Let me introduce you to a quote that changed my life.
When I was sixteen years old, I visited the Daughters of St. Paul for the first time and took part in their summer vocation program for high schoolers. During that week, I was introduced to Blessed James Alberione, the founder of the Daughters of St. Paul—who, as it turns out, said a lot of really cool stuff!
A few phrases from Alberione’s writings that I read during that week stuck with me throughout the course of my discernment and my formation, and continue to form the way I live my religious life. Things like, “Tell Jesus everything”; “There is no greater gift we can give to this poor, proud world than Jesus Christ”; and “Live in Jesus, and give Jesus.
One phrase in particular has influenced every day since I took the plane home from that summer vocation program. Blessed James Alberione said this: “It is a good practice to make the Eucharistic Host the day’s foundation. This means making the day Eucharistic.”
A Eucharistic day! I had never heard, had never thought of such a thing. Yet as soon as I began to think about it, it began to inspire how I lived and structured my days. Blessed James continues:
“It is a good practice to make the Eucharistic Host the day’s foundation. This means making the day Eucharistic. Spend the morning [after Mass] in thanksgiving, displaying the fruits of a holy joy, working ‘through him, with him, and in him,’ to the glory of the most Blessed Trinity. From midday to the following morning start your preparation by offering, sanctifying, and carrying out your various duties with your heart in tune with the Dweller in the tabernacle.”
Making the day Eucharistic, living a Eucharistic day means living a day that begins from the Eucharist, is steeped in the Eucharist, and is directed toward the Eucharist.
Begin the Day from the Eucharist
In Blessed James’s thought, beginning the day from the Eucharist means attending Mass and receiving Holy Communion in the morning, and spending the morning in thanksgiving for the gift of the Eucharist. You may or may not be able to attend daily Mass. If you can, then receive Jesus with all your heart and truly spend the morning in thanksgiving.
But even if you can’t, you can make a spiritual Communion and spend your morning in thanksgiving for the presence of Jesus with you. The word “Eucharist” itself means thanksgiving, and so spending a few moments in intentional thanksgiving, and then living the morning with a spirit of thanksgiving, is to live eucharistically. Every time we say “thank you,” we are living eucharistically.
Steep the Day in the Eucharist
The next thing that Blessed James recommends is to “work ‘through him, with him, and in him,’ to the glory of the most Blessed Trinity.” From beginning the day in the Eucharist, we move to steeping the day in the Eucharist. This can take many forms. It could mean taking the time to make a visit to Jesus in the Eucharist, if that is possible for you. It could also mean taking a few moments of silence in the middle of your busy day to remember that Jesus is with you.
A day steeped in the Eucharist also means carrying out your work in union with Jesus. It means focusing on the things God has given you to do today, putting your whole heart and soul into those things, and knowing that God is right beside you. “Through him, with him, and in him” is true at Mass, where we hear those words, and is just as true when we live our day with the Eucharistic Jesus by our side.
Direct the Day toward the Eucharist
A Eucharistic day not only flows from the Eucharist, but is also directed toward the Eucharist. In Blessed James’s words, this means preparing ourselves for our next encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist. How do we prepare ourselves for our next encounter with him? By offering him what we do, and in this way by making our moments and our actions holy, that is, filled with the presence of God.
Most importantly, we prepare ourselves to encounter Jesus by keeping our heart “in tune with the Dweller in the tabernacle.” I love the image of keeping my heart in tune with the Heart of Jesus in the tabernacle because, really, nothing is more important than allowing my heart to beat in time with the Heart of Jesus, so that my life sings the goodness, the mercy, and the love of God.
So this is the quote that changed my life. I pray that it makes an impact in yours. And I am sure that Jesus is looking forward to living many Eucharistic days with you.
