This week has been all about Jesus. While I know He is truly present in the Eucharist, sometimes we need to not only be reminded of that, but also reflect on our disposition in His presence. 

During the Wednesday adoration and evening prayers at my parish, the Deacon gave a short reflection about Jesus. While a number of parishioners from Our Lady of Lourdes are preparing for a pilgrimage to Spain and France — culminating in a visit to Lourdes, all have been encouraged to write down their petitions, which will accompany the pilgrims. It can be misleading to think that traveling on a pilgrimage means going to a place where God is more present or more available, but that’s not the case. Deacon Steven reminded us all that Jesus is just as present during our adoration as He is when the pilgrims celebrate Mass in Lourdes with the Pope. But since a pilgrimage is more than just a person going to a holy site, it is all the people who support them in their travels that also receive a share of the grace from those sacred sites. Family, friends, the dog walker, really anyone who supports the pilgrim may be blessed because their support enabled the pilgrim to go. We don’t go on pilgrimages because Jesus is better somewhere else, we go to take a break from the everyday and immerse ourselves in the beauty, the holiness, and impact of the sacred event. A pilgrimage is the opportunity to open oneself more to the Holy Spirit and to desire to do the will of God. 

An even stronger reminder of Jesus’ presence came as video from a Mass on September 14 — on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross — from Minnesota started to surface in social media. At first it was being captioned as an Eucharistic miracle, but a notice from the celebrant, Fr. Brent Bowman, corrected the initial claims and called it a spiritual experience. Since that Mass was being streamed, it can be watched. There is no smoke, no fire, no spectacle to see, just a priest whose voice begins to waver during the consecration prayer over the wine. At first, he can’t even elevate the chalice, but openly sobs. A few days later, Fr. Bowman posted a message explaining what happened. He talks about the “heaviness of Jesus’s substantial presence in the chalice in my hands.” Upon reflection, he felt he “was given grace to understand more deeply the bittersweetness of Our Lord’s Passion and how much blood Christ shed for the immense weight of all our sins.”

The good news is that Mass is celebrated every day, so we can receive Jesus: Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Eucharist no matter what day of the week it is, not just on Sundays. The bad news is that when we are exposed so much to Jesus in the accidents of bread and wine, we forget what a miracle this sacrament is. We treat church like it is the family room of our friends as we get ready to watch a football game on TV. While it’s great that you feel comfortable being in God’s presence, there is also a need to reflect what God means to us by showing respect for His presence. We don’t go to Mass to meet up with friends, but to meet up with our Creator, our Savior, and our Sanctifier.

We may never be blessed with seeing the Virgin Mary like Saint Bernadette Soubirous, and we may not ever have a spiritual experience regarding the Eucharist like Fr. Bowman. But that does not mean God is not with us. It only means God’s way of showing His closeness is different for us. It also means we need to, respectfully and reverently, continue to receive Jesus in the sacrifice of the Mass. Jesus is a close to you as the closest tabernacle, and it really is all about Jesus.