INVITED TO THE FEAST OF THE KING OF KINGS: THE EUCHARISTIC LORD
Right now the Eucharistic Lord invites you to the feast: “Come to me all of you who are weary and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart; for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Mt 11: 28-30). What does this mean? Clearly, as a catholic the Lord is inviting you to His Feast, to be with Him, to listen to His Word and to consume His very Body and Blood! But come prepared! How to come prepared???.
1. GRATITUDE! Be eternally thankful that the King has invited you and you have heard His call and responded. “Many are called and few are chosen.”
2. COME EARLY! Coming late is not good manners. Make any effort to come early to prepare for the feast.
3. WASH UP, GET CLEAN! Make a good confession to clean your interior garment so that when you meet the King He will be received worthily. We bathe every day; we should wash our souls frequently with the Blood of the Lamb of God who takes way the sins of the world.
4. REJOICE! May the whole family that attends Mass on Sunday, the King’s feast, rejoice together in going to meet the King. Often families quarrel— a great trick of the devil— even while they are preparing for the Sunday Feast of the Lord. Jesus’ last commandment urges us: “Love one another as I have loved you.” Remember the canticle of the Psalmist: “I rejoiced when I heard they were going to the house of the Lord.”
5. LISTEN. The King wants to fill your mind with the Light of Truth by speaking His word to your mind and heart. May your mind and heart be like a sponge, totally receptive to receive.
6. RECEIVE THE LORD OF LORDS. The culminating moment of the banquet is when the Lord gives His very self to you; He unites Himself with you in Holy Communion. You become what you eat! By eating of the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, He gradually begins to transform you into Himself. Your memory becomes His memory; your understanding, His understanding; His Heart, becomes your heart. So much so that one day you can say with St. Paul: “No longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.
7. DAILY HUNGER. In the Our Father we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” This can have a Eucharistic interpretation— that is to say, a real hunger to receive the Bread of Life every day. The Lord invites you to the Banquet every day: COME!!!!!
8. VOCATIONAL CALL! Jesus said that the harvest is rich but the laborers are too few. Pray to the Lord of the harvest that more young men will hear the call so that there will be more abundant spiritual “Banquet Halls” to nourish hungry soul. If not, there is the danger of drought and “Spiritual anorexia”.
9. RENEWED FERVOR. Recognize the greatness of the GIFT and never take the “Gift of Gifts” for granted. Remember the plack posted in the sacristies of Mother Teresa’s convents for the priest celebrating Mass, but can easily be applied to those invited to the banquet. Priest, man of God, say this Mass as if it were your first Mass; your last Mass, and your only Mass.” Those invited, receive the King of Kings, the Eucharistic Lord as if it were your first time, last time and only time.” Never take the Lord for granted!!!!
10. MARY! Where there is a King then there must be a Queen. Nobody every received the “King of Kings” with greater faith, love, and devotion better than Mary who is the Mother of Jesus, but also the Queen of angels, saints, confessors, virgins, martyrs, and the Queen of all hearts. Pope John Paul II equated Mary’s “Yes” to the angel in the Annunciation when she conceived Jesus through the Holy Spirit to our “Amen” when we receive Jesus in Holy Communion. May Mary the great Queen prepare us to receive the King of Kings in Holy Communion with burning love so that at the end of our lives the King of Kings will open the heavenly portals for our entrance for all eternity!!!
Father Ed Broom, OMV, is Associate Pastor of St. Peter Chanel Church in Hawaiian Gardens, California. He is a member of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary and was ordained by Saint John Paul II on May 25, 1986. Fr. Ed teaches Catholic Ignatian Marian Spirituality through articles, podcasts, a radio show, retreats and spiritual direction.
