XX About the third way of eating, or the way sacramental and spiritual at once
XX
About the third way of eating, or the way sacramental and spiritual at once
C. The third way of eating the Body of Jesus is the way in which good Christians communicate, that is, not only sacramentally, but also spiritually. Three things have to be considered about this:
(1) First, there is the multitude of those who do not go to Communion, that is, the multitude of the bad. For since there is a threefold way of eating—one sacramental only, in which bad Christians eat, and yet do not eat; one spiritual only, in which the good do not eat, and yet do eat; one sacramental and spiritual, in which only good Christians eat and are eaten—there remains to fill up this part of our subject the consideration of the multitude of bad persons who neither eat nor are eaten. These, indeed, do not eat the Body of Christ, and therefore they die everlastingly. There are three kinds or bands of these people: a, unbelievers; b, the careless; c, the despisers.
a. Unbelievers are they whose hearts are so blinded by malice and the guile of the devil that they do not believe, and do not know those heavenly Sacraments which the wonderful wisdom of God has instituted for the salvation of the world. If they think of it at all, they do not believe that our Lord can give us His Flesh to eat. They wander in error, ignorant of the Sacraments of God, because they are blinded by malice.
b. The careless are they who are so wrapped up in temporal gains and the business of the world that they neglect to receive Holy Communion at the proper time. As to the excuses made to the king by those whom he had invited, it is said, ‘To go to the farm is to give ourselves too earnestly to earthly work, and to go to the merchandise is to seek too greedily for worldly gain. They who neglect the banquet of this Divine Sacrament, though they may seem to have faith and to do certain works of charity, if they do not repent will perish.’ St. Paul speaks of the height and depth of the love of Christ, and of his words it is said, ‘The deeps of love are the Sacraments of the Church. Deep they are, nay, unfathomable; and they are also the foundation of charity, without which it availeth nothing, for the outward sign of charity will not bring to everlasting life those who make light of the Sacraments.’ In the old law the soul that was clean and neglected the Phase without a hindrance of necessity was cut off from the people for its neglect.
c. The despisers are they who cleave to their sin with such strong love that they count it but a little thing to receive the Body of the Lord. With just judgment they are condemned and cut off, because they love their sins more than their preparation to receive the Body of Jesus. There is a canon which says, ‘They who shall, through sin, stay away two or three years from Communion shall be excommunicated till they do penance.’
(2) The second thing to be considered about this way of receiving is the greatness of the happiness of the good who worthily receive the Body of their Lord. Now this is proved in three ways: a, by the choice of the best part; b, by being made partakers of the Holy Ghost; c, by the assured indwelling of Jesus Himself.
a. The great happiness of good communicants is proved by this, that, like Mary, they have chosen the best part. God gave the Blessed Virgin the choice of three things: to be a mother and not a virgin; or to be a virgin and not a mother; or to be a virgin and a mother. She chose the best, that is, to be a Virgin-Mother. So, out of the three ways of eating the Body of Jesus, they choose the best, that is, the way which is sacramental and spiritual at once. They choose this last way, that is, to eat sacramentally in the first way, and to eat spiritually in the second way; and so, by both together, they eat in the best way, and are indeed overflowingly blessed in their joy. The Wise Man praised this joy; as if he had said, ‘I have tried very many kinds of joys and delights, both of the flesh and the world; but they are all vanity, and their end is mourning and woe. Hence, before everything else I praise true joy, that is, the testimony of a good conscience; and I can see nothing better for any one in this world than to eat the Bread which came down from Heaven and drink the Blood of the Lord, that is, the wine that gladdens the heart of man.’
b. Secondly, their great happiness is proved by their being made true partakers of the Holy Ghost. Jesus is a rock and the giver of sweetness, and these happy ones drink in the sweetness of the Holy Ghost from His Body. The Church sings from words of Scripture, ‘How sweet, O Lord, is Thy Holy Spirit in us;’ as if from His Body His Spirit flowed to us. St. Augustin says, ‘When a man feeds on the Body and Blood of Christ he lives, not only receiving the Sacrament, which the wicked also do, but reaching even to a participation of the Spirit, so that he abides in our Lord’s Body as a member, and is fed by His Spirit.’
c. Thirdly, their great happiness is proved by the assured indwelling of Christ. St. Hilary says, ‘When we have fed on the Flesh of our Lord and drunk His Blood, we dwell in Him and He dwells in us. For He is in us by flesh when we receive His Flesh, and we are in Him when He, with that which we are, is in God.’
(3) The third thing to be considered about this way of eating is the manner in which worthy eaters are said to eat and be eaten. This mystery is thus explained. When the Body of our Lord is worthily eaten by the faithful, that Body is not, like other food, changed into the eater, but, on the contrary, he who rightly eats it is changed spiritually into it. For our Lord makes him who eats Him a member of His Body; incorporates him with Himself by love, and thus unites him in the closest way with Himself, making him like an image of His own goodness. Now, that our Lord is not changed into us when we eat His Body, but that we are changed into Him, is proved by a threefold likeness:
a. The first likeness is taken from the power of our love. For such is the strength of love, that the heart of the lover is changed into the heart of the loved one, that is, is made like the loved one in happiness and sorrow. Hugo says, ‘The might of love is so great that you cannot help being such as that is which you love, and to which you are joined by affection. You are in a sense changed into its likeness by a communion of love. Thus the Bride of Jesus longs to be a seal on the Heart of the Divine Bridegroom. Like wax, warm, pure, soft, she will receive an impression of that Heart. On the heart that is thus warm with the love of God, pure in its own cleanness, soft with the love of its neighbour, the Body of Jesus is laid as a seal; not that it should be changed into us, for it is unchangeable; but that we may be transfigured into the image of its goodness.’
b. The second likeness is taken from the power of that which is greater than something else. For if you let fall a drop of water into a large vessel of wine, the water is altogether changed into wine because of the greatness of the wine; but the virtue of the Body of our Lord is of unspeakable greatness, and we, in comparison with it, are less than can be said. The greatness therefore of the might and sweetness of Jesus being poured into our hearts, which are very little and poor, absorbs them, and, making them fail from themselves, changes them into itself. We are then no longer like worldly men, nor even like ourselves; but we are like Jesus in will and word and holy lives.
c. The third likeness is taken from the strength of a branch of a tree. If a shoot of a good tree be grafted on the stem of a wild tree, the natural goodness of the shoot has such power that it changes the natural bitterness of the wild tree into its own sweetness and goodness, so that the wild stem brings forth good fruit like the fruit of the tree from which the shoot was taken. Thus the Body of Christ grafted into us takes away our failings, and draws us into its own goodness. Then as He puts forth leafy branches, flowers, and fruits of justice, it gives us strength by Him to do the same. Thus the Holy Ghost tells us of the marrow of the high cedar, and of its topmost bough, and how it was planted on a lofty mountain, and blossomed and brought forth fruit. In this, the high cedar is God the Father; the higher branches are the ancient Saints; the top of the banches is the Blessed Virgin; the marrow of the cedar is the Eternal Wisdom of God; and the tender twig taken from the top of the branches is the flesh taken from the Mother of God. The Holy Ghost therefore took the marrow from the cedar, and the twig from the topmost boughs, because He wrought the Incarnation of the Word. Further, He plants this most noble shoot on a high mountain, when He gives the Sacrament of the Body of Jesus to the faithful whom He has drawn from the desires of earth to the desires of Heaven. Here, then, is a great abundance of fruit. The faithful heart leaves the bitterness of its own faults and sins by the might of the Body of its Lord, and then, like Him, brings forth the leafy branches and flowers and fruits of the Spirit. Hence it was said to St. Augustin, ‘I am the food of the mighty.’ Thus Jesus draws us to Himself. He grafts us into His own Body that the root of bitterness may be in us no more. He draws us to God by the greatness of our love for Himself and by the greatness of His love for us. Then the might and sweetness of His goodness win the victory over sin by working in us. This is the true life, when, as St. Paul says, Christ lives in us, and we live by Him who died for us on the Cross.
The Voice of the Holy Ghost
(1) About the bad; a. Unbelievers; The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this Man give us His Flesh to eat? St. John 6:53.
He that believeth in the Son hath life everlasting; but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. St. John 3:36.
b. The careless; The kingdom of Heaven is likened to a king who made a marriage for his son; and he sent his servants to call them that were invited to the marriage; and they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, Tell them that were invited, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my beeves and fatlings are killed, and all things are ready; come ye to the marriage. But they neglected, and went their way, one to his farm, and another to his merchandise. St. Matt. 22:2–5.
For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom all fatherhood in Heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you by the riches of His glory to be strengthened by His Spirit with might unto the inward man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that you, being rooted and founded in charity, may be able to comprehend with all the Saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height; to know also the love of Christ, which passeth all knowledge, that you may be filled unto all the fulness of God. Eph. 3:14–19.
If any man is clean and was not on a journey, and did not make the Phase, that soul shall be cut off from among his people, because he offered not sacrifice to the Lord in due season; he shall bear his sin. Numb. 9:13.
c. The despisers; The posts went with letters by commandment of the king (Ezechias) and his princes to all Israel and Juda, proclaiming according to the king’s orders, Ye children of Israel, turn again to the Lord, the God of Abaham and of Isaac and of Israel; … yield yourselves to the Lord, and come to His sanctuary which He hath sanctified for ever; serve the Lord, the God of your fathers, and the wrath of His indignation shall be turned away from you.… So the posts went speedily from city to city, … while they laughed at them and mocked them.… Nevertheless, some men yielding to the counsel came to Jerusalem. 2 Paralip. 30:6, 8, 10, 11.
This is the judgment because the light is come into the world; and men loved darkness rather than light, for their works were evil. St. John 3:19.
I say to you, that none of those men that were invited shall taste of my supper. St. Luke 14:24.
(2) Great happiness of good communicants; a. The good choice; I commended mirth, because there was no good for man under the sun but to eat and drink and be merry. Eccles. 8:15.
b. Partakers of the Holy Ghost; He filled them with honey out of the rock. Ps. 80:17.
O, how good and sweet is Thy Spirit, O Lord, in all things. Wisd. 12:1.
c. Indwelling of Christ; He that eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blood abideth in Me and I in him. St. John 6:57.
Jesus answered and said to him, If any man love Me he will keep My word, and My Father will love him; and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him. St. John 14:23.
(3) Worthy receivers are themselves eaten; We being many are one bread, one body. 1 Cor. 10:17.
Now you are the Body of Christ and members of member. 1 Cor. 12:27.
a. Our love; Set me as a seal on Thy Heart, and as a seal on Thy arm; for love is strong as death. Cantic. 8:6.
b. Power of a greater thing; Great is our Lord, and great is His power; and of His wisdom there is no number. Ps. 146:5.
Behold Thou hast made my days as a handbreath, and my substance is as nothing before Thee: truly every man living is altogether vanity. Ps. 38:6.
Behold the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the smallest grain in a balance: behold the islands are as a little dust; and Libanus shall not be enough to burn, nor the beasts thereof enough for a burnt-offering. All nations are before Him as if they had no being at all, and are counted to Him as nothing and vanity. Is. 40:15–17.
My soul hath fainted after Thy salvation; and in Thy word I have hoped very much. Ps. 118:81.
c. The branch of a tree; Thus saith the Lord God, A large eagle with great wings, long-limbed, full of feathers and variety, came to Libanus, and took away the marrow of the cedar. He cropt off the top of the twigs thereof, and carried it away to the land of Chanaan; and set it in a city of merchants.… Thus saith the Lord God, I Myself will take of the marrow of the high cedar, and will set it. I will crop off a tender twig from the top of the branches thereof, and I will plant it on a mountain high and eminent. On the high mountains of Israel will I plant it; and it shall shoot forth into branches, and shall bear fruit, and shall become a great cedar; and all birds shall dwell under it, and every fowl shall make its nest under the shadow of its branches. Ezech. 17:3, 4, 22, 23.
Draw me; we will run after Thee to the fragrance of Thy ointments. The King hath brought me to His storerooms; we will be glad and rejoice in Thee. Cantic. 1:3.
I through the law am dead to the law, that I may live to God. With Christ I am nailed to the Cross; and I live, now not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life that I now live in the flesh I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Gal. 2:19, 20.
Prayer
My Jesus, Thou art in the clefts of the rock, where the peace and rest of Thy kingdom of love are never stirred by the wind or any storm. In Thy tenderness of pity Thou lookest on me, Thy little one, dwelling on the sand by the shore of the sea. Thou art wise, and Thy house cannot be shaken: but I am foolish, and my house is ever falling with a great fall. Round me, like a storm beating against a wall, are the blasts of the terrible ones. O my Jesus, my loved One, I come to Thee and find Thee in Thy Tabernacle. Thou givest me rest. Let me come to Thee as I ought to come, and let me be as dear to Thee as I can be, and as Thou, my God, willest me to be. Save me from all carelessness and from all forgetfulness of Thee. Save me from the guilt of ever counting Thy gifts a little thing. Save me always from the faintest shadow of unbelief. Let me find Thee more in Thy Holy Sacraments; and in them let me know more and more of Thy love. Let this Bread of Life be to me a foretaste of the Vision of Thyself; and let me see and know how this wine of God which I now drink in Communion is truly the new wine which I shall drink for ever with Thee in Thy Father’s kingdom.
Dear Jesus, coming to me now in Thy white raiment, give me more love for Thy Holy Spirit, and make Him far dearer to me and far more precious to me every day. Let me ever drink in His sweetness from Thy Body, for Thou art the living rock. In the might of a great sweetness let Him be ever in my soul. Thou lovest Him with a love infinite and uncreated. Thou lovest Him in a created way with all the strength of Thy Soul, hypostatically united to Thy Godhead, and sanctified by Him.
Thou Thyself, my Saviour, dost dwell in me. When I feed on Thy adorable Body and most Precious Blood Thou abidest in me and I abide in Thee. O my Jesus, keep me holy for Thyself: and let me be transfigured into a likeness of Thee. Make me, by grace, flesh of Thy flesh and bone of Thy bone; for Thou art the Spouse and Bridegroom of my soul. Make me faithful, that Thou mayest be mine for ever, and that I may be Thine for ever in the marriage-banquet of the kingdom of God, the most Holy Trinity.
My Jesus, set me as a seal on Thy arm, and make me strong for God; and set me as a seal on Thy Heart, and make me loving for God. Let Thy love go through my soul; for Thy Holy Spirit is the river that makes glad the city of the King.
Thou art the true Vine, my Jesus; let me ever be a living branch in Thee. Thy Father is the husbandman: give me more love for that Father whom Thou lovest with a love uncreated and infinite: whom Thou lovest also in a created way with all the strength of Thy Soul. I pray that Thou mayest ever gather in my garden flowers and fruits according to Thy will. Let my branches be ever fruitful branches in Thee.
Now Thou art coming to me from Thy Altar in the light of Thy eternal Sacrifice, as the food which stays the hunger of the soul. As Thou art the light of our spirits, so Thou art the food of our spirits. Come to me, Jesus, King and Priest; come to me, Jesus, my Brother and my God. Touch me with Thy hand, and let me lay hold of the hem of Thy healing raiment. Lighten my heart with coals of fire from Thy Altar. Then draw me, and I will follow Thee. By Thy help, in my weakness, I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest, O Thou sweet One, O Thou dear One, O Thou Lover of souls! Draw me by Thy sorrow and by Thy gladness of Heart, by Thy Passion and Cross, by the bitterness of Thy dereliction, by the sprinkling of Thy Blood, by Thy justice and Thy mercy, by Thy tenderness and Thy avenging wrath, by Thy truth and Thy pity and Thy love. Thou didst die for me, my risen Jesus; let me live in Thy life. Live in me, that I may live in Thee, and that by Thee I may give my body and soul to God. Let my life be ever hidden in God with Thee. My Jesus, with all my heart I ask Thee for Thyself.
My Jesus, whom can I desire but Thee? Thou art God, and hast life in Thyself. My Jesus, whom can I go to but to Thee? Thou art man, and hast the words of eternal life for me. Thou art the Way, and no man cometh to the Father but by Thee. Thou, Jesus, with Thy Father and Thy Spirit, art the God of my heart: Thou, Jesus, in the Blessed Sacrament, art the God who is my inheritance for ever. My Jesus, with all my heart I ask Thee for Thyself.
My Jesus, I love Thee for Thy own sake, and I seek Thee for Thy own great glory. Thou art now coming to me from Thy Altar. My Jesus, with all my heart I ask Thee for Thyself.