This Sunday, we will celebrate The Most Holy Body And Blood Of Christ (Corpus Christi). When I returned to the Church after being away for over 25 years, it took me a while to get used to the idea that we celebrated not only events in the liturgy like the institution of the Holy Eucharist on Holy Thursday but concepts like the Body and Blood of Christ.
And what a concept this is! That The Word of God, who was in the beginning with God and is God would take on flesh and blood. This concept astounded Elizabeth:
Jesus: “And the Word became Flesh. Penetrate and live in this sublime mystery which signifies the Redemption of the world.”
The Spiritual Diary (First Edition); Elizabeth Kindelmann; p. 97
Even though I meditated on these words, I am incapable of expressing them. For months, I meditated only on this mystery, which is an inexhaustible miracle.
This act of Jesus taking on flesh and blood IS our salvation. Jesus IS the way. By taking on flesh and blood, Jesus made a bridge between humanity and divinity as Saint Catherine of Siena would describe it. In the Liturgy of the Hours for Saturday Daytime Prayer Week IV, the prayer after Psalm 45 reads, “When you took on flesh, Lord Jesus, you made a marriage of mankind with God.”
How important is this marriage, this bridge? During the Mass, water is added to the wine before it is offered. The original reason for this was that wine of old was much different than wine of today and one would always cut it with water. However, the architects of the Mass saw a great spiritual truth in this very practical act. When he does this, the priest quietly prays, “By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.” Did you catch that? It’s nothing short of mind blowing as Elizabeth understood – by this marriage, this bridge, we partake in divinity. This is what our salvation is – to partake of the very life and divinity of God. This salvation happens because Jesus took on flesh and blood. As we partake of His body and blood, we become completely joined to Him – the fulfillment of His deepest desires as expressed in the Unity Prayer.
Here is what Elizabeth experienced on the Feast of Corpus Christi in 1962:
The sweet Savior filled my soul with such an attraction for His sacred Body and Precious Blood that for weeks I could only meditate on the Eucharist. It was His desire that He and I penetrate deeply into these inexhaustibly profound words: “He who eats My Body and drinks My Blood remains in Me and I in him.” I cannot describe what I experienced in my soul while I meditated. This went on for weeks without being tired of it. I have no words to express it.
ibid.; p. 56
Fourteen months later, on September 24th, 1963, Jesus clarified what it means to remain in Him:
Your bad temper will go on, but out of this evil nature, I will accomplish a masterpiece if you agree to submit to My divine hand. Simply surrender to Me like the wine grapes that are pressed and transformed into wine, which will become My Precious Blood. You also will be intoxicated with My Precious Blood, but only if you are transformed and purified, just like the must, or like the wheat transformed in My sacred Body, once it has been ground. You also will transform yourself only once you have been ground down and your miserable nature divinized. You understand that, do you not? We have already meditated at length on that together. Whoever eats My Body and drinks My Blood remains in Me and I in him. He in whom God dwells will be divinized. Permeate yourself with this grace so great, My daughter.”
ibid.; p, 170
Have we realized the greatness of our calling through the body and blood of Jesus? Have we realized we are not called to just be nice people and go to church on Sunday but to be completely transformed into divinity – to think, act, feel, and be as God Himself? When we stop to think about it, this should be obvious – just as Jesus told Elizabeth: “The purity of your soul makes you divine. He who eats My Body and drinks My Blood remains in Me, and I in him. Immerse yourselves in My words. If God is in you, My little Elizabeth, how can you not also become divine?” (ibid.; p. 230)
So let us in The Flame of Love have a renewed appreciation of this feast – of just what is the effect of grace of The Flame of Love. It is our very divinization. Let us remember that every time we receive the precious body and blood of Christ:
Jesus: “After receiving My Precious Blood, examine your souls and become aware of the exhilaration that the power of My Precious Blood brings about in you. Do not be so insensitive. Let not routine lead you to my holy table, but rather the fervor of sacrificial charity, which ignites through contact with My love. Through Me – inasmuch as you remain united to Me – it will burn sin out of your souls. Oh, how I have longed for your decision and your voluntary love. When will you finally come to Me?”
ibid,; p. 186
Oh my Jesus, may it be every day, every moment, every breath. Amen and amen.
Quotations from the Diary
July 20, 1962
The Feast of Corpus Christi
The sweet Savior filled my soul with such an attraction for His sacred Body and Precious Blood that for weeks I could only meditate on the Eucharist. It was His desire that He and I penetrate deeply into these inexhaustibly profound words: “He who eats My Body and drinks My Blood remains in Me and I in him.” I cannot describe what I experienced in my soul while I meditated. This went on for weeks without being tired of it. I have no words to express it.
October 9, 1962
Today, while I was with the Savior, He infused the joy of His Heart into my soul.
Jesus: “How wonderful that you have come. How I awaited you! At other times, I told you to be immersed in Me like a drop of water in wine. I am the wine, you are the water. Just be united with Me and you will be astonished. Only I will reign in you. My Body and Blood give strength and life to all of you. How happy you will be to receive more of My life-giving strength. Gather with Me.”
October 15, 1962
Jesus: “And the Word became Flesh. Penetrate and live in this sublime mystery which signifies the Redemption of the world.”
Even though I meditated on these words, I am incapable of expressing them. For months, I meditated only on this mystery, which is an inexhaustible miracle.
September 24, 1963
Your bad temper will go on, but out of this evil nature, I will accomplish a masterpiece if you agree to submit to My divine hand. Simply surrender to Me like the wine grapes that are pressed and transformed into wine, which will become My Precious Blood. You also will be intoxicated with My Precious Blood, but only if you are transformed and purified, just like the must, or like the wheat transformed in My sacred Body, once it has been ground. You also will transform yourself only once you have been ground down and your miserable nature divinized. You understand that, do you not? We have already meditated at length on that together. Whoever eats My Body and drinks My Blood remains in Me and I in him. He in whom God dwells will be divinized. Permeate yourself with this grace so great, My daughter.”
I Am the Great Donor of Blood
January 16, 1964
During Holy Mass and after Holy Communion, the Lord Jesus spoke of the power of His Precious Blood.
Jesus: “I am the great Donor of blood. By virtue of My divine Blood, you can be divinized. Can you understand that? Truly, it is difficult. I am the sole Donor of blood in the whole world. Permeate yourself with My love, My almighty love. Meditate on that now in the light of My holy brightness. Can’t you feel this Precious Blood? My Precious Blood warms up and sets into motion the frozen, paralyzed energy of your souls. I am pouring it out and will continue to pour it in all the men in the entire world inasmuch as they submit to the holy treatment of My divine hand. Allow Me to act within your soul. Why should you desire to remain men with coarse souls? If only you accepted to become divine, I would find My joy in you, and live with you.
My table is always set. I, the Amphitryon*, have sacrificed everything. I give Myself. After receiving My Precious Blood, examine your souls and become aware of the exhilaration that the power of My Precious Blood brings about in you. Do not be so insensitive. Let not routine lead you to my holy table, but rather the fervor of sacrificial charity, which ignites through contact with My love. Through Me – inasmuch as you remain united to Me – it will burn sin out of your souls. Oh, how I have longed for your decision and your voluntary love. When will you finally come to Me?”
*Note: This version of the English diary was translated from Spanish and not Hungarian and mistranslates the Spanish word anfitrion. It is not referring to the Greek mythological character but rather means a generous host.
True God and True Man
March 6, 1964 – Friday
Prostrating myself before Him, my soul breathed words of profound humility that He aroused in me. “Blessed be God! Blessed be His Holy Name! Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true Man.” He did not let me continue.
Jesus: “Your homage pleases Me, My little one, but I will explain the words, ‘True God and true Man.’ If this were not true, how could you come closer to Me? I let Myself be known to you as true God and true Man. Not only you, but all those who eat My Body and drink My Blood. As true God, I penetrate your heart and as true Man, I speak to you because My human Heart beats at the same rhythm as My Divinity. Your heart beats to the same rhythm as My Heart. Do you know what this means? It means that you participate in My Divinity.
All who feel with Me and whose thoughts are My thoughts will receive this participation. Whoever lives this way can only bless. This blessing increases the effect of My work of Redemption. This effect makes you saints. You see, this blessing is an eternal circular movement between Heaven and earth. Your sacrifices unceasingly rise up to Me and I shower My abundant graces upon you and upon all who dedicate themselves for the glory of My Holy Name. Patient, persevering love never blunders.”
October 9, 1964
You will easily render an accounting for time dedicated to God. Why not do everything for Me? This is so easy. All you need is a pure soul. The purity of your soul makes you divine. He who eats My Body and drinks My Blood remains in Me, and I in him. Immerse yourselves in My words. If God is in you, My little Elizabeth, how can you not also become divine?
March 17, 1966
At Holy Communion, a profound silence came upon my soul. As the Lord Jesus entered my soul, even the beating of my heart grew less. His words resounded in my ears. However, at the moment of divine union, every stirring in my soul was one with God. How great is that miracle that is repeated every day and washes again my soul with His Precious Blood and nourishes it by the power of His sacred Body. Thanks to Him, I can keep the ruses of the Evil One far from my soul.