So far beyond my reach . . .

The prayer after communion on the 3^rd Sunday of Lent, Year C:

As we receive the pledge of things yet hidden in heaven

and are nourished while still on earth with the Bread that comes from on high,

we humbly entreat you, O Lord,

that what is being brought about in us in mystery

may come to true completion.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

A great mystery is taking place within us, and we are not yet ready to understand what it is. So we sit in hope and expectation, knowing that God is working things in us despite anything that might be in us, whether it be sin, or ignorance, or resistance, or cynicism, or doubt or fear. God is greater than any obstacle of our own making.  As is says in the psalm for the day: “For as the heavens are high above the earth, so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.” (other translations have “steadfast love” or simply “love.”)

A great mystery is taking place within us: at all times we are a work in process. And the process is yet to be completed. And the process is yet to be revealed to us. And even if it were, our finite minds would not be able to comprehend it. We have to wait for the time to come.

This is excellent material for our meditation: we sit in silence and in hope, we open our hearts and minds and souls, and with rapt attention we contemplate the goodness of God at work in us, a work that can’t be put into words.

We can assume from the closing prayer that the key to this work is the Eucharist itself. It is the Eucharist that unites heaven and earth. There are things yet hidden in heaven (part of the process) and the Bread comes to us from on high and nourishes us while still on earth.

The Eucharist isn’t only the key; the Eucharist is part of the mystery. There is so much more contained in the Eucharist that we can possibly imagine. And the time for our thanksgiving after the Eucharist is so brief. I remember hearing it said that St. John Paul II would spend a long amount of time meditating after he receive the Eucharist at Mass. I think I can understand why.

And yet for us, the time is short and we are quickly distracted. Maybe because such knowledge is too high for me, so far beyond my reach. (Psalm 139:6)

And yet, let us reach out for it, always in humility and always in thanksgiving.

God bless you.