Day 29 – Saints on the Humility of Jesus in the Eucharist
A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to John:
For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever.” This he said in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.
Many of his disciples, when they heard it, said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at it, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of man ascending where he was before? It is the Spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and life. But there are some of you that do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who those were that did not believe, and who it was that would betray him. And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer walked with him. Jesus said to the Twelve, “Will you also go away?” (John 6:55-67)
From various saints about the humility of Jesus in the Eucharist:
Saint Francis wrote to his brothers:
“O admirable height and stupendous condescension! O humble sublimity! O sublime humility! that the Lord of the universe, God and the Son of God, so humbles Himself that for our salvation He hides Himself under a morsel of bread. Consider, brothers, the humility of God and pour out your hearts before Him, and be humbled that you may be exalted by Him. Do not therefore keep back anything for yourselves that He may receive you entirely who gives Himself up entirely to you.
Saint Faustina wrote in her Diary (Entry #80):
O Jesus, Divine Prisoner of Love, when I consider Your love and how You emptied Yourself for me, my senses fail me. You hide Your inconceivable majesty and lower Yourself to miserable me. O King of Glory, though You hide Your beauty, yet the eye of my soul rends the veil. I see the angelic choirs giving You honor without cease, and all the heavenly Powers praising You without cease, and without cease they are saying: Holy, Holy, Holy.
Oh, who will comprehend Your love and Your unfathomable mercy toward us! O Prisoner of Love, I lock up my poor heart in this tabernacle, that it may adore You without cease night and day. I know of no obstacle in this adoration, and even though I be physically distant, my heart is always with You. Nothing can put a stop to my love for You. No obstacles exist for me. O my Jesus, I will console You for all the ingratitude, the blasphemies, the coldness, the hatred of the wicked, the sacrileges. O Jesus, I want to burn as a pure offering and to be consumed before the throne of Your hiddenness. I plead with You unceasingly for poor dying sinners.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta said:
“The humility of Jesus can be seen in the crib, in the exile to Egypt, in the hidden life, in the inability to make people understand Him, in the desertion of His apostles, in the hatred of His persecutors, in all the terrible suffering and death of His Passion, and now in His permanent state of humility in the tabernacle, where He has reduced Himself to such a small particle of bread that the priest can hold Him with two fingers. The more we empty ourselves, the more room we give God to fill us.”
Saint Therese of Lisieux rejoiced in the Communion of Midnight Mass:
“God would have to work a little miracle to make me grow up in an instant, and this miracle He performed on that unforgettable Christmas day. On that luminous night which sheds such light on the delights of the Holy Trinity, Jesus, the gentle, little Child of only one hour, changed the night of my soul into rays of light. On that night when He made Himself subject to weakness and suffering for love of me, He made me strong and courageous, arming me with His weapons. Since that night I have never been defeated in any combat, but rather walked from victory to victory, beginning, so to speak, “to run as a giant”!
Reflection:
Do we see the humility of Jesus who continually comes to us in a way that makes us easily overlook Him? We cannot tell the difference between a consecrated host and an unconsecrated host—our senses cannot tell the difference between Jesus and a simple piece of bread. Do we promote ourselves? Are we offended when others do not know who we are? Do we push ourselves forward to make sure we are seen or correct others when they do not acknowledge our credentials. Do we feel self-important? Do we see how contrary these attitudes are to the humility of Jesus who remains anonymously, invisibly hidden beneath the appearance of bread and even then hidden away in a Tabernacle? This is how the baby is in the womb, especially a baby so small that the mother does not even appear to be pregnant. Are we willing to be so small, so hidden, so overlooked as to be a tiny, tiny baby in the womb of Mary? If so, then we are drawing closer to fulfilling the command of Jesus, “Be imitators of me, for I am meek and humble of heart.” (Matthew 11:29)
We pray first with Mother Teresa: “Mary, mother of Jesus, give us your heart, so beautiful, so pure, so immaculate, so full of love and humility, that we may be able to receive Jesus in the bread of life, love him as you love him, and serve him in the distressing disguise of the poor.”
Litany of the Powerlessness of Jesus
Litany of Christ Living in the Womb of Mary
Prayer of St Thomas Aquinas before Holy Communion
Prayer of Entrustment to the Womb of Mary