Each Holy Communion ought to bear fruit in concrete changes in our life, such that we resemble the risen Lord with His glorious wounds. If we touch the Lord with faith as did the woman, we never remain the same after receiving Him.
By Fr. Thaddaeus Lancton, MIC
A gaze of the heart. Examining the depth of one’s heart.
There is no one way to translate the Latin title Inspectio Cordis, given to the collection of meditations for Sundays by the Founder of the Marians, St. Stanislaus Papczyński (1631-1701).
These meditations, published weekly on Fridays in preparation for the Sunday Mass, follow the style and purpose of our holy Father Founder. While his original text is worth reading, his examples and style can feel outdated to the modern reader. As his spiritual son, I will attempt my best to imitate his style and imitate his ministry of preaching to hearts.
The goal is to allow Jesus to gaze into your heart and teach you self-examination, leading you to a more fruitful reception of Holy Communion, where there is a true encounter of our hearts with His Sacred Heart – especially fitting during this period of National Eucharistic Revival.
Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle B
June 30, 2024
Before Holy Communion
1. “For God formed man to be imperishable.”
The current situation in our world is not as God originally designed it to be. That statement may seem obvious, but it is important to keep in mind. “God did not make death” reminds us that He intended us to be “imperishable” – incorruptible and immortal. He desires and breathes forth life to us; He did not intend the gruesome death we experience that results in our body being reduced to dust.
We come to Him at Mass to petition Him to restore us to His plan, to make us again incorruptible and immortal. St. Irenaeus of Lyons called the Eucharist the “medicine of immortality,” for Jesus risen body heals the corruptibility of our fallen body. Each Holy Communion is a foretaste of our bodily resurrection, an assurance that like Jesus, we too will be imperishable.
What emotions do you feel as you think about death? How do you experience Holy Communion as a “medicine of immortality” that conquers death?
2. “By his poverty you might become rich.”
The Lord willingly embraced our terrible situation of decay that leads to death. By his ultimate poverty – death by crucifixion – He has made us rich, filling us with incorruptible and divine life. Even more, He assumes the poverty of bread and wine to be present to us in the Eucharist. But St. Paul reminds us of His “gracious act” so that you may “excel in this gracious act also.” We are called to embrace the poverty of others by sharing with them the riches of our life, whether that be monetary riches, or our talents, or our time.
We imitate Jesus by supplying the needs of others as He has provided abundantly for us. The Eucharist – the sacrament of Christ’s love for us – enjoins upon us care for the poor who need our love for them.
How do you supply for the needs of the poor? How can you “excel in this gracious act” of being poor to make others rich?
3. “Do not be afraid; just have faith.”
I can imagine Jairus’ frustration. After his first urgent plea for Jesus to come immediately, Jesus halts and spends time with the woman with the hemorrhage. By the time He arrives, the daughter is already dead. How often we, too, feel that Jesus is “too late” or occupied with other persons or situations to tend to our own. Yet even His seeming delay is purposeful, to test our faith. It is normal to feel fear, but Jesus desires that we focus our attention upon faith in Him, knowing that when He does come in Holy Communion, faith enables His power to be unleashed in our lives.
Faith recognizes that there is no obstacle too large for Jesus; the greater the obstacle and the fear, the greater the faith to which He calls us, for He is Lord even over death itself.
What things cause you fear? Where do you feel the Lord has delayed in responding? Where do you struggle to “just have faith” in your life?
After Holy Communion
1. “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.”
We do not touch His clothes, but through Holy Communion, we touch His Body. Yet, like the anonymous persons of the crowd, we may bump into His Sacred Body. We receive Holy Communion but without living faith or awareness of our need to be healed and saved by Him.
Saint Thomas Aquinas thus makes this petition in his prayer: “Grant, I beg of You, that I may receive not only the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Lord, but also its full grace and power.” He desires to touch the Lord with faith that saves, as did the woman, and so experience the “full grace and power” that flows from Communion. Moreover, throughout our week, we may encounter Him with others, unaware of His presence. We run into Him but do not recognize or touch Him with love. We need such living faith to slow down and deliberately touch Him and so enter relationship with Him through heart-to-heart sharing.
What do you need Jesus to heal and save through Holy Communion? How can you approach Him with living faith? Where do you run into Him during the week?
2. “Who touched me?”
Jesus felt the difference of the woman’s touch, even amid the jostling crowd. Yet, His question is for her sake, so that she would come to Him. She had been healed physically, but only a face-to-face dialogue could bring her salvation. Jesus also desires the same for us. We have many needs that He can fulfill; but our deepest thirst is for communion with Him.
Similarly, we may receive the gift of Holy Communion, but the fullness of our healing comes as we remain with Jesus and abide in His love. As we deepen our relationship with Him – beginning at Mass and extending throughout the week – we experience the fullness of His grace and power at work in us. As the woman’s encounter with the Lord was not complete until she held her personal dialogue with Him, so our Holy Communion is not complete until we remain with the Lord to give Him thanks and deepen our friendship with Him.
How does Holy Communion deepen your friendship with Jesus? How can you abide in His love and remain in relationship with Him throughout the week?
3. “Talitha koum."
Jesus’ miracle of raising the young girl foreshadows His Resurrection. The Greek word – arise – is the same word used to describe being raised from the dead. We may not experience such a dramatic miracle in Holy Communion, but the risen Jesus comes to us to tell us to arise. Jesus commands us to arise from sin, death, and darkness, to rise to new life through communion with Him. That, too, is a miracle, which Jesus desires to perform at each Mass in us.
There are often young, tender parts of our hearts that are wounded or (metaphorically) have died. He calls those parts of us to live with Him. Each Holy Communion ought to bear fruit in concrete changes in our life, such that we resemble the risen Lord with His glorious wounds. If we touch the Lord with faith as did the woman, we never remain the same after receiving Him.
Where do you need the Lord to raise you to new life with Him? What young or tender parts of your heart do you need to be healed and saved? How does Holy Communion bear fruit in changing your life during the week?
Next week: Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 7.
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