Sunday was the Solemnity of Corpus Christi—The day when the Roman Catholic Church celebrates the Holy Eucharist, the Body of Christ under the appearance of bread and wine.

In the Road to Emmaus account of Easter Sunday morning recorded in the Gospel of St. Luke, the two disciples haven’t recognized that the stranger they are walking with is the Risen Lord. But when they stopped, they pleaded with him, “stay with us”. And so he did. And so he does. He was revealed to them in “the breaking of the bread”. That’s exactly how he answered their plea to stay with them—in the breaking of the bread. Jesus Christ stays with us in the Holy Eucharist!

When Jesus ascends to the right-hand God the father the disciples ask him “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

[7] He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority.
[8] But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Sama’ria and to the end of the earth.” (Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 1)

Jesus ascends into Heaven as King and will come back as King. The kingdom has already begun. It is now. It is the Catholic Church. This kingdom is for every person. Christ’s disciples are the emissaries and soldiers to spread the kingdom into the whole world. Jesus is saying to them and to us — I’m sending you to build up the kingdom. The Holy Spirit comes with power to set this world ablaze.

So Christ ascended into heaven. He leaves but he never really leaves us. He promised the Holy Spirit– the power to live Jesus and spread him throughout the world. It is in the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus can still be with us—above all in His real abiding and substantial presence in the Holy Eucharist. The gift of the Holy Spirit enables Priestly ordination which ensures that the Risen Jesus—Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity—remains on this earth unto the end of the ages.

(Those were my thoughts around the time of Pentecost. The reason for my delay in posting them—I began struggling with a decision involving the change of nurses who work with me. Jesus knows all about it.)

What a great consolation that will be with us till the very end. It’s real consolation that I felt during our visit with my sister and the other nuns (upcoming post)… we had the opportunity for Adoration.

Eucharistic adoration was amazing… my soul was regenerating and I felt alive again. Being present to the one who is present did me a lot of good. And could have asked for more heavenly atmosphere surrounded by the religious sisters around me? It was cosmic.

Last Sunday when the priest was talking about the Holy Eucharist I realized the truth of his words— when I have a problem or decision I need to bring it before the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. That is what Eucharistic Adoration is all about. Being present to the one who is present. And now that I’m struggling with the outcome of the decision I mentioned earlier, I know I need to bring everything to Jesus in this way. If I can’t make it to be right in front of him, I know that I can always make a holy hour spiritually.

Just another thought before I close…. A while back I was finishing up the Return of the King, the last book of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The hobbits make their way up to Mount doom. Their quest seems almost hopeless.. so close yet so far. They went without food for days. If it wasn’t for the bread of the Elves that they consumed earlier, they’d have died a long time ago. Yet another type Catholic in the trilogy that left me astounded. God provides for us beyond what we can possibly imagine.