Daily Reflections

June 26, 2011

THE SACRAMENT OF TOTAL SELF-GIVING

“I have nothing more to give you.” These are words engraved on the inside of a gold ring (most probably a wedding ring), together with a tiny drawing of a hand holding a heart. This beautiful ring was but one of the interesting finds from a sunken 16thcentury Spanish galleon, discovered and retrieved by deep-sea divers off the coast of Ireland.
“I have nothing more to give you.” It’s as if Jesus Christ Himself uttered these words when we consider today’s Solemnity of the Body and Blood of our Lord. Although of course you won’t find such a sentence in the Gospel, Jesus’ very life itself speaks of the statement, “I have nothing more to give you.” Yes, everything is already there in the Eucharist, in the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is this kind of total and absolute quality of Jesus that also characterized His insistence to the Jews in today’s Gospel episode. No partial understandings or half-hearted commitments would ever suffice.
So should it be for us, too. How easy it is for us to take for granted the Holy Mass or the Eucharist; how easy it is to fall into apathy and indifference when it comes to this great sacrament. Our beautiful and even air-conditioned churches and chapels, the Masses conveniently held in malls and offices, the availability of priests for Masses on request — all these should never lull us to complacency. If only we approach each and every Holy Communion as if it were both our First Holy Communion and our Viaticum! What innocence we had back then when we received Jesus for the first time. As for the Viaticum, the term suggests the Sacred Host as our baon or food provision as we undertake our journey to eternity.
Hopefully, we, too, will give God our all — our lives, our selves, our everything — totally and absolutely. Fr. Martin Macasaet, SDB

Reflection Question:
In the Eucharist, Jesus gave His all. How do you receive Him?

May I always receive worthily Your most precious gift in the Eucharist, Lord.

St. Perseveranda, pray for us.