The Most Holy Eucharist

This past week has had more than one "intellectual" lacking moral integrity vowing to desecrate a consecrated host. There must be a terrible hollowness in them that eats away at their individual souls. Somewhere in that aching abyss called "self"exists a tormented and twisted psyche which longs to silence the cries of longing for his maker. Their desire to strike out at another's beliefs that do them no harm is a placard they wear for any thinking person to see written upon it the words, "My insecurity causes me to be offensive to others in order to mask my own fear." It is pitiable situation. Truly.

From the other side of this moral chasm, pity isn't generally the first reaction of a faithful Catholic when they hear that someone has "kidnapped" our Eucharistic Lord. Dismay was mine when I heard of the incident in Florida. Disgust coupled with a sneer upon my face was how I greeted news of a biology professor's plea for consecrated hosts so that he might film himself desecrating them for the edification of his Internet audience. I've consciously avoided thinking much of these incidents. Yes, I've prayed about it all, but not too deeply for to so do is to mediate upon man's continual crucifixion of Jesus.

Yeah, I just went there...

If you're not Catholic, please don't take that sentence to be "proof" that Catholics think that somehow Christ is still on the cross. I have a neighbor who insists that is why our crucifix bears the corpus of Christ on the cross - but I digress. What I'm saying when I make note of "man's continual crucifixion of Jesus" is that we just don't get, even a little bit, what God did for us by becoming man to save us from our sins. By dying for our sins, He wasn't instituting a free for all against Him that calls for us being painfully cold-hearted or sacrilegious toward Him. He taught us by word and deed how we are to live our lives. Yet we live as if we've never heard of Him or His ways. To ruminate upon that can be painful. It seem that to whatever degree we all do that; therefore, when I my thoughts start winding down that cold pathway, I usually use that as impetuous to pray for the grace to grow in faith. By faith we draw close to Love, out of love do we share God with others.

Well, I'm going to get off my soap box. I'm no theologian, so it isn't much of a soapbox anyway.

The reason I started this post was just to share a picture taken right after Mass this weekend of the sacred vessels on a table near our church's tabernacle. I offer it as a much greater (and more pleasant) starting point for meditation, if you will. Yes, right now when I think of the Eucharist, the sacrilegious dolts may come to mind, but their ugly foolishness can't even cast a shadow upon the beauty of God become man truly present in the Most Holy Eucharist.