This morning at Mass our priest seemed troubled. During his homily he shared with us that someone had found pieces of the Consecrated Host(s) in the Church the day before. Father mentioned that an incident like this occurring in his church frightened him, He proceeded to explain that Consecrated Hosts are used at black masses where Satan is worshiped.
He cautioned us to be vigilant and to report back if we caught anyone defiling the Holy Eucharist.
The incident has stayed on my mind all day. It has troubled me more than I thought it would even considering the gravity of the sacrilege. It troubles me because almost all the same people attend the same morning Mass. Did one of them receive Holy Communion for nefarious purposes? I started to wonder who could have done such an apparently evil act? I tried to think of a more innocent reason the Consecrated Host could have been on the ground...maybe a child did it accidentally?
No matter the circumstances, there is no logical reason that the Consecrated Host should be on the floor of the Church. Those pieces of Consecrated Host (and I assume by what Father told us that they were in fact consecrated), is the living flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ! Do we all really believe in the Real Presence?
- Think of the baby John the Baptist, while still in his mother's womb, recognized the living Son of God, and leaped in his mother womb, as Mary approached Elizabeth;
- Think of twelve year old Saint Tarcisius who on his way to bring Holy Communion to imprisoned Christians, was surrounded by a mob of boys curious to see what the Christian "Mysteries" were that he was carrying, brutally attacked him and left him for dead. Yet, he was able to protect the Holy Eucharist from any defilement or desecration.
- Think of the little Chinese girl who returned to the desecrated Church night after night to consume the Consecrated Hosts that had been savagely thrown on the ground by the Communists. She continued to do so until she was caught and killed.
If these young children understand and believe in the Real Presence, why don't we all?
Or, did in fact the individual who committed this vile act, believe in the Real Presence yet took it for an evil agenda? That is the thought that is most troubling.
Let this be a lesson to for all of us who take the Sacrifice of the Mass for granted; who receive Holy Communion like it was just another ordinary thing.
I am not sharing this incident here because I want to start a debate about receiving Holy Communion on the tongue versus the hand. If we truly understood what the real presence was, no matter how we received Holy Communion, we would receive it in the most reverent way we possibly could.
Please join me in praying the following Act of Reparation for similar incidents that must be occurring in other parts.
Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
O Jesus, divine Savior, deign to cast a look of mercy upon Your children, who assemble in the same spirit of faith, reparation, and love, and come to deplore their own infidelities, and those of all poor sinners, their brethren.
May we touch Your divine Heart by the unanimous and solemn promises we are about to make and obtain mercy for ourselves, for the world, and for all who are so unhappy as not to love You. We all promise that for the future:
For the forgetfulness and ingratitude of men, *(We will console you O Lord)
For the way You are deserted in Your holy tabernacle,
For the crimes of sinners,
For the hatred of the impious,
For the blasphemies uttered against You,
For the sacrileges that profane Your Sacrament of Love,For the outrages against Your divinity,
For the injuries of which You are the adorable Victim,
For the coldness of the greater part of your children,
For the contempt of your loving invitation,
For the infidelity of those who called themselves Your friends,
For the abuse of Your grace,
For our own unfaithfulness,
For the incomprehensible hardness of our hearts,
For our long delay in loving You,
For our tepidity in Your holy service,
For Your bitter sadness at the loss of souls,
For Your long waiting at the door of our hearts,
For the heartless scorn that grieves You,
For Your loving sighs,
For Your loving tears,
For Your loving imprisonment,
For Your loving death,
* We will console you, 0 Lord
Let us pray
0 Jesus! divine Savior, from whose Heart comes forth this bitter complaint, "
I looked for one that would comfort me, and I found none," graciously accept the feeble consolation we offer You, and aid us so powerfully by your grace, that we may, for the time to come, shun more and more all that can displease You, and prove ourselves in everything, and everywhere, and forever Your most faithful and devoted servants. We ask it through Your Sacred Heart, O Lord, who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit one God, world without end. Amen.
Prayer Source