The Eucharist, JP2, and a Prayer

anthonycecil
Apr 17, 2015
4 min read

I can hardly believe that my final year of college seminary is nearing its end. Soon, I’ll be graduating, and moving on to another seminary. As is probably natural, I’ve been reflecting on what all has happened these past four years—the good times and the bad, the joys and the sorrows, the laughter and the not-so-funny moments. It really has been remarkable. I could spend forever talking about my experiences and how I’ve grown from them, but that’s not my intent right now.

One of my favorite things about living in the seminary these past few years is that I literally live right down the hall from Jesus. He is truly present, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Blessed Sacrament, or Eucharist, in our seminary chapel, just as He is in the tabernacles of Catholic Churches all over the world. Over these past few years, I have (as I should being in the seminary) grown in my love of the Eucharist. If I go a day without Mass or Adoration time something is just—off. Thankfully, at the seminary, as well as during the summer (thanks to working at a monastery and in parishes) I have had easy accessibility to Mass and Adoration.

Earlier this month, we remembered the tenth anniversary of the death of Saint John Paul II, who was the Supreme Pastor of the Catholic Church from 1978 until his death in 2005.

Earlier this year, I read a new, great book: "Saint John Paul the Great: His Five Loves" , which spoke of the Holy Father’s life, ministry, and great loves that he had—one of them being the Eucharist. Of course as a priest and later as a bishop, Saint John Paul had a great devotion to the Eucharist, and even as Pope wrote an encyclical, "Ecclesia de Eucharista", on the Eucharist and its relationship to the Church. But even outside of the context of a Church document, Saint John Paul often expressed His love for the Blessed Sacrament and the crucial role that it played in his life. Here are some of my favorite “sayings” of Saint John Paul on the Eucharist:

“The Eucharist is the secret of my day. It gives strength and meaning to all my activities of service to the Church and to the whole world.”

“From the Eucharist comes strength to live the Christian life and zeal to share that life with others.”

“This is the wonderful truth, my dear friends: the Word, which became flesh two-thousand years ago, is present today in the Eucharist.”

Of course, Saint John Paul II was not the only one to speak on the Eucharist, but I could type forever and still not cover everything that has been said. Over the course of these past four years, some of the most powerful and awesome prayer experiences I have had have been in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament.

Another thing I’ve loved about seminary is learning to pray different ways. Something that has influenced my prayer a lot these past few years has been writing. As an extrovert, sometimes it can be hard for me to get out what I’m thinking without actually speaking. But, with a pen in my hand, I’ve been able to enter into conversation with the Lord. Recently, especially during Eucharistic Adoration, I’ve been writing my prayers in the form of poems. I don’t think they are particularly great or anything, but it’s what’s on my heart. So, yeah…here it is:

He took bread and He broke it, they were shocked as He spoke it:

“This is my body”, He said, knowing He’d soon be dead, “do this time and time again in memory of me” And they did. And so do we. There’s a perpetual thanksgiving, but not one of turkey and dressing rather, it’s one of bread and wine, it’s on His Body and His Blood that we dine. Some think we’re crazy, that our minds are lazy, “How can you believe?” they say and won’t give us the time of day. “How could I not believe?” I think and my heart begins to sink that they can’t see the beauty of the mystery a beauty steeped in history. He said it is—so it is—and I believe, I don’t think God is one to deceive It’s not a metaphor that I sit before and spend hours to adore. It’s His very presence alive on that altar picking me up when I falter, Pulling me out of my sin and pride-- that’s why He died! He’s in the tabernacle waiting to break the shackles, the chains of sin that weigh us down, because if He didn’t, we’d eventually drown. He wants to heal out wounds and our sores, but it’ll never happen until we adore until we sit before the Lord, the Lord who was pierced by the sword. It’ll never happen until we are washed in His Blood and clothed in His Mercy. It is His Mercy that will bring us peace even when we feel loved the least, coming from the bread and the wine that make up our feast. But we must adore For us He’s been waiting, our visit anticipating, to come dwell in our heart and bring light to the places that are dark. It’s something we claim and must believe It’s something—no—someone who should make us fall to our knees. For it was for our sake that He was nailed to that tree. And if it’s something we believe when we say “Amen”, we’d be willing to die for Him again and again. Just like those who went before us, giving Him and no one else their trust, down in adoration falling, the Eucharist to their hearts calling. So let us fall to our knees, and beg the Lord, please make me a mirror to make Your message clearer Help me to listen with the ear of my heart, and know that adoring You is the only place to start.