Jesus, Mercy Incarnate

After a while, I saw the Child Jesus on the altar, joyfully and playfully holding out His hands [to the priest]. But a moment later, the priest took the beautiful Child into his hands, broke Him up and ate Him alive. Again, consider entry no. 347, from midnight Mass on Christmas eve: During the offertory, I saw Jesus on the altar, incom- parably beautiful. The whole time the infant kept look- ing at everyone, stretching out his little hands. During the elevation, the Child was not looking towards the chapel, but up to heaven. After the elevation, He looked at us again, but just for a short while, because He was broken up and eaten by the priest in the usual manner.... It is difficult for me to express the joy of my soul. Obviously, St. Faustina did not mean to say that she was witnessing acts of religious cannibalism! These visions are replete with symbolism, and she knew she was being shown something in a somewhat symbolic form. Still, at first glance, it is far from obvious what she was being taught here. The Holy Eucharist itself, of course, is an unfathomable mystery. We know from our Catholic Faith that Jesus Christ is truly present, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, in the miracle of the Mass. 16 The Church teaches us that the Mass is a re-making-present of the Sacrifice on Calvary, the Passion and Death of our Lord; it is a breaking down, in a sense, of the bar- riers of time, such that the People of God can truly come to the foot of the Cross at everyMass, and so that the merits and graces of that one perfect Sacrifice can be applied to our souls today. 17 In fact, the Mass makes present for us the whole Paschal Mystery — the Death andResurrection of our Lord—so that we can be intimately united also with His risen and glorified humanity whenever we receive Holy Communion. 18 This is a stupendous mystery that defies all rationalistic attempts fully to comprehend it. 31 Saint Faustina and Devotion to the Christ Child