Last night while praying the rosary during my holy hour, it occurred
to me that the each of the Joyful Mysteries can be meditated on in light of
Blessed Sacrament.
The first decade of course is the Annunciation which is when
the Angel Gabriel came to Mary and Jesus was conceived. It struck me that just
as God physically entered into Mary in a very real way and she then carried him
inside of her, we also have a similar experience when we receive the Eucharist.
God physically takes up residence inside of us and becomes one with us in an extremely
intimate way. Similar to Mary, partaking of the Bread of Life makes us living
tabernacles and is a mystery we can’t fully understand but that changes our
very being.
The second decade is the Visitation in which Mary travels to
and spends time with her relative Elizabeth who is also pregnant. The correlation
to the Eucharist here is that once we have received our Lord in the Blessed
Sacrament, we must be moved to take Him to others and serve each other. Mary
could have just stayed put and done her own thing in preparing for Jesus’ birth,
but she saw that her cousin was in need
and so she gave up her time and made the long journey to be with her all while
dealing with the uncertainties in her own life. A former parish priest I knew
growing up, always would talk about how the Eucharist needs to transform us and
changes us as we leave the doors of the church so that we can help build up the
Kingdom of God in this life.
The third decade is Nativity in which Jesus was born. The
Eucharistic connection here is the hidden Messiah. As I knelt in the Adoration Chapel
before the Bread of Life, it hit me that it takes eyes of Faith to see past
appearance of bread and grasp the reality of who is present in that little
white host. This isn’t so different then the faith needed by the shepherds and
wise men who came and worshiped the Baby King in the manger. Who could fathom
that God would come to earth in a dirty stable and take on the form of a
helpless infant born into poverty. Would we have recognized who this child is
if we had been present there? And do we recognize Christ present to us today
hidden in the Eucharist?
The fourth decade is the Presentation in which Joseph and
Mary presented the Baby Jesus in the temple and offed a sacrifice according to
the law. The Eucharist Meal we participate in at every Mass is truly a sacrificial
meal. At the beginning of the Liturgy of
the Eucharist, the priest says, ”Pray, brethren, that my sacrifice and yours
may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father.” Of course this is referencing
the bread and wine that will become the Most Precious Body and Blood of Jesus,
but I always think of it as broader then just this. We are offering our very
selves…everything we have. At the presentation of our Lord, Joseph and Mary
offered two turtle doves as that is all they could afford. Now God takes our seemingly
insignificant gift and transforms it
into something amazing. And similar to the old man Simeon who took the Baby Jesus
in his arms in the temple and rejoiced, we too should be filled with joy at the
reality of receiving our Lord and Savior in our own hands at Communion.
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