FOR THE LAST SEVERAL years, our bishops have led the Church in deepening our belief and love for the Eucharist. The recent National Eucharistic Congress drew thousands of Catholics to Indianapolis, and after worshiping and gathering together, they were invited to return to their respective diocese as Eucharistic missionaries. All of us are called to personal conversion and holiness, and it must begin within our sown hearts.
Only then can we be credible witnesses in a world that measures one’s message by its authenticity. However, if we want to go broad with the good news of Jesus, then we must go deep by allowing the Lord to make our bodies and souls His permanent dwelling place.
Giuliana Spigone, a former general moderator of the Apostolic Oblates, offered this simple meditation years ago, and it is fitting to revisit it during this time of Eucharistic Revival.
MAKE YOUR HEART AN ALTAR
“I urge you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a loving sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship.” (Rom. 12:1)
“Let us make of our heart a table on which our offerings are placed; the same altar where every day Jesus offers Himself to the Father for us. We must be an altar on which our poverty is offered. Let us place all we are and have on the altar of God; let us sacrifice ourselves, our selfishness, our pride, and all that belongs to us. The blessing of our heavenly Father will come upon our offerings, and the Spirit will transform them into an oblation pleasing to God.” – Giuliana Spigone
We can make our hearts an altar by consciously participating during Mass, especially at the moment of the Offertory.
MAKE YOUR HEART A TABERNACLE
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit with you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body.” (I Cor. 6:19-20)
“Our heart must be like a tabernacle, a sacred place where the Lord lives, watches in silence, and murmurs words of goodness and love to the heart. We must experience the presence of the Lord within us and generously share it with others. Let us listen to what the Lord says to our heart about ourselves and our brothers and sisters whom we are to love as He loves them.” — Giuliana Spigone
Daily prayer allows us to deepen our relationship with God, who dwells within us and waits for us to be still with Him.
MAKE YOUR HEART A MONSTRANCE
“Yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the son of God who has loved me and given Himself up for me.” (Gal. 2:20)
“We want to make our heart like a monstrance, exposing Jesus to all we meet. Mary, the first monstrance, showed her Son to the Shepherds, the Magi, to all. Before Jesus was born, Mary brought Him to Elizabeth, who rejoiced in Whom she saw. Elizabeth, in turn, became a monstrance herself and sang the first beatitude, and Mary responded with the Magnificat. Together, the two women, each bearing Jesus in her heart, sang a beautiful canticle of praise to the Lord. May our encounters with others reflect the mystery of the Visitation as we bring our Lord to a waiting world.” –Giuliana Spigone
When we stop worrying about ourselves and what people think about us, we are free to let Jesus act through us. Pause and notice what Jesus is doing in your heart and how He is inviting you to respond. Giuliana closes her mediation with this prayer: “Jesus, let my heart be the altar where You sacrifice Yourself, the tabernacle where You watch over us, and the monstrance where You manifest Yourself to the world. Amen.”