How many of us sitting here have snoring problem? By the way, usually the one who snores does not know that he or she has the problem. For the one whose spouse snores, the sound can be annoying to the point of being unbearable. Can snoring sometimes be sweet music to our ears? I met a husband this week whose wife snores, and like most people, he said it drives him crazy because he can’t sleep. But for the past 5 months he hasn’t heard her snore. Normally, this would be good news to him; however, his wife has been in a coma for the past 5 months due to injuries incurred in an auto accident. Recently, as doctors tried to wean her off of the breathing machine, her husband heard her snore. When he heard her, he began to cry. He said, “Father, I would do anything to go back to the way it used to be before the accident. I know I loved her, but I wish I could have loved her even more, every moment that I was with her.” On Sundays, he attends mass by himself, unlike the old days. He said that he speaks to Jesus a lot more than he used to, and that his prayers are a lot more personal and earnest. One could say that from the time that his wife was unable to respond to him, that he began to engage in intimate conversation with God -- the Living God whom he receives during Communion. He said his faith is now sustaining him, especially through those tough days when it’s too much to bear.
This husband learned that the Eucharist is alive. It’s not an inanimate piece of bread, but a living, vibrant Divine presence who desires to converse and to listen to us. Mother Teresa who had a great devotion to Jesus in the Eucharist said, “If we have our Lord in the midst of us—with daily Mass and Holy Communion, I fear nothing for the sisters or myself. Jesus will look after us. But without him I cannot be—I am helpless.” For Mother Teresa, the Eucharist was a living sign of God’s love and care for her. I wonder if we have that kind of faith in the living presence of God in the Eucharist. Jesus was trying to help us understand this in the Gospel today. He used the word “living” over and over, to tell us that He and His Father are alive, not dead. He is the living bread, the living flesh, and the living blood that feeds us.
Jesus told St. Faustina of his sadness when those that receive Him in the Eucharist treat Him like a dead object. He said, “Oh how painful it is to Me that souls so seldom unite themselves to Me in Holy Communion. I wait for souls and they are indifferent toward Me. I love them tenderly and sincerely and they distrust Me. I want to lavish my graces on them and they do not want to accept them. They treat Me as a dead object whereas My heart is full of love and mercy.” (Diary of St. Faustina #1447) You can sense the great desire and yearning that Jesus has for us, like that husband who desired his unresponsive wife to respond to his great love for her.
Mother Teresa understood this yearning of God. She said, “Jesus wants me to tell you again, how much love He has for each one of you – beyond all you can imagine. I worry some of you still have not really met Jesus – one to one – you and Jesus alone...Be careful of all that can block that personal contact with the living Jesus. Devil may try to use the hurts of life, and sometimes our own mistakes – to make you feel it is impossible that Jesus really loves you, is really cleaving to you. This is danger for all of us. And so sad, because it is completely opposite of what Jesus is really wanting, waiting to tell you. Not only that He loves you, but even more – He longs for you. He misses you when you don’t come close. He thirsts for you. He loves you always, even when you don’t feel worthy. When not accepted by others, even by yourself sometimes – He is the one who always accepts you. You don’t have to be different for Jesus to love you. Only believe – You are precious to Him. Bring all you are suffering to His feet – only open your heart to be loved by Him as you are. He will do the rest.”
As I stood by the wife’s bedside, the husband took great care to stroke her face and hair as he spoke to her as if she was carrying on a lively conversation with him. He knew that she heard him and that she loved him. Over the past 5 months, though, he learned to converse with another person--the Living God--something that he now does naturally. We each need that kind of intimate relationship with our Living God, and that relationship begins right here at this Eucharist.
