Christ the Spouse of the Soul

Here at St. John Paul II Seminary, we are privileged to be able to receive Our Lord in the Eucharist every day. The other morning, as I was in Mass, the Lord showered me with a new understanding of the Eucharist which has changed the way I receive Him and the way I live my life.

As I was praying during Mass, something new struck me: namely, that when I receive Jesus in the Eucharist, I renew my commitment to love the Lord with my whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, and thus to love others as He has loved me. I realized that when I present myself to receive Him, I am giving my whole self over to Him. With my whole being, I am making an act of love which is the laying down of my life for Him. Christ is the bridegroom of my soul. As a husband and wife withhold nothing from each other, I want to give everything over to the Lord in fidelity to him. Just as the husband presents himself to his wife in the vows of marriage, when we present ourselves to our Lord in the intimate act of receiving His Body and Blood, we are making an act of fidelity to the Lord. This is why receiving Him daily is such a gift - for not only does He provide us with the grace we need to stay on the straight and narrow path, but it is also an act in which we recommit ourselves to say “not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42). Thus, when we approach the altar, we unite ourselves to Our Lord and recommit ourselves to follow after him living a life which radiates the self-gift of Christ on the Cross in our own bodies!

In the seminary, we live this out through our daily prayer and study. Whether it is a struggle to persevere in prayer while in desolation, or reluctantly sitting down to write a paper that is difficult to write, there are many opportunities to unite little crosses throughout the day to the Cross of Christ and offer our work to Him. Something I have realized being at the seminary for more than a year is how weak I am without Jesus. But, it is essentially in our weakness that we are drawn to Him. He is our strength. We need Him in our lives because he is the faithful rock for us all. We can lay our life down in fidelity to Him because He has done so first for us. When we come to Him - we who are weary and burdened, He will give us rest. If we shoulder his yoke and give ourselves fully to Him, we will find rest for our souls (Matthew 11:28-30). 

Essential to life in the seminary is allowing Christ to make a home within us through our reception of Him in the Eucharist. Holding Him in our hearts, we come to understand what God wants from us in this life. He desires for us to be united to Him in the carrying out of His Divine will. With the Eucharist, we are strengthened to do His will because after receiving Jesus, we become a temple of the Most High. Recognizing this reality spurs us on to keep that temple pure and spotless. 

Ultimately, having recommitted my life to Christ in the act of receiving Him, my feeble will is strengthened to see Christ in that brother whom I struggle to love, to decline the temptations of the enemy to sin, and to remain totally reliant on the Lord so I can follow him wherever he leads me in this life.

Mr. Falcone is a College II seminarian for the Archdiocese of Washington.