July 5, 2024

The Eucharist: God’s Greatest Gift

My Journey to God

Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ

Beth Summers, a second-grade teacher at Holy Family School in New Albany, poses for a photo with Hadleigh Stocksdale, one of the students she helped prepare to receive the sacrament of the Eucharist on April 27 in the parish church. (Submitted photo)

Father Leo Patalinghug incenses the Blessed Sacrament in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Nov. 19, 2021, during the National Catholic Youth Conference. Assisting him is Liam Hosty, then a seminarian and now a transitional deacon for the archdiocese. (File photo by Natalie Hoefer)

By Natalie Hoefer

I bow before the real and true,
Hidden but physical,
Mystical presence
Of God Himself,
The Word made flesh.
He who created all,
Who was, is and ever will be
Allows me, desires me—
A broken sinner yet treasured
As His beloved—
To consume Him as food.
It is here that I meet Him,
Here that we embrace.
He, Love incarnate, surrounds me
And enfolds me in His Heart.
He infuses my soul
with grace abundant,
With all I need and more
To continue my journey
And to nourish others with His love.
Oh precious beating Heart
Of my good and gracious Lord,
I praise you and adore you
For such love and mercy
That you show your broken,
Flawed, imperfect daughter.
Come into the home of my heart,
And make it to beat in unison
With your perfect, holy Heart.
Remain and abide there,
And transform me, I pray,
Into That which I consume.
 

(This poem originally appeared in the June 11, 2021, issue of The Criterion. Natalie Hoefer is a member of St. Monica Parish in Indianapolis and is a reporter for The Criterion.)

 

Read more from our special edition on the Eucharist

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