Ordinary Time 20 - Dining Well

 

Homily for Ordinary Time 20

August 18, 2024

Spiritual Dispositions to Dine Well

 

            Working at a Catholic school is, for me, a diet plan, because I can always bring in cookies or brownies and they’ll be gone in a second, sparing me the temptation of eating them all. One day when I was at St. Mary’s in Bethel, someone had given me a plate of cookies, and I promptly visited the school to find willing takers. It’s amazing how the seventh-graders descend like fruit flies on a banana when they catch even the merest glimpse of a cookie.

            One kid named Jake grabbed a cookie, but I said, “Jake, I can’t promise that these cookies are nut-free.” But before the words were out of my mouth, the cookie was in his. I just shook my head and hoped for the best.

            About an hour later, Jake comes up to me and says, “Father, my mouth is tingling.” Oh great, nothing like anaphylaxis in the afternoon. So we go to the nurse and he says, “Well, I guess I should call my mom.” But I said, “No, I will call your mom, so that she knows it was your fault that you ate the cookie even after I warned you!” Thankfully, his mom wasn’t mad at me, saying, “Well, that’s his own fault! He’s old enough to know that he needs to check!”

            Much like someone who has an allergic reaction to a healthy food, so the Eucharist causes different effects in everyone. Some people receive the Eucharist and it makes them saints; others receive the Eucharist and it might improve them slightly or not at all; and some receive the Eucharist and it harms their soul. The difference is in the disposition – how we spiritually and physically approach the Eucharist. What are some dispositions we should have in order for the Eucharist to benefit us greatly? I’d like to mention five dispositions that make the Holy Eucharist fruitful in our souls.

            First, we must have faith that He is truly present. St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11 that “if we eat [the Eucharist] without discerning the Body, we eat and drink judgment on ourselves.” In other words, to benefit from the Eucharist, we must recognize that it is Him. Many of you are familiar with Blessed (soon to be Saint) Carlo Acutis, the young Italian teenager who died in 2006. When he was only three years old he insisted that his mother take him to daily Mass! Even from a young age, he knew that Jesus Christ was truly present in the Eucharist. Once he wrote to a friend, “The Eucharist is my highway to Heaven” and said that “By standing before our Eucharistic Lord, we become holy.” Knowing Who the Eucharist is, becomes the first step to a fruitful reception of Him!

            Second, we must stir into flame a desire for Him. Food is far more appetizing when we’re hungry. Likewise, the Eucharist feeds us most fully when we are hungry for Him. A fellow clergyman was telling me that he was bringing Communion to the Hospital and when he stopped by the room of one man and asked if he would like Communion, the man shrugged and responded “Why not?” – received Jesus and then immediately went back to scrolling on his phone. “Why not?” should never be our attitude – it must be, “I eagerly desire You!”

            I think of the example of Blessed Imelda Lambertini. As a young girl, she often attended Mass at a local convent and burned with a desire to receive Jesus in the Eucharist, but at that time the age for First Communion was twelve years old. Nevertheless, she begged and begged the nuns to allow her to receive Jesus, but they refused until she was older. Finally, one day when she was young, she was attending Mass with the sisters, and as the priest was distributing Holy Communion, one of the Eucharistic Hosts actually flew out of his hand, traveled across the Church, and hovered over Imelda’s head. The priest realized that this was a sign that she was to receive early – so he gave her Holy Communion, and her joy knew no bounds! She closed her eyes and was lost in prayer and joy. When Mass ended, the sisters went about their daily business, and hours passed…but no one had seen Imelda. Retracing their steps, they found the young girl rapt in prayer, a smile on her face, hours after Mass ended. Going up to her, they tried to shake her awake, but discovered that she had died of joy, after receiving her First Communion!

            Third, we must approach with wonder and awe, fear and trembling – in a word, profound reverence. Consider that beautiful hymn, “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent”, which originates in a third-century Greek hymn for the Mass. It begins, “Let all mortal flesh keep silent / and with fear and trembling stand / Ponder nothing earthly-minded / For with blessing in His Hand / Christ our God to earth descendeth / Our full homage to demand.” It even goes so far, in the fourth stanza, to proclaim “Cherubim with sleepless eye / veil their Faces to the Presence.” If even the cherubim, these highest of the ranks of angels, must veil their Faces before the presence of God, how much more must we approach with humility and reverence?

            In 1384 in Austria, a wicked nobleman named Lord Oswald attended Holy Thursday Mass. Before Mass, out of arrogance, he insisted that the priest give him the big Host for Communion, not a little host like the rest of the peasantry. When the time came for Communion, the moment the large Host touched his tongue, the ground beneath him began to shake, cracks opened up in the church floor, and Oswald felt like he was being sucked into the underworld. He quickly held onto the marble altar rail, which itself melted like butter, and the priest took the Eucharist from his mouth and brought it back to the altar. Immediately the earthquake stopped, and the priest noticed that the Eucharist he retrieved from the proud man’s mouth had begun to bleed. The bleeding Host is still visible in the parish church in Seefeld, Austria – as is the melted marble altar rail! For his part, Oswald repented and did penance for the remainder of his life and became a holy man.

            A fourth disposition for worthy reception of the Eucharist is purity – coming to the Lord with a soul cleansed. Consider how much time we spend cleaning the house when we have guests – the more honored the guest, the cleaner the house is. I have some dear friends who I visit frequently, and one day they invited my parents over too. I was amazed that their usually messy house was now immaculate, the kids all wearing their Sunday best…when I come over they don’t even bother putting away their dirty laundry strewn all over their living room couch! If we spend so much time cleaning our houses for a guest, how much more ought we to clean our souls for the Divine Guest to take up residence!

            Back in the 1990s, a mystic named Catalina from Bolivia had a vision of Christ in every Eucharistic Host during Mass. She noticed that when the Host was given to some souls, Christ seemed eager and joyful; for some souls, He appeared less so; for some souls, He appeared repulsed and disgusted. Later, Christ revealed to Catalina that it was due to the cleanliness of their souls that He was either eager or disgusted to enter. So, if we wish our souls to be clean, we live in purity throughout the week, and take advantage of Confession regularly.

            Finally, the greatest of all Eucharistic dispositions is love. The Eucharist is love Himself – let us love Him in return! A powerful way to do that is to offer a “thanksgiving” after Mass – instead of rushing out, or talking to friends, kneel down when Mass is over and speak with Him for a few minutes. No one likes people who “eat-and-run” – at a banquet, we want to linger and enjoy conversation with the host. At this Banquet Feast of the Lamb, we ought to want to linger and speak with Him Whose love for us made Him assume this humble appearance of bread.

            Jesus has His hands full of graces and blessings upon those who receive Him worthily and well, with holy dispositions. He has all holiness, peace, joy, and love, which He is eager to pour out upon souls who want Him. Let our desire for Christ be strong, that we may share in His very life in the Holy Eucharist.