Behold the Truth! by Cami little handmaid
Behold the Truth!
by Cami little handmaid
On
Saturday, the day before Christmas Eve, when I first woke up, before I even sat
up, the word TRUTH came to my mind repeatedly. I knew it was a call from the
Holy Spirit to listen to what He wants to say about Truth. I let that word sit
in my mind as I made my tea, and sipping it, I opened up my email to see what
messages I had received. I opened Spiritual Direction’s email publication and
was drawn to read the first article, “Behold the Lamb of God” by Fr. James
Brent, O.P. It is a beautifully written article about the Real Presence of the
Lamb of God in the elevated Sacred Host at Holy Mass and in the monstrance at
Adoration.
His
article begins with his description of the mystical vision that 20 or more
persons beheld on a wall of St. John the Baptist Church in Knock, Ireland on
August 21, 1879. They witnessed figures of light: St. Joseph, Our Lady,
St.
John the Evangelist, and the focal point was a bright, white Lamb standing
erect on a raised altar. Above the Lamb was a luminous cross. The altar, the
Lamb, and the cross were surrounded by luminous angels.
Fr.
Brent made a pilgrimage to Knock, Ireland, and in the apparition chapel there
he gazed upon the stone figures depicting the mystical vision, and lastly he
gazed upon the Sacred Host in the monstrance on the altar below the stone
figures. He knew through the eyes of faith that he was contemplating the living
Lamb of God.
I
share with you some direct quotes from his article:
“In that moment, in
the light of grace, I realized what a great thing it is for anyone to behold
the Lamb of God even once during the elevation at Mass. It is a far greater
thing than the most extraordinary of mystical visions.”
“Even repeated
celebrations of the Mass, even many glances upon the elevated host, together
with the command to behold the Lamb of God, are not enough to internalize the truth the moment contains.”
“In order to
capture the sublime wisdom set before us in the words and gestures of the
elevation, in order to linger in the light of the immense truth that the moment contains, the practice of Eucharistic
Adoration has developed over the centuries.”
This
contemplative article by Fr. Brent has become a means of lectio divina for me,
in which I have meditated on the truths that the Lord has communicated to me
about the essential spiritual gift of Adoration.
A
few years ago the Holy Spirit said to me, with His silent voice:
“Adoration will
restore the Church.”
What
an awesome promise! The Holy Spirit did not say, “Adoration may restore the
Church.” He said,
“Adoration will restore
the Church!”
At
the time I received that message, I thought of the Church as primarily the
hierarchy: the Pope, the cardinals, the bishops, the priests, and the deacons.
Recently
the Lord has focused my spiritual attention on 1 Peter 2:4-5:
“come to Him, to
the living stone, rejected by men but in God’s sight chosen and precious, and
like living stones be yourselves built
Into a spiritual
house, to be a holy priesthood,
To offer spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ, for it stands in Scripture:
‘Behold, I am
laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone,
chosen and precious, and he who believes in
Him
will not be put to shame.”
How
can we be “living stones”? Stones are not living.
“A new heart I will
give you and a new spirit I will put within you, and I will take out of your
flesh the heart of stone,
and give you a
heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26)
It
is through adoration of the Lamb of God that we will be filled with His Life,
His humility, his holiness... It is through union with the Cornerstone that we become
“living
stones…built into the spiritual house” of His Church, helping to
restore it.
“My adorable
Jesus…May our glances profoundly penetrate
each other…” (from
the Unity Prayer of the Flame of Love)
Our
hearts united to the Sacred Heart of Jesus become “hearts of flesh.”
Cami
little handmaid
Written
Christmas Day, December 25, 2023