As we celebrate Holy Thursday let us remember that …

There is nothing so great as the Eucharist. If God had something more precious, He would have given it to us (St John Mary Vianney).

From the Eucharist comes strength to live the Christian life and zeal to share that life with others (St Pope John Paul II).

Jesus has made Himself the Bread of Life to give us life. Night and day, He is there. If you really want to grow in love, come back to the Eucharist, come back to that Adoration (St Teresa of Calcutta).

Holy Communion is the shortest and safest way to heaven (St Pope Pius X).

The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life (St Pope John Paul II).

In a world where there is so much noise, so much bewilderment, there is a need for silent adoration of Jesus concealed in the Host. Be assiduous in the prayer of adoration and teach it to the faithful. It is a source of comfort and light, particularly to those who are suffering (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI).

When you look at the Sacred Host you understand how much Jesus loves you now (St Teresa of Calcutta).

 

When you approach the tabernacle remember that he has been waiting for you for twenty centuries (Josemaria Escriva).

…In this world I cannot see the Most High Son of God with my own eyes, except for His Most Holy Body and Blood (St Francis of Assisi).

Until we have a passionate love for our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament we shall accomplish nothing (St Peter Julian Eymard).

The Holy Eucharist is the perfect expression of the love of Jesus Christ for man since It is the quintessence of all the mysteries of His Life (St Peter Julian Eymard).

Recognize in this bread what hung on the cross, and in this chalice what flowed from His side… whatever was in many and varied ways announced beforehand in the sacrifices of the Old Testament pertains to this one sacrifice which is revealed in the New Testament (St Augustine).

Do you realize that Jesus is there in the tabernacle expressly for you- for you alone? He burns with the desire to come into your heart… don’t listen to the demon, laugh at him, and go without fear to receive the Jesus of peace and love (St Therese of Lisieux).

Of all devotions, that of adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the greatest after the sacraments, the one dearest to God and the one most helpful to us (St Alphonsus Liguori).

Ask Jesus to make you a saint. After all, only He can do that. Go to confession regularly and to Communion as often as you can (St Dominic Savio).

I hunger for the bread of God, the flesh of Jesus Christ …; I long to drink of his blood, the gift of unending love (St Ignatius of Antioch).

The Holy Eucharist is like a divine Storehouse filled with every virtue; God has placed It in the world so that everyone one may draw from It (St Peter Julian Eymard).

Our own belief is that the renovation of the world will be brought about only by the Holy Eucharist (Pope Leo XIII).

In the presence of Jesus in the Holy Sacrament we ought to be like the Blessed in heaven before the Divine Essence (St Teresa of Avila).

How many of you say: I should like to see His face, His garments, His shoes. You do see Him, you touch Him, you eat Him. He gives Himself to you, not only that you may see Him, but also to be your food and nourishment (St John Chrysostom).

The Bread that we need each day to grow in eternal life, makes of our will a docile instrument of the Divine Will; sets the Kingdom of God within us; gives us pure lips, and a pure heart with which to glorify his holy name (St Edith Stein).

If Christ did not want to dismiss the Jews without food in the desert for fear that they would collapse on the way, it was to teach us that it is dangerous to try to get to heaven without the Bread of Heaven (St Jerome).

Christ held Himself in His hands when He gave His Body to His disciples saying: ‘This is My Body.’ No one partakes of this Flesh before he has adored it (St Augustine).

In the Eucharist, the Son of God comes to meet us and desires to become one with us; eucharistic adoration is simply the natural consequence of the eucharistic celebration, which is itself the Church’s supreme act of adoration (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI).

Every morning during meditation, I prepare myself for the whole day’s struggle. Holy Communion assures me that I will win the victory; and so it is. I fear the day when I do not receive Holy Communion. This bread of the Strong gives me all the strength I need to carry on my mission and the courage to do whatever the Lord asks of me. The courage and strength that are in me are not of me, but of Him who lives in me – it is the Eucharist (St Mary Faustina Kowalska).

 

I wish to reflect on how we live the Eucharist in our daily lives, as a Church and individual Christians. First, the Eucharist affects the way we see others. In his life, Christ manifested his love by being with people, and by sharing their desires and problems. So too the Eucharist brings us together with others—young and old, poor and affluent, neighbours and visitors. The Eucharist calls us to see all of them as our brothers and sisters, and to see in them the face of Christ (Pope Francis).

 

What a great blessing is the Eucharist, the Most Precious Body and Blood of Christ!

 

 

Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap