Heaven On Earth

19. The Holy Sacrament

The Holy Sacrament (Mass, Communion) or The Last Supper, was the last meal the Lord Jesus shared with His disciples before He was crucified.  The blessing of the bread and wine represented not only His body and blood, but the everlasting covenant that God made with man that their sins will be forgiven and forgotten.  In this we shall be sons and daughters of the living God.  Many of us see this as something Catholics do.  Some may find this thought disgusting because of the mention of receiving His body and blood.  Some just receive it at church not really knowing why they do it.  To tell you the truth, I have been where you are.  I found out the truth eventually and just how much more it is than just receiving the bread and wine!

Well, for one, His body and blood symbolizes the underserving suffering He endured for mankind and the blood that He poured out on the cross as a ransom for our sins.  IT IS His real body and His blood that we consume.  No we are not cannibals.  I like to think  of it the same way as receiving the holy spirit of fire. Every time we feel the Spirit in us, we remember that Jesus gave His Spirit to us to help us in this journey of life.  In that sense every time we receive His Body and His Blood we remember how much He suffered for us. It’s not about the twisted things the world has made up.  This is about receiving His love spiritually, it’s about connecting with Him on a deeper level to the point where we become close to perfection and just  like Him because His very being is in us.  Though I may not understand everything.  I believe it brings us closer to our Savior when we receive communion.  The terms “Body and Blood” are used to remember how He suffered though He was blameless and free of sin, His body broken and bruised, His blood poured out like water for us on the cross.  Like a lamb He gave Himself up to be sacrificed for us.  When we receive the Holy Sacrament, we not only remember His atoning sacrifice, but we also have the opportunity in the moment to repent of our sins and to be washed clean again.  When we receive Him, we receive His forgiveness, and we also receive His love, peace, and strength too!  We also can receive communion for  others, send it to them spiritually, you can pray for others and to ask God for what we desire. 

The reason why the enemy has tried so hard to shoot down and make this practice evil is because of how powerful it is.  It is a stepping stone for believers to come closer to Christ and when you pray with true intent, contrition and sincerity, a large number of graces are poured out for others and yourselves.  Even a service that isn’t done very well still brings forth a number of graces but we should try to give God our best as much as we can.  I guarantee you graces and mercies like never seen before goes up for others when you pray.

I got baptized when I was eight years old.  My mom would try to get my sister and I to church early every Sunday because we   thought that the Sacrament of Communion was particularly important.  We did not quite understand why, this is what we were taught.  So we did not question it.  We did as we were told.  I grew up receiving Communion almost every Sunday not knowing what it meant or paying to mind why I was taking it.  When I was in my early teens and my mom was getting older, she did not have the energy to hurry us along for church.  We would arrive late almost  every Sunday therefore we were present for the rest of the service but missed Communion.  Our church bishop would often talk to us about our late arrivals and we did make and effort to try but failed.  Thereby, Communion became a rare thing for me to receive.

Having gone through some tough trials I became Lonely and depressed during my teen years.  Church did not feel like the place where I  wanted to be and Communion did not come to mind.  Church felt like every other place I had been before, and I longed for more.  More Jesus, more love, anything He would give me!  I did not care for church and their sayings, in fact I didn’t care for anything  much at all.  I went to church to escape the hard trials of my life but I did want God!  I needed something more than what I was getting. Or to be more than who I was.

when I gave my life to Jesus again, I found the fulfillment of what I was looking for in the Holy Sacrament.  One night Papa Ez  (spiritual dad) asked me if I was willing to take Communion with him (or mass, as some would call it,)  I said yes, and since it had been such a long time since I had last received it I was eager to learn on how to do so!  I was and at the same time not expecting anything deep or miraculous to happen, but to my surprise something DID happen.

When the service began, I started to feel the Holy Spirit burning  in my heart unlike I had ever felt before.  He overwhelmed my whole being and I could feel Him taking over every part of me, from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet.  Every cell in my body tingled at His touch. The love of God flowed through me like a river.  I felt peace and forgiveness for my sins.  Happiness enveloped my heart.  My hope was fulfilled.  I was granted forgiveness and I was given what I was truly seeking.  We had not even gotten to the passing of the Sacrament and I  stood there crying my eyes out because I was filled  with joy, comfort and love with the closeness and presence of the Holy Spirit.

When the Passing of the Communion finally came Papa told me I had to pass it around the room to those who were there could also receive it.  This shocked me!  It was just Papa and I at this service, no one else!   I obeyed and as I turned to pass out the Communion to my surprise there were saints waiting to partake with us!  I  passed it out in shock, some of them even said “Thank you” to me which gave me goosebumps.  If that was not shocking enough, when we got to the part of the mass where we sat in silence for a little bit the Lord showed me a vision.

I saw myself running up to Jesus in Heaven where He hugged me tightly.  He was wearing a flower crown with tiny white flowers that I had asked previously for him to wear one because I had taken a huge liking to flower crowns but never owned one.  Seeing Him wear one made me so happy!

“You wore it!” I exclaimed.  “And now you do too!”  He replied happily putting a beautiful flower crown on my head.  I smiled and blushed at His loving gesture. He then proceeded in hugging me even more!

When the vision ended, I told Papa what had happened, and he seemed happy.  He told me that he had been expecting something supernatural to happen.  Mass eventually ended but the feeling I felt, and that experience has never left me.  From that day forward I began to take Communion with my family or alone because it made me feel closer to Jesus and His heart. I have missed some days sometimes, but I ended up getting back up and trying again. 

This experience an many others like it has helped me to see the true importance of His sacrifice and His love for us.  It has helped me to understand why Communion is taken.  Where there is love, there is God!  The Holy Sacrament shows us His great love given to us through  what He did for us.  I pray this chapter encourages you to think about the love and sacrifice of Christ and the mercy and grace we are given each day.  May it also encourage you to want to give it a try or think of why you take it next time you receive it.