upsetting you. Oh! How happy we become when we discover this interior conversation with our Lord. We carry our treasure [with us] everywhere. He becomes the center of our heart and life."

From the writings of St Peter Julian Eymard. Today we celebrate his memorial.

The Hidden Christ

"JESUS CHRIST is working in His hidden state at the task of my sanctification. In order to become a Saint I must conquer pride and replace it with humility. In the Eucharist, Jesus gives me the example and the grace of humility.

He is the One Who uttered these words: "Learn of Me that I am meek and humble of heart." But humility would have been little better than a name during the last eighteen centuries, if our Lord had left us only the memory of the examples of His mortal life. We could say, and with reason, "But, Lord, I have not seen Thee humbled!"

Well then, Jesus Christ is there to answer our excuses, our complaints. The words, "Learn of Me that I am meek and humble of heart," come to us in a special way from the tabernacle, from behind the veil of the Host. "Learn of Me to conceal your good works, your virtues, your sacrifices; come down, come down toward Me." The grace of humility is found in the humiliated state of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament. What human glory can fear abasing itself since the King of glory abases Himself so much? What rich man will not prize the lovable poverty of Jesus Hostia? Who will refuse to obey God and those who represent Him, when God Himself obeys man?"

-- The Real Presence by St Peter Julian Eymard