Ask It From the Eucharist | Contemplata Ep 55 | Fr. James Brent, O.P.

Learn about the divine graces that flow from the Eucharist in Episode 55 of Contemplata, Ask it From the Eucharist. What should we learn from this sacrament, and how should we use it to practice the beatitudes?

Join Fr. James Brent, O.P., as he explains how God wants us to receive graces upon graces from the Holy Eucharist.
 
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Transcript

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This is why he instituted the Eucharist in the world and in our church to give us grace upon grace. Brothers and sisters, welcome back to Contemplata, a podcast for contemplative souls. I would like to speak with you today about a practice well known among the saints, but less known to people today. The saints believed strongly that the Eucharist is the real presence of Jesus Christ. The Eucharist is the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ Himself. Jesus is the good physician and the friend of sinners. When you and I approach the Eucharist, when we go forward to receive Holy Communion, you and I are free to ask for any good thing in the spiritual life, every gift, every grace, every blessing, everything we need to live our Christian life and to live the spiritual life and grow in grace. Well, we can ask for it from the Lord through the Eucharist. We can ask Him to give us graces in and through this great sacrament. So, is it faith that you need? Do you need to grow in your faith? Ask for it from the Eucharist. Or perhaps you're feeling discouraged and dispirited and your hope is flagging. Yes, we need to meditate on the help of the Lord and how his help is always there for us, but ask the Lord to give you an increase of hope through the Eucharist. Or perhaps your love is growing lukewarm. You need an increase of charity in your heart. That's something we can definitely ask the Lord to give us through the Eucharist. The whole purpose of the sacrament is to enkindle within our hearts the fire of divine love. Is it an increase of prudence that you need? Perhaps there's a difficult situation in your life and you need clarity and you need to make a decision in wisdom. Ask the Lord Jesus to give you lights and insights and clarity through the Eucharist. Perhaps there are relationships in your life that are difficult and you're seeking a happy and just and peaceful, harmonious resolution to these difficulties and conflicts. Ask the Lord to give you this grace through the Eucharist. Or perhaps you've been overcome by fear and anxiety. Ask the Lord to increase your courage, but ask him to do it through the Eucharist. Are you finding it difficult to moderate your behavior regarding the pleasures of this world? Is temperance a challenge for you? Ask the Lord to give you new temperance, an increase of temperance through the Eucharist. It pleases the Lord to give us these graces, but it pleases him the most to give them to us through the Eucharist. This is why when we go forward to receive Holy Communion, we should go forward with confidence and expectation that the Lord will give us these graces through the Eucharist. But it is very important for us to ask Him to give it to us through the Eucharist. Is it anything in the spiritual life that you need? Do you want to grow in the gifts of the Holy Spirit? The Eucharist will give you the grace to grow in the Spirit's gifts of understanding, knowledge, wisdom, counsel, and all the other gifts. All we need to do is ask the Lord to give us these things through the Eucharist. Or perhaps you want to practice the Beatitudes more than you do now. Which of them do you need the most to work on? Which of them do you need the most to grow in? Is it poverty of spirit? Is it meekness? Is it purity of heart? Whatever it may be, if you ask the Lord Jesus to give you these things through the Eucharist, to give you the graces to practice the Beatitudes, the Lord will do it. It pleases him to do so. This is why he instituted the Eucharist in the world and in our church, to give us grace upon grace. So when we go forward to Holy Communion, asking him to give us all these graces and to give us specific graces and the ones we need the most, it pleases the Lord. It honors the Lord. It is an acknowledgement on our part that the Lord is there, He's with us, He's good, He gives graces and good things, and He wants to fill our souls anew with an abundance of graces, but He does it through the Eucharist. Don't we acknowledge this truth every time we go to Eucharistic adoration? During the benediction we say of the Eucharist, it contains every blessing. If we really believe that, when we go forward to Holy Communion, well, we would ask for every blessing. Why not? The saints did it. It worked for them. It will work for you. Thank you for listening to this episode of Contemplata. Be sure to like and subscribe and share with your friends wherever you listen to podcasts.