The Life-Giving Love of the Bread of Heaven

This week I would like to share a meditation found in this month's issue of the Magnificat (pages 63-64). The meditation was written by Servant of God Luis Maria Martinez, who served as Archbishop of Mexico City from 1937-1956. I think this meditation can nourish all of us as we continue on in the third year of the Eucharistic Revival.

The Life-Giving Love of the Bread of Heaven

"The very state in which Jesus is found in the most Holy Sacrament is a state of silence. But is not that silence the most eloquent proof of his immense love? Sometimes we, who do not understand sublime and lofty things, complain, saying: “What a pity that Jesus does not speak from the tabernacle; it would be so sweet to listen to his words!” I think that it is better that he does not speak, because with his silence he expresses perhaps better than with his words the love that he professes for us….

Have we not realized that the deepest impressions of our souls cannot be expressed with words? When grief reaches its climax, it becomes silent. When the friends of Job who had gone to visit him saw him oppressed by every evil and in a state of terrible pain, Scripture states that they remained in silence for seven days and seven nights because their grief was too great to be expressed with words (Jb 2:13)….

Here below the greatest love is silent love. Such is the love of Jesus in the Eucharist. That silence teaches us more than words and it tells us how much Jesus loves us. It is also contagious, for having possessed our hearts, it soothes us, calms us, and moves us to express our feelings, with the same incomparable language of silence. I do not mean by this that we always approach God in silence. Love takes all forms and has all manifestations. Let us leave our heart at liberty to speak, to sing, to be quiet. Especially, let us allow ourselves to be guided by the Holy Spirit, where he wills and as he wills. But what I am attempting to say is that there exists a sublime silence of love, that there is a way of communicating with Jesus in silence. Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus used to say that our Lord is a master who teaches without words. His silence seems to penetrate even to the core of our souls, teaching us great truths. When we approach the tabernacle, let us not try to hear the words of Jesus. Rather let us listen to his silence. Let us permit that silence to envelop and penetrate us even to our innermost being, and it will teach us more than all the words that we desire to hear."

“Listen to me; be silent, and I will teach you wisdom,” (Job 33:33).