The Divine Lamp

“1. The sacrament of charity (1), the Holy Eucharist is the gift that Jesus Christ makes of himself, thus revealing to us God’s infinite love for every man and woman. This wondrous sacrament makes manifest that “greater” love which led him to “lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13). Jesus did indeed love them “to the end” (Jn 13:1). In those words the Evangelist introduces Christ’s act of immense humility: before dying for us on the Cross, he tied a towel around himself and washed the feet of his disciples. In the same way, Jesus continues, in the sacrament of the Eucharist, to love us “to the end,” even to offering us his body and his blood. What amazement must the Apostles have felt in witnessing what the Lord did and said during that Supper! What wonder must the eucharistic mystery also awaken in our own hearts!”

These words open the encyclical and place its contents under the love of God towards man, shown in what Christ Jesus has done for humanity. Love is the motivating factor behind God’s salvific will towards man: For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him might not perish but have eternal life (Jn 3:16).

This will of the Father which our Blessed Lord came to accomplish with a zeal he said “eats him up” (Katesthio, See Jn 2:17), it is the “work” which the father has given him to do and the “food” which sustains him: “My food is to do the work of him who sent me, and to accomplish his will” (Jn 4:34). This is the food which our Lord gives us and which can only rightly be consumed in faith: Labor not for the food that perishes but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give…this is the work (labor) of God, that you believe in the one whom he has sent…Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life…this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that you may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (see Jn 6:27-51) I’ve never seen an explicit connection drawn between the food Jesus has to eat and the food he gives us to eat. Does it not stand to reason that the food the Father has given him to eat (i.e. the accomplishment of the Father’s salvific will) is the food he now shares with us (the salvific will of the Father now accomplished in his flesh by his passion, death, resurrection, and glorification)?

The connection between the Eucharist and charity (love) has a very long history. Consider some of the statements by St Ignatius of Antioch:

“Therefore, arming yourselves with gentleness, renew yourselves in faith, which is the Flesh of the Lord, and in charity, which is the Blood of Jesus Christ. Hold nothing against your neighbor” (Epistle to the T rallians, 8).

In his Epistle to the Romans-or so it seems to me- he is talking about accomplishing the Father’s will in his regard by dying a martyrs death. He speaks of these things in a passage loaded with Eucharistic overtones and references to love:

4. I am writing to all the Churches and state emphatically to all that I
die willingly for God, provided you do not interfere. I beg you, do not
show me unseasonable kindness. Suffer me to be the food of wild beasts,
which are the means of my making my way to God. God's wheat I am, and by
the teeth of wild beasts I am to be ground that I may prove Christ's pure
bread. Better still, coax the wild beasts to become my tomb and to leave no
part of my person behind: once I have fallen asleep, I do not wish to be a
burden to anyone. Then only shall I be a genuine disciple of Jesus Christ
when the world will not see even my body. Petition Christ in my behalf that
through these instruments I may prove God's sacrifice. Not like Peter and
Paul do I issue any orders to you. They were Apostles, I am a convict; they
were free, I am until this moment a slave. But once I have suffered, I
shall become a freedman of Jesus Christ, and, united with Him, I shall rise
a free man. Just now I learn, being in chains, to desire nothing.

5. All the way from Syria to Rome I am fighting wild beasts, on land and
sea, by day and night, chained as I am to ten leopards, that is, a
detachment of soldiers, who prove themselves the more malevolent for
kindnesses shown them. Yet in the school of this abuse I am more and more
trained in discipleship, although I am not therefore justified. Oh, may the
beasts prepared for me be my joy! And I pray that they may be found to be
ready for me. I will even coax them to make short work of me, not as has
happened to some whom they were too timid to touch. And should they be
unwilling to attack me who am willing, I will myself compel them. Pardon
me--I know very well where my advantage lies. At last I am well on the way
to being a disciple. May nothing seen or unseen, fascinate me, so that I
may happily make my way to Jesus Christ! Fire, cross, struggles with wild
beasts, wrenching of bones, mangling of limbs, crunching of the whole body,
cruel tortures inflicted by the devil--let them come upon me, provided only
I make my way to Jesus Christ.

6. Of no use to me will be the farthest reaches of the universe or the
kingdoms of this world. I would rather die  and come to Jesus Christ than
be king over the entire earth. Him I seek who died for us; Him I love who
rose again because of us. The birth pangs are upon me. Forgive me,
brethren; do not obstruct my coming to life--do not wish me to die; do not
make a gift to the world of one who wants to be God's. Beware of seducing
me with matter; suffer me to receive pure light. Once arrived there, I
shall be a man. Permit me to be an imitator of my suffering God. If anyone
holds Him in his heart, let him understand what I am aspiring to; and then
let him sympathize with me, knowing in what distress I am.

7. The Prince of this world is resolved to abduct me, and to corrupt my
Godward aspirations. Let none of you, therefore, who will then be present,
assist him. Rather, side with me, that is, with God. Do not have Jesus
Christ on your lips, and the world in your hearts. Give envy no place among
you. And should I upon my arrival plead for your intervention, do not
listen to me. Rather, give heed to what I write to you. I am writing while
still alive, but my yearning is for death. My Love has been crucified, and
I am not on fire with the love of earthly things. But there is in me a
Living Water, which is eloquent and within me says: "Come to the Father." I
have no taste for corruptible food or for the delights of this life. Bread
of God is what I desire; that is, the Flesh of Jesus Christ, who was of the
seed of David; and for my drink I desire His Blood, that is, incorruptible
love.

8. No longer do I wish to live after the manner of men; and this is what
will happen if you wish it so. Wish it, that your own wishes, too, may be
fulfilled. By this short letter I beseech you: do believe me! Jesus Christ
will make it clear to you that I speak the truth--He on whose lips there
are no lies, through whom the Father has spoken truthfully. Pray for me
that I may succeed. What I write to you does not please the appetites of
the flesh, but it pleases the mind of God. If I suffer, you have loved me;
if I am rejected, you have hated me!

Posted by Dim Bulb

Trackback URI | Comments RSS