within our hearts. Jesus, whom we receive today in Holy Communion, deserves a firm throne of trust where He reveals His strength to save us. What worries or anxieties occupy your heart? How can you maintain your heart firm in trust as a throne for Jesus? After Holy Communion 1. “Behold, he is coming amid the clouds...” 1. We can sometimes become preoccupied with deciphering the time of His final coming. We know neither the day nor the hour, even if we are to discern the seasons and His nearness. Through each Mass, the Lord Jesus comes, not on the clouds of heaven, but in the appearance of bread and wine. The same Lord who will return in glorious majesty is the one who today comes in humility, hidden except to the eyes of faith. The more we see our glorious King hidden in the Host of Holy Communion, the more prepared we will be to encounter Him joyfully in His final coming. But already now, He makes us “a kingdom, priests for his God and Father.” We are to offer the Father worship by giving our lives as spiritual sacrifices (1 Pt 2:5; Rom 12:1) with Christ in the Eucharist. This also entails giving alms and interceding for the world, so that all may come to believe in Christ who is coming both in sacrament and at the end of time. We are to evangelize, so that others, too, may come to meet Him in Holy Communion. What do you glimpse through faith when you gaze upon the Host? What does it mean for you to be a “kingdom of priests” in daily life? 2. “Then you are a king?” Pilate has asked the Lord twice about His identity, given that the Jews handed Him over for capital punishment. However, the Lord answers Pilate in a strange manner, neither confirming nor denying His kingship. He is no rival to the emperor Caesar, and yet He is truly King. His kingship, however, is exercised as Son, who obeys His Father even unto death upon the Cross. In doing so, He testifies “to the truth” that God – His Father and our Father – is love. His royal power is manifested not by violence, nor by strength, but by self-giving love that is more powerful than all the forces of evil present in the world. Through Baptism, we share in His kingship and are called to “conquer evil with good” (Rom 12:21) by giving of ourselves in love in response to evil. Holy Communion fills our hearts with His love, so that we are filled with infinitely more love than the evil we encounter in the world. What does it mean to your heart that Christ is King? How can you conquer evil with good – with His love – during this week? 3. “I am the Alpha and the Omega.” Although we easily pronounce the word “God” and “Lord,” it is difficult for our minds and hearts to fully comprehend the significance of these words. “I am the Alpha and the Omega” reminds us that He is the beginning and the end. He is eternal, beyond our comprehension. Although the Lord Jesus, through the Incarnation, has become fully human, He also remains fully divine. His greatness is not a threat for our littleness, but the assurance of our confidence, that He is for us. The proper response – on our part – is that of awe and wonder, expressed above all in Eucharistic adoration and in prayerful thanksgiving after the reception of Holy Communion. The infinite, eternal God has lowered Himself from His eternal throne to enter our hearts, there to dwell as King. Our eternity will be spent in this amazement over Who He is, glorifying and praising Him. But this begins now in each Mass, which is a foretaste of our heavenly homeland. What does your heart feel when you say the word “God” and “Lord”? How do you foster adoration in awe and wonder before His greatness hidden in Holy Communion? How can you begin to do now what you will be doing in heaven? By Fr. Thaddaeus Lancton, MIC Author Stepping on the Serpent: A Journey of Trust with Mary Shining in Spotless Splendor: Consecration to the Immaculate Conception
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