Sacraments and Holiness
One
Jesus gives his divine life to us through the sacraments.
Now the most basic skills of the saints are daily meditation, frequent reception of the Sacraments, living a well-ordered and balanced life, and having a spiritual director.
Yesterday we meditated on the journey of prayer – today – the sacraments.
The goal of life is transforming union with Jesus. This is not complicated. Jesus gives his divine life to us through the Sacraments, beginning with Baptism. Then He wants to nourish our soul daily by His life in the Eucharist and heal us when we harm ourselves by sin through Reconciliation.
Again, the goal of life is transforming union with Jesus. He is God. He is the infinite, perfect, and everlasting source of every good thing you could ever want. If you have Jesus, you have everything.
Jesus said, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; . . . he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and . . . abides in me, and I in him" (Jn 6:51, 54, 56).
Communion with the Body and Blood of Christ increases our union with Jesus, forgives our venial sins, and preserves us from grave sins.
And guess what? Jesus will give himself to you any day you want – all you have to do is go and receive at Mass. How could Jesus make it more easy?
Two
Assimilating the Grace of the Sacraments
Simply stated, the Church’s holiness comes from Jesus in the Eucharist. The Eucharist is what makes the saints holy. However, receiving the Eucharist alone is not enough. Judas received the Eucharist at the Last Supper and then denied Christ and despaired.
Let’s put it another way. There is an infinite amount of grace, an infinite amount of God’s life, in one Eucharist. That is way more than enough to make us saints. Since this is true, then why aren’t we? That is because there are two parts to the sacraments.
The CCC 1128 says, “From the moment that a sacrament is celebrated in accordance with the intention of the Church, the power of Christ and his Spirit acts in and through it.”
It doesn’t matter how holy or sinful the priest is, and it certainly doesn’t matter if you like him or not. The fact is, when he celebrates a sacrament according to what the Church intends, the sacraments become exactly what God planned. So the reason we are not saints is not because God has failed to give us the grace. The problem lies with us.
In that same paragraph, the CCC goes on to say, “Nevertheless, the fruits of the sacraments also depend on the disposition of the one who receives them.” Our transformation not only depends on the infinite grace of the sacraments; it also depends on our capacity to assimilate the grace and to cooperate with the grace. We may receive the Eucharist, but for some reason we are not absorbing the grace and we may not be cooperating with it.
Three
Just as it is possible to eat food and not digest the nutrients, we can receive the Eucharist and not assimilate the grace. Sin blocks us from absorbing the nourishment of the Eucharist.
So what would you do if you were suddenly losing too much weight because of an absorption problem and you were becoming weak and sick and maybe even dying? You certainly wouldn’t ignore it. Well, your soul is getting awfully skinny… That is why a daily examination of conscience and frequent reception of the sacrament of reconciliation is so important.
Our Mother Mary asked us to go to Confession once a month and the Catechism teaches (CCC 1458), “Without being strictly necessary, confession of everyday faults (venial sins) is nevertheless strongly recommended by the Church.” But what probably prevents us is that we are not doing a daily examination of conscience. If you’re clueless about your sin you won’t go to confession. It’s time to stop that nonsense!
Every day take a few minutes to do a brief examination of conscience. Look back over the last twenty-four hours, look back over your thoughts, words, and actions. Identify what you did, what was wrong, or when you failed to do what was right. Then ask, “why did I do that? What is the root cause: pride, vanity, envy, sloth, anger, greed, gluttony, lust?” Then make a simple concrete game plan to act differently today.
You could incorporate this into your daily resolution from your meditation. Then go to Confession at least once a month.
Mary asked us to go to Confession, Mass and Pray the Rosary on the first Saturday of five consecutive months. Jesus told Lucia to never stop. So make a daily examination of conscience first Saturdays a habit and you’re on your way.
Four
The Eucharist is the Sacred Heart of Jesus which is the Fountain of Living Water.
Jesus said, 'If any man is thirsty, let him come to me and drink; for out of my heart shall flow a fountain of living water.” But it is possible to come to the fountain, to receive the Eucharist and still not drink of the living water. How can this be? Because we don’t practice daily meditation.
Pope Benedict XVI said that prayer is the self-opening of the human spirit to God. (Jesus of Nazareth vol 2, p. 233)
By prayer we open our soul to drink in the Living Water, that is, God’s grace poured out in the sacraments. I cannot overemphasize this point: to receive the sacraments without a life of prayer is like coming to a well and not drinking.
Vocal prayer is a good start. By vocal prayer, we speak to God in our own words or the words of others like the Our Father and Hail Mary. But you can’t talk and drink at the same time. Just try it and see. You will choke and spit out whatever you are drinking.
That is why we need to move on in our prayer from talking to listening and reflecting, from vocal prayer to meditation.
Meditation opens the soul to drink in the Transforming Power of God’s grace that comes through the Sacraments.
We drink in the grace of the sacraments through Daily Meditation and a Resolution.
Five
Thanksgiving after Communion
One of the most powerful ways to drink in the life of Jesus in the Eucharist is Thanksgiving after Communion – to give Jesus your full undivided attention for fifteen minutes after you receive Him.
About Thanksgiving after Communion Teresa of Avila wrote, “Be with Him willingly; don't lose so good an occasion for conversing with Him as is the hour after having received Communion. (Reflect that this is a most advantageous hour for the soul, during which Jesus is very pleased if you keep Him company. Take great care…not to lose it.)…This, then, is a good time for our Master to teach us, and for us to listen to Him, kiss His feet because He wanted to teach us, and beg Him not to leave.
“But after having received the Lord, since you have the Person (of Jesus) Himself present, strive to close the eyes of the body and open those of the soul and look into your own heart. For I tell you, and tell you again, and would like to tell you many times that you should acquire the habit of doing this every time you receive Communion and strive to have such a conscience that you will be allowed to enjoy this blessing frequently. Though He comes disguised, (under the appearance of bread) the disguise does not prevent Him from being recognized in many ways, in conformity with the desire we have to see Him. And you can desire to see Him so much that He will reveal Himself to you entirely.”
Jesus is physically with us after communion for fifteen to thirty minutes, until the host is entirely dissolved. Give Him your undivided attention for this whole time. Speak to him from the heart, listen to him, and just be present to Him. He will do the rest.