The Real Presence
Divine Intimacy #201
Encountering our Lord in Holy Communion is receiving the food I need to nourish and strengthen my soul. Seeing Jesus, the Real Presence in the Monstrance, is the same yet different. He, this Son of God and Son of Man, is there once again in both His divinity and humanity. I am seeing the one who is in heaven with the Father, the one who walked to Calvary, and the one who is present in the Eucharist. I am seeing the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings.
So, what is different? There was a time when I didn’t know what Adoration was or what it meant to see the Blessed Sacrament. Jesus was present in the hosts I received at Holy Communion, but that was all. Why put a host on display when it was meant to be consumed? I believed He went from the chalice to my mouth. He was then within me. Period. But if Jesus was present in that host, why didn’t I believe He could be exposed for Adoration?
Something wasn’t making sense. The host was consecrated in both cases, so Jesus was present in both, all of Him.
I first encountered our Lord in the Real Presence during a retreat. We were to go to the chapel and journal about the healing we were receiving. I stared at this big, shiny gold object with a white host in the middle. The retreat leader told us the Eucharist would be exposed, so we needed to fill the adoration time slots. This was all new language, but I followed her instructions and signed up for my hour. When I got there, I saw that the monstrance was quite elaborate, and everyone was looking intently at it. So I did too. I remember telling myself, if that’s supposed to be a host, why are we adoring it? This isn’t Mass, so what exactly was happening?
I stayed for several hours, and the pages of my journal filled with words that flowed out of me. It was as if my heart opened, and everything I felt gushed forth. I didn’t want to leave! There was no longer any doubt about receiving Jesus into my body and spending time with Him as the Real Presence. It was now obvious. I felt Jesus there with me, even if I didn’t understand how. Later, with more study, I came to understand the Real Presence as the Living Jesus, body, blood, soul, and divinity. He was before me, in His humanity and divinity. Real, just like you and me. In the host I receive at Holy Communion, or exposed in the monstrance, He is one and the same.
From that point on, I couldn’t get enough time in His presence. Being with the Real Presence is the best place to pour out your heart, hear His desires for your life, and find rest. He provides a model drawn from His human life, from living with Mary and Joseph as a child to walking the hills of Israel with His disciples, preaching, teaching, and healing. The only difference is that He is hidden. But He is there!
The opportunity to be with the Living Christ in the Real Presence should be taken seriously. Whether it’s a few minutes, an hour, or whatever time you have, go and be with Him! Even if He’s not exposed outside the tabernacle, He’s there inside. We will always have the Holy Spirit with us, which is very good. The Real Presence of Jesus is a bonus. He said He’d never leave us. The Eucharist is His way of proving it.