The Mass makes present the Sacrifice made by Jesus on the Cross, and to this Sacrifice we add our own “sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving” offering up all that we have and all that we are.
So many feel that Lent is the time to offer up, what I would call trivial things, such as no desserts ( I am sure the Lord could care less if we eat sweets or not), when the real purpose of Lent is to look into our hearts and see where we need to be healed and grow into the life He has called us to.
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The Eucharist, Jesus’ own Body and Blood given for us, should be our focus for Lent. If we truly believe that Jesus is our salvation, our healing, and our peace, then we would receive Him daily.
“Every celebration of the Eucharist is a ray of light of the unsetting sun that is the Risen Jesus Christ. To participate in Mass means entering in the victory of the Risen, being illuminated by His light, warmed by His warmth.” Pope Francis
One saint who understood the meaning of Christ’s Body given for us, was St. Peter Julian Eymard (d. 1868). His apostolate of the Eucharist met with widespread opposition, especially among priests of his own day. The focus of the opposition was St.Peter Julian’s emphasis on the real, corporeal and physical presence of the living Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. What he discovered was what the Church had always believed. But he contributed to a major development of doctrine in understanding the reality of Christ’s Eucharistic presence now on earth.
St. Peter had his critics but he also had his friends. Not the least of his admirers was the Cure of Ars (St. John Vianney) who knew St. Peter Julian personally. The Cure wrote of him, “He is a saint. The world hinders his work, but not knowingly, and it will do great things for the glory of God. Adoration by priests! How wonderful! Tell the good Fr. Eymard I will pray for his work every day.”
“His priests or His faithful people must give Him everything; the matter of the sacrament, the bread and the wine; the linen on which to place Him or with which to cover Him; the corporals, the altar cloths. He brings nothing from heaven except His adorable person and His love." St. Peter Julian
St. Peter Julian teaches us that Jesus is to be imitated twice over: once as the Son of God, who came to deliver us and once again as the same Incarnate God who is now living His glorified life in the Blessed Sacrament.
“The Lord Jesus, by making Himself into bread broken for us, pours over us all His mercy and His love, as He did on the cross, so as to renew our hearts, our existence and our way of relating with Him and our brothers,” (Pope Francis)