On the Fourth Sunday in Advent I was at Mass in the rather
beautiful village church of Milhars, a cut above most others in the region,
perhaps because of the proximity of the large ancient château perched above it.
And in the silence following the Communion it occurred to me that each
Eucharist repeats the entire story of the Gospel.
At the moment of Consecration, the Incarnation repeats
itself. Our Lord and heavenly father, the almighty and everlasting God, again
sends his Son to take matter upon himself, et
homo factus est in the Body and Blood on the altar.
At the moment of Communion, his preaching life, his healing life, and his
crucifixion are compressed into a brief but extraordinarily intense moment: at
one and the same time we understand his action, we are healed by his touch, and we crush him in the Host.
And in our subsequent renewal, in our fresh energy of
loving, his Resurrection is repeated: our inward life shines with an Easter
glory.
This thought is, I am sure, present in the work of mystics
and Church Fathers; but in this case it was given to me in a few minutes of
quiet, awaiting the Solemn Benediction in a French village church. What a
Christmas gift!
No comments:
Post a Comment