Eucharistic Testimony
Neenah, Wisconsin. It is the middle of January, 2am on a Saturday night, and I’m headed to Adoration at St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church. It is -30ºF with the windchill, about 6 inches of new snow on the ground, and I read John 6:55-56 “for my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me and I in them.”
Finding Jesus anew in the Eucharist for me is something not easy to describe, as I found him in the darkness of the night while in Eucharistic Adoration. Who would have thought that at 2am anyone would be awake enough to realize just how important that transformation of bread into flesh became, especially for me, personally.
The evening I first realized this is as clear today as it was all those years ago. I was going through the motions of praying the Rosary and then reading the bible passages for that day. Then spending quiet time just staring at the walls, waiting for my relief to come. While staring at the Monstrance and the stained glass window of St. Margaret Mary receiving the Vision of Jesus’ Sacred Heart, something inside me woke up. I realized that Jesus was in the room. Indeed I was not alone! This realization first startled me, He actually spoke to me. As I reflected more about it, I came to realize Jesus is within us at every Mass, and is the center of our celebration. The Hope the Eucharist brings to all of us began to make sense. And in that fact I realized just how much it meant to me, and this became an awesome experience.
Yes, I know I’ve told others Jesus talked to me that evening as He called me on the carpet: “When are you going to give back?” I thought the pastor was playing a trick on me as I got up and looked all around the room for the loudspeaker. It wasn’t the pastor, it was Jesus, and I answered, “I don’t know what You want from me, but I promise not to say no to anything You want!” Hoo boy, did things change up…
I looked forward to Saturday evenings. Indeed, staying there for hours, or me worrying about relief, did not seem to matter any longer. Jesus gave us this gift to strengthen us, to give us hope, to understand that His sacrifice is through the love of God and all He asks of us is to believe, to be in relationship with Him…WOW! Yes, Lord I have come to believe I do believe, help my unbelief. Thank You for the love of Your son and His obedience to Your will.
