Phillips: the coincidence of the material and the spiritual

Thursday, August 4, 2022
    Feast of John Vianney, Curè d’Ars, 1859
Meditation:
    Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?
    —1 Corinthians 10:16 (NIV)
Quotation:
    As every pilgrim in the spiritual life knows, it is hard to hold the unseen in our mental and spiritual grasp. Visions of eternal truth, crystal-clear at the time, have a disconcerting way of fading from our memory. But here I may reassure myself. Here I know that Christ Himself, taking pity on our blindness, and understanding our limitations, is allowing the seen and the unseen, the material and the spiritual, to coincide. Here, by His appointment, I can receive and absorb things that are physical and know that they are really things which are spiritual. It is no mere piece of bread or sip of wine that I receive—I receive the very Body and Blood of Christ into my own imperfect self.
    ... J. B. Phillips (1906-1982), Appointment with God, New York, Macmillan, 1954, p. 36 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 10:16-17; 11:27; 2 Cor. 4:18; 5:7; Col. 1:15; 1 Tim. 1:17; Heb. 11:1
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I receive You by the bread and wine. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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