The Heavenly Feast
A few weeks ago, we looked at a wonderful word used in the Church Catechism to describe the effect of the Blessed Eucharist in our lives! The word that we thought about was “refreshment” and we meditated upon the way in which Christ our Lord comes down to us in the Sacrament of the Altar to bring new life and healing to each of us in our need.
Today we look another way in which the Holy Communion is described! In the second Exhortation, on pg.90 of the Prayerbook, we discover that the Holy Communion is a “Heavenly Feast” for all who will prepare themselves with love and faith. It is a remarkable thing to realize that Almighty God in His infinite Mercy and Care for us has provided this abundant and life-giving Sacrament for us and for all Christian believers-people just like us!
The phrase “Heavenly Feast” lets us know that in this Supper, our Lord holds nothing back-He is not sparing or limited in His provision for us-rather He gives Himself to us generously, seeking hearts the will open themselves to the gift that He offers-His very Body and Blood!
In the Blessed Sacrament, we have a feast indeed-not of the world, but rather from Heaven-from the very presence of the Lord himself. But here is the great mystery-that the Feast He prepares for us is Himself-it is the blessed Jesus truly present under the forms of bread and wine, inviting each of us to come and be filled with the riches of His grace and Mercy at His Altar.
During this Holy season of Lent, when we are all hungering and thirsting for a deeper and more centered walk with God, coming to this precious Feast of our Lord’s own making, can provide us with the inner spiritual nourishment that will sustain us in this world and the next. If we will only come-if we will but answer the call of our Lord to this feast, we will discover all of the sweetness of love and mercy that He has for us.
To come and receive of the heavenly treasures that await us at His Table, we must come clothed in the garment of love and penitence. We must not presume upon His love, but rather we must approach Him not trusting in our merit, but in His mercy, and only in His mercy.
We can be sure that He waits for us with His blessed hands full of the graces that we need-with a Sacred Heart that burns with love for us, and with a longing for each of us to draw ever closer to Him in trust and confidence. Let us feast at His Table and Live!