Homily - 18 August 2024
As, in these weeks, we contemplate the infinite blessings of the Holy Eucharist, we might spend a few moments with Saint Theresa of Avila, the mystic who, for me at least, speaks most eloquently of what Jesus says in today’s Gospel: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.”
Since that day when we made our First Communion and returned to our pew, kneeling down, closing our eyes, and trying to feel Jesus inside of us…to that last day, when I will receive Holy Viaticum and entrust my soul to God…and during all the Communions in between…we want, more than anything else, to live in him and know that he lives in us.
That is real peace. Saint Theresa calls this state of prayer “another heaven” and of it she writes:
Just as the Lord Jesus has a dwelling-place in heaven, so he has a dwelling place in the soul, where none but He may abide and which may be termed another heaven.”
And when, having received Holy Communion, we entrust all our worries and troubles and grand designs to him, she tells us, we can trust in God, knowing only peace from deep within. trusting in God that we are exactly where he wants us to be, ready to pass on the love that has been given to us to those who need it most, content to be a child of God. She writes:
Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
Thus, to have courage for whatever comes in life, simply go to confession and receive God’s mercy, and then go to Communion, and spend time letting him love you. It’s that simple.
It is only then that you can, paraphrasing Saint Teresa, “let nothing disturb you and nothing frighten you, knowing that everything changes but God and that waiting with him in your heart achieves everything.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.
How blessed are we who are called to the Supper of the Lamb.
