Do we believe that Jesus is really and truly present?
A couple of months before his death Bishop Fulton J. Sheen were interviewed on national
television. One of the questions was this: "Bishop Sheen, you have inspired millions
of people all over the world. Who inspired you? Was it aPope?" Bishop Sheen responded
that it was not a Pope, a Cardinal, another Bishop, or even a priest or a nun. It was a
little Chinese girl of eleven years of age. He explained that when the Communists took
over China, they imprisoned
a priest in his own rectory near the Church. After they locked him up in his own
house, the priest was horrified to look out of his window and see the Communists proceed
into the Church, where they went into the sanctuary and broke into the tabernacle. In an
act of hateful desecration, they took the ciborium and threw it on the floor with all of
the Sacred Hosts spilling out.The priest knew exactly how many Hosts were in the ciborium:
thirty-two.
When the Communists left, they either did not notice, or didn't pay any attention to a
small girl praying in the back of the Church who saw everything that had happened.
That night the little girl came back. Slipping past the guard at the priest's house,
she went inside the Church. There she made a holy hour of prayer, an act of love to make
up for the act of hatred. After her holy hour she went into the sanctuary, knelt down,
bent over and with her tongue received Jesus in Holy Communion, since it was not
permissible at that time for laymen to touch the Sacred Host with their hands.
The little girl continued to come back each night to make her holy hour and receive Jesus
in Holy Communion on her tongue. On the thirty-second night, after she had consumed the
last and thirty-second host, she accidentally made a noise and woke the guard who was
sleeping. He ran after her, caught her, and beat her to death with the butt of his rifle.
This act of heroic martyrdom was witnessed by the priest as he watched grief-stricken from
his bedroom window.
When Bishop Sheen heard the story he was so inspired that he promised God he would make a
holy hour of prayer before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament everyday of his life. If
this frail, little child could give testimony and witness to the world concerning the real
and wonderful Presence of her Savior in the Blessed Sacrament, then the Bishop was
absolutely bound by all that was right and true, to do the same. His sole desire from then
on was to bring the world to the Burning Heart of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
The little girl showed the Bishop what true courage and zeal really is; how faith could
overcome all fear, how true love for Jesus in the Eucharist must transcend life itself.
What is hidden in the Sacred Host is the glory of His love. The sun in the sky is symbolic
of the Son of God in the Blessed Sacrament. This is why most monstrances are in the form
of a sunburst. As the sun is the natural source of all energy, the Blessed Sacrament is
the supernatural source of all grace and love. The Blessed Sacrament is JESUS, the Light
of theworld.
Excerpt from an article "Let the SON shine out" by Rev. Martin Lucia
When we believe, we show our belief by the way we act.