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Dear Dominic,
Commend yourself and your whole life to Christ God. Surrender all to Him, acknowledging that without Him, you can do nothing. (John 15:5) Commit yourself to obeying the Gospel in everything; Jesus said, 6 I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. (John 14:6), and so follow that Way, pursue that Truth, and accept that Life. Treat Jesus, not merely as a first century historical figure, not as this concept we speak of in the Creed, but as a Living Person who wants to be your friend, who knows you and wants to be known in return.
It's one thing to know about Jesus; another thing to know Jesus. Cast all your cares on Him, for He cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7) Bring all your sins to Him, both in prayer and in the sacrament of Confession. Read the Scriptures regularly, they are a love letter from God. Start with the Gospels, continue through the New Testament. The Psalms are also good. Ask, and you shall receive (Matthew 7:8); ask for faith, for hope, and for love; ask to know the Lord with all your heart, mind, and soul. (Matthew 22:37)
When we, as Catholics, receive the Eucharist, know that we are receiving:
- the Medicine of Immortality
- the very divine life of God
- the holiest thing in the universe.
- It makes us partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4), and
- fills us with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:19)
- It is eating from the tree of life. (cf. Genesis 2:9, 3:24)
- It is the cup of salvation. (Psalm 116)
Receive that grace with total openness and awareness; never receive the Eucharist carelessly or thoughtlessly, but well-disposed with deep gratitude.
Eric
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