Thought of the Day June 17, 2022 Our God is awesome
St. Ambrose wrote:
The bread is bread before the sacramental words are pronounced.
. . Which words make the consecration effective and whose words are they? They
belong to the Lord Jesus! Everything said before that moment is said by the
priest who praises God, prays for the people, for the king and others. But when
it is time for the vener¬able sacrament to be effected, the priest no longer
uses his own words, but Christ’s. Therefore, it is the words that work
(conficit) the sacrament. . . . See how efficacious (operatorius) are Christ’s words. The body of Christ was not present before the
consecration but after it the body of Christ is present. For he spoke and it
came to be, he commanded and it stood forth (cf. Ps 33:9).
How conscious are we of this mystery of faith, this miracle happening before our very eyes? We witness in faith the moment when bread and wine are substantially changed in the Body and Blood of the Lord, at the worlds of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. Not able to capture the moment, we respond to this mystery of faith. We await the moment when the consecrated species are elevated to the Lord so that we can proclaim our Amen. Our anticipation is now focused on the moment Jesus will come to us in Communion, to unite us to himself as he renews and strengthens his divine life in us. At last, we can have the moment of intimacy and worship that we waited for. In the moments of silence we praise and thank the Lord for who he is and all he has and is doing in our lives. This moment is not over. We have the privilege of being his Temple, in which he remains with us as we go forth from the Mass. How awesome is our God: God with us and within us!
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