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The Lord invites everyone to reflect on what happens in church, where we enter into the presence of the Saints and Angels, gathered about Christ Who is Really Present in the tabernacle. The Father looks down upon the sanctuary where we shall offer the One Holy Sacrifice of His Son; and we should ask ourselves: "Am I worthy to be present?"
It is a terrible thing, in Christ's sight, that some parents encourage their children to sin. They do this if they give their daughters contraceptive pills, or allow them to sleep with boyfriends in their house, or fail to teach the truth about Mass attendance, and the Real Presence of Jesus, and other truths of the Faith.
Christ was betrayed and left alone with His enemies because people were afraid - or did not believe in Him. Today, He sees many Catholics betray Him when they dispute or ignore His Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament, or other teachings of the Church, and when they criticize priests and lay-persons who speak the truth about sin and virtue.
Our Blessed Lady and Saint John were with Christ in His Passion not only to comfort Him by their presence. It was part of the Father's plan that they should be witnesses to Christ's last hours in order to share with all who love Him the last words He uttered, and the complete 'picture' of His dying and death.
Christ is Really Present in our church. He delights in our visits. When I was on retreat at Douai Abbey, Christ spoke to me, on Good Friday, about His delight that I had kept Him company in His Passion. He was even more pleased that I had offered my whole adult life to Him, for the doing of His Will; and so He gave me reassurance and comfort.
Some Catholics ignore Christ; others look bored in His Presence; many take no notice of the teachings He gives through His Church. They scarcely believe that He is a real person - a Divine Person - Who is pleased to be shown love as well as to give it.
In every age of Christian history, Christ makes Himself Present, under sacred signs, in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Christ prays for us, from our altar. He praises the Father, with praise worthy of Him: praise that we can offer as our own.
The living God is a 'Holy Fire', blazing with love in our sanctuary, it seems, as we gather to offer Him honour and praise in His house of prayer, through the Holy Mysteries. Christ is Present; with His Angels and Saints, enfolded in the glory of the Father: glory into which we hope to plunge at death, having been purified in the Sacred Liturgy. Our reverent attention should be drawn towards God, for Whose glory this Church was built.
When we die, and enter God's presence - if we have not immediately hurled ourselves away from the God we hate, into Hell - we shall hear Him say to us, gently: "What have you done with your life, my child?" How happy we shall be if we have loved and served Him and our neighbour; but how sad, if we had been solely in search of pleasure, or preoccupied by trivia.
A person who arrives in God's presence, at death, with all sins forgiven, has died a happy death. She stands before God, clothed in a bright wedding garment. The doors to the various areas of her past life are all shut and bolted, because the sins within have been forgiven and carried away. She has nothing to hide, nor to be ashamed of, by God's grace.
To arrive in God's presence, at death, without having given up one's sins, is like appearing in filthy garments, with muddy footprints, and with doors open wide into the areas of one's life which are full of sins, foolish thoughts and other clutter, not yet cleared away. It is to be deeply ashamed, and not fit for Heaven.
When I prayed, on the coach to London, Christ said: "Picture me on the coach with you". This would be a representation of the truth, since He is everywhere as our God, and He is with me, in my soul, since my Baptism; and He wanted this knowledge to make me joyful, now and always.
To arrive in God's presence, at death, without being clothed in the life of grace, is like arriving on earth at a wedding, in a naked state, having to endure the embarrassment, and the embarrassed gaze of fellow-guests. We need to prepare our 'wedding garment' for Heaven, by our holiness of life and love for Christ.
Some mothers are ashamed of their abortions, but many try to justify the act. Yet it is as though mothers throw away their babies, in God's presence, saying to Him: "I don't want your gift". It is a dreadful thing, in the sight of our Creator, to see these little lives snuffed out in that barbaric manner.
It is a tragedy when people die suddenly, especially if they are unprepared or trapped in mortal sin. Each is catapulted into the presence of the Creator, and is carried towards Heaven, if in a state of grace, possessed by the Holy Spirit, or else falls into Hell. We should all give up our sins, and love God, and show love for Him and our neighbour.
Christ is One God with the Father and the Holy Spirit: always joyful. What can possibly give Him joy? He is joyful when we believe what He has said; and He said, of the Holy Eucharist: "This is My Body", and "This is My Blood". He wants everyone to believe in His Real Presence, and to celebrate Corpus Christi.
Just as a consecrated Host, which seems so insignificant, is in fact the Presence of Christ the Saviour, so a tiny embryo, which seems so insignificant, is already a living person who will grow into adult life.
The Sacred Host is Christ Himself, made Present in a sacramental form, under the appearance of bread. This Host can be seen as a lens, through which we can see Heaven, because, in this Blessed Sacrament is all the life of the Godhead! Christ is merciful in coming to us in this way; we are too weak, at present, to bear the sight of His Divinity.
The Lord asks Catholics who doubt His Presence in the Blessed Sacrament: Ff Christ could become man, through the Virgin Mary, and allow Himself to die and be buried, and yet visit Abraham and the Prophets in the underworld, then ascend to Heaven to live there in glory, can He not come down to earth again, by the same power, as the Holy Spirit makes Him Present on the altar, as the bread and wine are changed into Christ's Body and Blood, and His friends prepare to receive Him?
If we believe that God became man in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as a tiny baby whose nature was both human and Divine, it is surely not difficult to believe that, by the same power of the Holy Spirit, Christ is once again made Present on earth, though in a different manner, in the Mass.
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