One of the concerns these days is how people receive Holy Communion, and this is a genuine and praise worthy concern. I am reminded of St. Teresa of Jesus, who was concerned about the conduct of the soul after receiving Holy Communion. For those of us striving to practice recollection, this is good instruction.
Delight to remain with Him; do not lose such an excellent time for talking with Him as the hour after Communion. Remember that this is a very profitable hour for the soul; if you spend it in the company of the good Jesus, you are doing Him a great service. Be very careful, then, daughters, not to lose it. If you are compelled by obedience to do something else, try to leave your soul with the Lord. For He is your Master, and, though it be in a way you may not understand, He will not fail to teach you. But if you take your thoughts elsewhere, and pay no more attention to Him than if you had not received Him, and care nothing for His being within you, how can He make Himself known to you?
When you have received the Lord, and are in His very presence, try to shut the bodily eyes and to open the eyes of the soul and to look into your own hearts. I tell you, and tell you again, for I should like to repeat it often, that if you practise this habit of staying with Him, not just once or twice, but whenever you communicate, and strive to keep your conscience clear so that you can often rejoice in this your Good, He will not, as I have said, come so much disguised as to be unable to make His presence known to you in many ways, according to the desire which you have of seeing Him. So great, indeed, may be your longing for Him that He will reveal Himself to you wholly.
But if we pay no heed to Him when we have received Him, and go away from Him in search of other and baser things, what can He do? Will He have to drag us by force to look at Him and be with Him because He desires to reveal Himself to us? No; for when He revealed Himself to all men plainly, and told them clearly who He was, they did not treat Him at all well—very few of them, indeed, even believed Him. So He grants us an exceeding great favour when He is pleased to show us that it is He Who is in the Most Holy Sacrament. - Way of Perfection, Chapter 34
Our Lord will use any means to come to the soul... but is He welcomed, and are we attentive to Him when He enters?
Remaining after Mass to extend our thanksgiving... it's a good thing.
I believe that the way in which we receive communion has a direct effect on our conduct afterwards. I think this is why the Holy Father is promoting kneeling and receiving on the tongue. It's no coincidence that those who receive standing and in the hand are the same ones who also stand and chat in the church aisles after Mass, completely ignoring the Blessed Sacrament.
ReplyDeleteWonderful reflection from St. Theresa.
Agree, Catholic in Brooklyn! Further to that, what we understand the Eucharist to truly be, according to what we have been taught, will influence the way we choose to receive. They are all tied together.
ReplyDeleteSt Theresa, what a legend.