I am the living bread which came down
from heaven; if any one
eats
of this bread, he will live for ever;
and the bread which I shall
give
for the life of the world is my
flesh. - John 6:
51
"All created life needs
to be fed: plants draw their nourishment from the
secretions of the earth; animals feed on plants or other living creatures;
man
nourishes his body with material and appropriate food; he nourishes his mind
with truth, especially divine truth; he should nourish his will with the divine
will to be accomplished daily in order to reach eternal life. In other words,
man ought to find his nourishment especially in faith, hope and love. The acts
of these virtues obtain for him, through merit, an increase in supernatural
life.
But
the Savior offers him still
another and more divine
food; He offers Himself as the
food of souls. To St
Augustine,
Christ said: 'I am the food of the strong; grow and thou shalt feed on Me. But
thou shalt not convert Me into thyself as the nourishment of thy body,
but thou
shalt be changed into Me' (Confessions, Bk VII,
chap. 10).
In
Communion, the Savior has nothing to
gain: it is the soul
that receives, that is vivified, supernaturalized; the virtues of Jesus Christ pass into it; it is, as it
were, incorporated in Him and becomes a more living member of His mystical
body.
... Christ, present in the Eucharist, leads
the soul to a purer and stronger love of
God."
Fr
Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O. P.
The Three
Ages of the Interior Life, Vol I (pg
415)
Attend and pray daily Mass during Lent -
and be
strengthened in love!
