If the power of the Eucharist is infinite and constitutes the true life of the Church, then all events must gravitate around this Sacrament.
Newsroom (05/06/2022 09:00, Gaudium Press) Founded and raised up by Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Church depends entirely on the life of her Divine Founder, in which men and women participate through the Sacraments. The vitality of the Mystical Body resides in the graces they transmit, and above all through the Holy Eucharist.
A fervent devotee of this Sacrament, Dr. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira claimed that it is thanks to the mysterious presence of Our Lord in the Sacred Species “that the history of the world develops, virtue grows, and the Church expands, and expands even when it seems to dwindle.” He was also convinced that all that was needed was “a priest to say Mass, a consecrated Host and a faithful person with faith and devotion to this Host” to make possible not only a restoration of society, but the appearance of new wonders, superior to all that had existed before.
Relying on renowned theologians, Dr. Plinio explained that “the Sacrifice of the Mass is of such inestimable and infinite value, literally, that if on any given day it ceased to be celebrated, the justice of God would fall upon the world and destroy all things.”
This certainty led him to conclude that the truly vital point in the struggle between good and evil “is that many Masses be celebrated, and that they be celebrated appropriately by priests, and that the faithful also take part in them appropriately. If there were much Eucharistic devotion in the world, society would be different, for everything depends, in the last analysis, on our love for God, which is demonstrated precisely in times of difficulty.”
Today, while social dissatisfaction and concerns about climate change are multiplying, who attempts to assess how faithful our devotion to the Blessed Sacrament is? Do we still have Our Lord as the vital centre of our existence, or are we becoming indifferently accustomed to a world without Jesus Christ and without supernatural life?
After asking ourselves this question, we could still ask ourselves: does He not have much to bemoan regarding our time? Let us remember that one of the precursory signs of God’s chastisement is His withdrawal from among men, in response to their sad desire to continue to live on a merely earthly plane?
If the power of the Eucharist is infinite and constitutes the true life of the Church, then all events must revolve around this Sacrament. And so, no matter how many of her genuine devotees diminish in number, the clock of God and of history will always be set by those souls who are faithful, steadfast and fervent: those who love the Holy Eucharist ardently.
Are we not, then, living in these troubled times, in the realization of the prophetic dream of St. John Bosco, who saw the salvation of the Church in the twofold devotion of the Eucharist and Mary?
Compiled by Sandra Chisholm
