ON ADORATION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT
Bishop
Robert Barron in his 2009 commentary on Eucharistic Adoration chides Father Richard
McBrien:
—Bishop
Robert Barron, “Bishop Barron Comments on Eucharistic Adoration,” YouTube
video, 6:28 minutes, October 23, 2009
Father
Richard McBrien who passed away in 2015 was a progressive theologian whom I
admired for his intelligence and cogency. His argument that the adoration of
the Blessed Sacrament is taken out of its proper context in the Holy Sacrifice
of the Mass doesn’t wash with me. In the Holy Eucharist God is truly present.
His Real Presence is not limited to the Liturgy of the Eucharist. If it was supposed to be that way, the Church would require the consumption of all the
consecrated bread and wine during the Mass and dispose of all the tabernacles.
On the contrary, the Church has chosen to maintain the Real Presence outside
the bounds of the Mass and for this reason the Blessed Sacrament is properly
the subject of adoration beyond the occasion of the Holy Sacrifice. It is evident that while
the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is joined to the Mass the sacrament is not
limited to the time and place of the event. To the arguments of Bishop Barron with which I strongly agree I
add my own.
Public domain photo
ReplyDeletePhoto link:
https://pixabay.com/photos/eucharist-monstrance-host-cc0-3215813/
Gonzalinho
THE PRAYER OF QUIET
ReplyDeleteOn the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and exclaimed, “Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as scripture says: ‘Rivers of living water will flow from within him.’” He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive. There was, of course, no Spirit yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.—John 7:37-39
Jesus Christ is truly present in the Blessed Sacrament, in his body, blood, soul, and divinity.
When we pray before the Blessed Sacrament, the Real Presence is like an ever flowing spring from which streams of spiritual consolation water our souls to the point of overspilling.
“The water comes direct from its source, which is God, and, when it is His Majesty’s will and He is pleased to grant us some supernatural favor, its coming is accompanied by the greatest peace and quietness and sweetness within ourselves—I cannot say where it arises or how. And that content and delight are not felt, as earthly delights are felt, in the heart—I mean not at the outset, for later the basin becomes completely filled, and then this water begins to overflow all the Mansions and faculties, until it reaches the body. It is for that reason that I said it has its source in God and ends in ourselves—for it is certain, and anyone will know this who has experienced it, that the whole of the outer man enjoys this consolation and sweetness.”—Saint Teresa of Avila, Interior Castle, II, 4
Gonzalinho