The Holy Eucharist and the Blessed Trinity

I. A SONG OF PRAISE

Let us begin with a riddle: What am I, the easiest and most difficult thing in the world? When I am done well, it may be but poorly, and when I am done poorly, it may stand well with me? The answer is very simple and the key to happiness:

Praise the Lord!
For it is good to sing praises to our God;
For He is gracious and a song of praise is seemly! (Ps 147:1)

This is, of course, most easy where love is strong and most difficult where charity has grown cold. For the one who loves, the song of praise comes naturally and meets the deepest, spontaneous need of the heart. For the one who does not love, a genuine song of praise is impossible. Perhaps a poet could write a nice song of praise, but if it doesn’t come from the heart, it would be sung poorly, whereas the poorly phrased praise of a child or of a humble lover is truly music to the ears.

Now that we have the riddle, we can try to apply it. How easily does the song of praise come to our lips in honor of Christ in the Holy Eucharist and of the Blessed Trinity dwelling in our hearts? Such a question is bound to turn us modest. And even so, we will scarcely approach the modesty of Christ in the Tabernacle or the Blessed Trinity in the soul of the faithful. How humble they are! Such humility is only possible for pure, selfless love. The very modesty of God makes it difficult for us to offer Him the song of love and praise that we should like to offer Him but which, in our poverty, often never is set free.

Blessed are those souls who understand that our Lord takes delight in this desire. After all, the incense coal is only meant to glow, not to flame, and the incense is meant to smoke, not to burn. God knows only too well that our encounter with Him in Faith is often better served with a veil of obscurity than with splendor.

Bishop Sheen tells a delightful story that serves to explain why God so often hides His beauty, whereas we, for our part, want to cry out with Moses: "Show me, O Lord, Your Glory!"

It seems that a young man, or was it the young lady, had written an article in a Catholic Magazine that elicited a response from the other. The correspondence led to a collaboration in the apostolate and that to a certain friendship. All that, of course, took place at long distance, since he lived in America and she in Ireland. Their friendship deepened and grew in affection, all the more as it became clear that both were young and single and interested in marriage. The tenor of their correspondence developed accordingly. The time came for them to actually meet, and so the young man invited his fiancée of correspondence to come to the US and visit his family.

By then for some time already, he had been asking the young lady to send him a photo, a request that she had deftly side-stepped and underplayed. Now he, with his logical mind, thought that he might insist on receiving a photo, since how else would he be able to recognize her at the airport! Again, she agilely evaded the request, informing him that she would be wearing a green outfit with a white corsage, and so he would easily recognize her at the airport. As time had run out, the young man had no choice but to settle for keeping a look out for a young lassie in a green outfit with a white corsage.

As things happen, our young lady found herself on the plane to New York sitting next to a young lady in a green outfit. Oh the mind, the mind of man is a labyrinth! Who could surmise why our young lady would give her white corsage to the young ‘Greensleeves’ sitting next to her? It wasn’t merely humor, though it did require a rather mischievous heart to catch upon the opportunity. To tell the whole story, the young lady, who now wore the corsage, was as homely as a mud fence.

The young man, of course, was waiting when they arrived in New York. They were to meet in the baggage area, because they could not see one another until she had gotten through the customs. It didn’t take long for him to espy the young lady with the corsage. Poor fellow, how taken aback he was. All his hopes and expectations seemed to be dashed as he discovered just how homely she was. What anguish! What should he do? Was this really to be the beautiful young woman with whom he had corresponded? He had been quite reconciled to her being modestly plain. But now, for a moment, he was beaten; he just wanted to run away and leave. But struggling with himself, he got himself under control, recalling to mind the deep beauty of her heart and soul that he had come to love over the past couple of years. And so he stepped forward manly and tapped her on the shoulder. And as she turned around, he gave her a big hug and a kiss.

Imagine the poor fellow’s surprise as the young lady shoved him back in shock and indignation, demanding, "How dare you? What do you think you are doing?" "Are you not Bridget?" he asked in amazement. "You must be, you told me,... or she told me that she would be wearing a green outfit with a white corsage."

At this the woman calmed down noticeably, seeing the evident mistake. "No, I am not Bridget, but she must have gotten off the plane too, for, you see, a young lady dressed in green sat next to me on the airplane, and it was she who insisted that I accept her white corsage. Together they looked around and eventually caught sight of Bridget observing them from beside a pillar on the other side of the room. She joined them and apologized for the trick she had played on the two of them.

How relieved the young man was to be accompanied home by the right ‘Greensleeves.’ She was truly beautiful beyond his hopes. The beauty of her heart and soul shone in her face and eyes. He could not help but ask why she had played such a dirty trick on him. She explained: their correspondence was the first time in her life she had felt that anyone really cared for her as a person. God had given her such great natural beauty that it was an impediment in her social life. She always got the impression that young men were only interested in her physical beauty and not in herself as a person. That was why she had always refused to send a photo; their friendship and romance was too beautiful to risk over a picture.

When she got on the plane and found herself seated next to the other young lady, she couldn’t help but seeing a final test in it for him. Impetuous as she was, the corsage was quickly given away. After that, it could hardly be recalled, so she just left the drama play itself out.

She was sorry, if she had hurt his feelings, but quickly added that the hug and the kiss that he had given to the other girl could not have delighted her more, even if she had received them herself. For, of course, it had been given to her, in the true beauty of her soul.

And this is why Christ hides His beauty in the Blessed Sacrament, waiting and hoping that we discover His true beauty. It is by our effort to get beyond the obscurity of faith in pure love that the beauty of our own soul is cultivated. For the Little Flower, Jesus’ habitual mode of dwelling in her soul was one of silence and hiding. Commenting on one of her retreats, she wrote:

St. Thérèse explains this spiritual attitude in greater depth to her older sister Céline, who was struggling with aridity. The context is general, but the principle is applicable to the fidelity and devotion we should offer Jesus in Holy Communion.

Alas! He is not far, indeed, He is very near, He, who is watching us, who begs the alms of this sadness, this agony from us. He needs it for souls,...for our soul, [you see] He would like to give us such a beautiful compensation, so great are His ambitions for us. But how can He ever say, "It’s My turn," if our turn has not come, if we have not done anything for Him? Alas, it costs Him dearly to quench our thirst with the drought of sadness, but He knows that it is the only way to prepare us to come to ‘know Him as He knows Himself and to become gods ourselves.’

Oh what a destiny! How great is our soul! Let us rise above the things that pass, let us hold ourselves aloof from the earth; higher up the air is pure. Jesus is hiding, but still one perceives Him. Shedding tears, we can dry His. And the Blessed Virgin smiles; poor Mother, she had such pains on our account. It is fitting [literally, ‘just’] that we should console her a bit by weeping and suffering a bit with her.

Let us now review and reflect upon own personal relationship with Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and in the Trinity. Everything is set for a wonderful romance, but we have to show ourselves worthy so that Jesus can say, "It’s My turn now!" (worthy to get a glimpse at the ‘photo’). We have to learn how to give the hug and the kiss in the obscurity of faith.

Our approach shall not be rhetoric; rather, I am simply going to review the doctrine for you. In the measure that I can, I will try to share the spirit of Thérèse with you also. Her love is simple as a child and as pure as the Virgin Bride of the Lamb. These two she combines; the profundity of her doctrine is its pristine simplicity. Hence, her words on the Eucharist are a statement of her love and love’s discoveries but not theological research.

Everyone wants to be happy, but only the fewest know what happiness is or the way to it. That is why Christ came to tell us: "I am the way, the truth and the Life" (Jn 15).

St. Paul tells us that "Before the foundation of the world" the Father chose and "blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" so that we should "be His sons through Jesus Christ" in whom, in the fullness of time, He will "recapitulate all things in heaven and on earth" (Eph 1:4a.3b.5b.10). That is to say, from all eternity we have a supernatural vocation to union and everlasting happiness with God through Jesus Christ. The fullness of Divine Life is in Christ bodily (cf. Col 1:19, 2:9). In him, with the eyes of faith, we can behold His Glory, that He is not only full of grace and truth, but that this outpouring of Divine goodness is for us: "From His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace" (Jn 1:16).

Here, in this first point, we want to emphasize three truths. First, there is no greater love possible than that with which the Father has first loved us, both creating and redeeming us in Christ. Second, there is no greater happiness possible than the heavenly blessing of Divine sonship in Jesus, the SON of God. If anyone is happy, it must be God, and we are called to share in His own happiness. Third, there is no other means to this happiness except Jesus Christ alone, anointed with the Holy Spirit.

The ultimate cause is the eternal love of the omnipotent Father, and this suggests that the love with which He loves us is related to the very love with which He loves His Son. The ultimate meansto achieve happiness is offered to us in the Incarnate Word of God. And this suggests that the motivating force in all that Christ, our supreme Mediator, does is His love for the Father. The goal is the ultimate Gift, the perfect possession of union with God through the divinizing activity of the Holy Spirit,who is the soul of the Church, the bond of perfection and union with God. This gift has its prototype in that first of all gifts in which the Father and Son gave themselves to one another in the Holy Spirit.

After the mystery of the Blessed Trinity and that of the Hypostatic Union, the greatest possible mystery, it seems to me, is the mystery of supernatural life, for supernatural life is a share in the very life and dignity of God.

The plenitude of life which fills Christ’s soul, "His glorious grace" (Eph 1:6), is poured out upon us in such a way that it becomes our life, our innermost life. As the body lives by the soul, so now does our soul live by grace the life of God.

This life is not given to us in isolation, but in union with Christ, so that we become one thing with Him, one body and one spirit. This is the mystery which Paul proclaims, "the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now made manifest to his saints. [Behold] the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col 1:26-27).

In her autobiography, Thérèse speaks about how this grace increases: "For a grace faithfully received, He accorded me a multitude of others. He gave Himself to me in Holy Communion more often that I would have dared hope. I had made myself the rule of conduct never to fail to receive Holy Communion, when my confessor authorized me to do so"

Jesus explains this union in terms of organic unity: "I am the vine and you are the branches" (Jn 15:5). Just as there is one vital principal flowing and animating the vine and its branches, so now in Christ, we share in His life in union with Him. Since we have but one and the selfsame life in Christ–all His grace and actions, all His love and all His merits are ours–,we share in His union with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

The whole of the spiritual life, insofar as it depends upon us, consists in living this union with Christ in love and faith. In a word, "Remain in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, neither can you, unless you remain in Me.... He who remains in me, and I in Him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me, you can do nothing" (Jn 15:4-5).

To remain in Christ, therefore, is the fullness of the Christian life, for by so doing, He promises us that we will bear much fruit. This means that we must not only imitate Christ, but far more, we must take to heart the fullness of our unity with Christ. To this end, the Catechism of the Catholic Church cites St. John Eudes:

This was the greatness, as we pointed out, of the Little Way: Thérèse understood the mystery of grace in her soul; she understood the mystery of her incorporation into Christ; she understood the mystery of Christ’s great and personal love for her; and she lived this mystery of love and union with all the rigor of the Mystical Marriage even before she had arrived at this height of union.

In one of her prayers, she gives this doctrine of John Eudes back in the flavor of the Little Way. The prayer is a response to the verse in Scripture: "If you ask anything of the Father in my Name, He will give it to you" (Jn 16:23). She prays:

Let us backtrack a bit and recall how we, wild olive branches, came to be grafted into the noble olive and even more into the true vine. In Baptism we were spiritually and truly immersed into the sufferings and death of Christ, for as the New Adam, He took on the entire burden of our sins and made satisfaction and reparation for us before the Father. He did this as the Head of the Human Race, such that all He suffered has been suffered for us, and all the life and glory that He gained, He has gained for us. In Confirmation we were strengthened so as to be able to confess our faith and suffer with and for Christ. The Paschal Mystery is the source of all the sacraments and all grace. As a sacrament and as a sacrifice, it is renewed in the Holy Eucharist, which, therefore, contains substantially the entire spiritual good of the Church. Because it is a true sacrifice, indeed, the renewal and re-presentation of the Sacrifice of the Cross, the liturgy of the Eucharist has three significant moments.

The first is the death of the victim. In this, our immersion in baptism was our sacramental immersion into Christ’s death. Just as we descended with Him into the tomb, we rose again with Him from death–symbolically, by rising from the water.

The second moment is the offering of the Victim in the Spirit to God. It was for this reason that Christ promised a special glory to Magdalene for breaking the precious vessel of nard oil and anointing Christ’s feet in preparation of burial. Just at the perfume of the precious nard oil could only fill the room, namely the room of the Church, after the vessel had been broken, even so could the Holy Spirit only be given and poured out over the Church after Christ has been raised up and broken by the piercing of the lance. Hence, by His death, our sins were atoned and forgiven. This takes place in Baptism. By His offering in the Spirit, the Spirit is poured out upon us, and this takes place in Confirmation.

And the third element is the participation of the altar, so as to become one with the victim in order to live in the Spirit. The Eucharist, of course, is our Sacred Food, the Body and Blood of Jesus. By it we participate fully in the Paschal Mystery of Christ, not only in His death but in His resurrection and glory. We are incorporated into His Body. And this means that His glorified soul becomes the principal of our Life, and His glorified Body becomes the principal of our glorious resurrection on the Last Day.

The Little Flower presents this as a transformation, her moment of heaven on earth, in her poem "This is my heaven," which she wrote on the Feast of Corpus Christi:

My Heaven, it is hidden in the little Host,
Where Jesus, my Bridegroom,
veils Himself for love
To this Divine Foyer I go to draw life
And there my sweet Savior hears me night and day
O what a happy moment, when in Your tenderness
You come, my dearly beloved, to transform me into Yourself
This union of love, this ineffable inebriation
Behold, this is my heaven!

St. Paul expresses the truth in a paradoxical way, affirming that the "Body–here referring to the Church–is the fullness of Him [Christ] Who fills all in all" (Eph 1:22). St. Thomas explains this as follows: The body is for the sake of the soul. The powers of the soul are expressed in and through the body. Hence, the body has so many members as there are powers to the soul in need of corporeal statement. It is similar in the case of Christ in relation to His Mystical Body. His soul has incomparably greater powers than any other creature, for His soul subsists in the Divinity itself. Hence, Christ’s soul not only has the power to animate His own Body, but the power to animate "all things in heaven and on earth" and to fill all the members of His mystical Body, men and angels, with a plenitude of gifts.

It is for this reason that Christ’s Body is "true food," the "Bread of Life," "omne delectamentum in se habentem," "which contains every delight!"

By accepting the word of Christ, we know Him in Faith, and He comes to dwell in our heart also by faith (cf. Eph 3:17); still, the most perfect form of union with Christ is through a loving reception of the Eucharist.

Eating the "Living Bread" is the greatest possible means for deepening our share in the Divine Life. By intention, it is meant to be "our daily bread." As such, it is both the source and the sustenance of our Life. All that the sign "bread" does for the body, this Bread does for the supernatural life and more: it nourishes, it sustains, it strengthens, it rejoices, it heals and it personally unites us to Christ and gives us claim to eternal life.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem describes our unification with Christ through the Eucharist by comparing it to two volumes of melted wax: when brought together, they become one. Hence, in Communion, Christ is in us and we in Him. This union embraces, St. Cyprian teaches, our wills and affections. But it is St. Hillary who offers the deepest insights into the depth of our union with Christ in the Eucharist. He writes:

The manner of our indwelling in Him through the Sacrament of His Body and Blood is evident from the Lord’s own words: "The world will see Me no longer but you shall see Me. Because I live you shall live also, for I am in My Father, you are in Me, and I am in you." If it had been a question of a mere unity of will, why should He have given us this explanation of steps by which it is achieved?

He is in the Father by reason of His divine nature; we are in Him by reason of His human birth, and He is in us through the mystery of the Sacraments.

This is surely what He wished us to believe; ...this is how we attain to unity with the Father. Christ is in very truth in the Father by His eternal generation; we are in very truth in Christ, and He likewise in us....

We draw life from His flesh just as He draws life from the Father. ...The point is that Christ is the wellspring of our life. Since we who are in the flesh have Christ dwelling in us through His flesh, we shall draw life from Him in the same way as He draws life from the Father.

St. Thérèse describes this union with Christ in the memories of her First Holy Communion. She writes:

After her second Holy Communion on the Feast of the Ascension, she went around telling herself in the words of St. Paul, "It is no longer I who live but Jesus who lives in me." Later she captured this thought in line of her poem, "Jesus Remember":

Remember how when ascending to the Father
You could not leave us orphans,
And so making yourself a prisoner on earth
You knew how to veil all your Divine rays
But the shadow of Your veil is luminous and pure
Living bread of Faith, Heavenly Nourishment

O mystery of love!My Bread, the daily fare

Jesus, it’s You!...
Jesus, it is You, who despite the blasphemies
of the enemies of the Sacrament of Love,
It’s you who want to show me how much You love me
For in my heart You establish your abode

O Bread of this exile! O Host, sacred and Divine

It is no longer I who live, but I live by Your life.

Your golden ciborium,

Preferred before all others,Oh my Jesus, it is I!
Jesus, it is I who am Your living sanctuary
Which the wicked cannot profane
Remain in my heart, is it not a ground-floor
Whose every garden flower wants to turn to You?
But if you withdraw, O white Lily of the Valley,
You know well all my flowers will be quickly unpettaled
Always my dearly beloved,Jesus, fragrant lily
Flower in me!



	September 2000/1

The Holy Eucharist and the Blessed Trinity Part I