This week in the Gospel at daily Mass we read the famous "Bread of Life" discourse from the Gospel of St. John so let us take a moment to meditate on the awesome continuing presence of Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist, present in our tabernacles.

The Visit to the Blessed Sacrament.           

Eucharistic piety, says Pope John Paul II, should be centered above all on the celebration of the Lord's Supper, which perpetuates the pouring out of His love on the Cross. But it has a logical prolongation ... in the adoration of Christ in this divine Sacrament, in the visit to the Blessed Sacrament, in prayer beside the Tabernacle, as well as in those other exercises of devotion both personal and collec­tive, private and public, which you have been practicing for centuries. Pope John Paul II writes: Jesus waits for us in this Sacrament of Love. Let us not be mean with our time when it comes to going to meet him in adoration, in contemplation that is filled with faith, and disposed to make reparation for the grave faults and crimes of the world.

Jesus is there in the nearest Tabernacle. Perhaps just a few miles away or even perhaps a few yards ... How could we not go to see him, to love him, to tell him about our affairs, to ask him for things? What a lack of consistency on our part if we were not to do this with faith? How easy it is to understand that centuries-old custom of daily visits to the tabernacle. There the Master has been waiting for us for twenty centuries, and we can be together with him like Mary, the sister of Lazarus - the one who chose the better part in that house in Bethany.

I win tell you, says Blessed Escriva, that for me the tabernacle has always been a Bethany, a quiet and Pleasant place where Christ resides: a place where we can tell him about our worries, our sufferings, our desires, our joys, with the same sort of simplicity and naturalness as Martha, Mary and Lazarus. That is why I rejoice when I stumble upon a church in town or country; it's another tabernacle, another opportunity for the soul to escape and join in intention our Lord in the Sacrament.

Jesus is waiting for us to visi Him. It is, in a way, a return of his visit to us in Holy Communion, and it is a proof of gratitude, an expression of love, an acknowledge­ment of the Lord's presence. It is a continuation of our act of thanksgiving for the previous Communion and a preparation for the next. When we find ourselves before the tabernacle we can indeed say in all truth and accuracy: God is here! And in the presence of this mystery of faith there is no room for any other attitude except that of adoration - Adoro te devote ... 0 hidden God, devoutly I adore You- of respect and astonishment; and, at the same time, of unlimited confidence. Dwelling with Christ Our Lord, the faithful enjoy his intimate friendship and pour out their hearts before him for themselves and their dear ones, and pray for the peace and salvation of the world. They offer their entire lives with Christ to the Father in the Holy Spirit, and receive in this wonderful exchange an increase of faith, hope and charity. Thus they nourish those right dispositions which enable them with all due devotion to celebrate the memorial of the Lord and receive frequently the bread given us by the Father.  

Fruits of this act of piety:

St.Josemaria Escriva wrote to someone: You have started to visit the Blessed Sacrament every day. 1 am not surprised to hear you say, 'I have come to love the Sanctuary light madly'.

The Visit to the Blessed Sacra­ment is an act of piety that only takes a few minutes; nevertheless, what a lot of graces and what fortitude and peace does Our Lord give through it. There we find that our sense of presence of God throughout the day is improved and we gather new strength to take the difficulties of the day in our stride. There our desire to work better is enkindled and we are provided with a good supply of peace and joy to take with us to our family life. Our Lord, who always pays generously, is grateful for the fact that we have gone to visit Him. And as to paying us, he is so careful about this that you need to have no fear he will leave us without our reward if only we raise our eyes to Heaven and remember Him

In the Visit to the Blessed Sacrament we go to keep Jesus company for a few minutes. It could be that on a par­ticular day not many have gone to visit him even though He was expecting them. Therefore He is all the more pleased to see us there. We shall say some of the usual prayers to him as well as making the spiritual Communion. We'll ask him for help - both spiritual and material; we'll tell him what is causing us concern and what we are happy about; we'll tell him that, in spite of our miseries, He can count on us for the re-evangelization of the world and we'll tell him, perhaps, that we want to bring a friend close to him. What shall we do, you sometimes ask, in the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament? Love him, praise him, thank him and ask him for things. What does a thirsty person do when he sees a pure clean fountain? When we leave the Church after these moments of prayer, we will have in us greater peace, a determination to help others, an eager longing to receive Holy Communion, because the only way that intimate union with Jesus can be fully realized is in the , Eucharist. It will effectively have helped us to increase our presence of God in the course of our work and our daily tasks. It will be easy for us to keep up a relationship of friendship and confidence with him throughout the day.

The first Christians from the moment they began to have churches and to reserve the Blessed Sacrament had already started to live this pious custom. This is how St John Chrysostom commented on that passage of Scrip­ture: and Jesus entered the Temple. This was proper to a good son: to enter immediately into the house of his Father to render due honor to Him there - just as you, who should imitate Jesus, whenever you enter a city should first of all go to the church.

Once we are in the church, we can easily find out where the tabernacle is - which is the first place we should direct our attention to - because it should be located in a truly prominent place suited to private prayer. And there the presence of the Blessed Eucharist will be indicated by the small lamp which as the sign of honor to Our Lord, will be continuously burning before it. As we finish our prayer we ask our Mother Mary to teach us how to love Jesus really present in the tabernacle as she loved Him all those years of His life in Nazareth.

Fr. Francis Fernandez (In Conversation with God)