There is no quicker way to becoming a saint and to advancing in humility than by frequently kneeling at the feet of our Eucharistic Master, Teacher, and Lover. St. Peter Julian Eymard and his friend St. John Vianney are proof that the Eucharist was the food of the saints, the medicine of immortality, and the source of all virtue. This article dives deeper into why Jesus humbles Himself so profoundly in the Eucharist as related by St. Peter Julian Eymard:
Why is He so humiliated? In order to show us that He loves us, to glorify His Father, and to atone for human pride. Well then, you must also glorify God by your humility, love our Lord to the point of annihilating yourselves and abase yourselves to make up for the many souls who do not want to humble themselves. Our Lord bears in Himself the pain of their pride.1
The Heavenly Father tells us: “I have given you my Son in this condition of eucharistic abasement in order to show you how much He loves you and has humiliated Himself for you. Return to Him what He has done for you: humiliate yourself. Espouse His humility which He would not repudiate, even in His state of glory!” Beseech our Lord earnestly for the spirit of His eucharistic humility.2
Veiled from sight, Jesus Christ labors at the work of my sanctification. To become a saint, I must conquer pride and supplant it by humility. Now, in the Eucharist, Jesus gives me the example and the grace of humility.
He it was who, ages agone, pronounced these words, “Learn of Me that I am meek and humble of heart.” For nineteen centuries humility would have been but a name if we not had the remembrance of Our Saviour’s example during His mortal life. We could have said with truth: But, Lord, I never saw Thee humbled!
Ah, well, Jesus Christ is there to respond to our excuses and complaints. It is from the tabernacle, from beneath the veil of the Host that escapes the word, “Learn of Me that I am meek and humble of heart.” Learn of Me to hide your good works, your virtues, your sacrifices. Descend! Come down to me!
And the grace of humility is found in the humiliated state of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament. What human glory will fear to abase itself since the King of Glory descended to such a state?3
Jesus humiliates Himself in the Holy Eucharist for us. And what does Jesus ask of us in return? He wants us to humiliate ourselves. For many, this might sound depressing, but not for those seeking to become saints. More than anything, humility endears us to Our Lord. Jesus looks into the depths of our hearts for any trace of humility, for “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (Jas 4:6). Instead of proclaiming our good works, virtues, and sacrifices to the world, Jesus invites us to hide these things in His Eucharistic Heart as He tells us, “Descend! Come down to me!” Only our miseries and humiliations draw the Lord to us, not our talents and great deeds.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is sometimes referred to as the sacrament of humility for it takes great humility to confess one’s sins to God through the instrumentality of His priests, but is not the Holy Eucharist also the sacrament of humility? For in the Most Blessed Sacrament, Jesus humbles Himself to share in our humanity, so that we can share in His divinity. At every Mass, we re–echo the Roman centurion’s words in the Gospel, who declared, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter my roof; but only the say the word, and my servant shall be healed” (Mt 8:8) or Domine, non sum dignus. The centurion’s words are one of the most beautiful acts of humility ever recorded in Scripture, which often pass through our lips with little reflection. Should not the Eucharist stir in us the same sentiments of humility and fear of the Lord?
After Jesus rebuked the storms on the sea, His apostles exclaimed, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?” (Mt 8:27). Each time we gaze upon the Sacred Host, we ought to say, “What sort of God is this, who willingly annihilates and humiliates Himself daily before our eyes in this most august sacrament.” The mere sight of Jesus’ Eucharistic humility ought to eradicate any pride in our hearts. How amazing then is God’s infinite and self-effacing love to take on the appearance of bread and wine, so that we too can imitate His humility and so glorify the Father.
Photo by Diocese of Spokane on Unsplash
1St. Peter Julian Eymard, The Eucharist and Christian Perfection (Part I), trans. by Amy Allen (New York, The Sentinel Press, 1948), 279.
2St. Peter Julian Eymard, The Eucharist and Christian Perfection (Part I), trans. by Amy Allen (New York, The Sentinel Press, 1948), 279-280.
3St. Peter Julian Eymard, The Real Presence (New York: Fathers of the Blessed Sacrament, 1907), 119-120.
