THE EUCHARIST: HOLDING FIRM & GIVING GENEROUSLY BY GABRIEL GARNICA

 

 
 
The Garabandal Message is in the form of holding firm in our faith and giving generously of ourselves to others.

The Message of Garabandal is about many things that bring us closer to God, but most of all it is about love. That love takes many forms and is expressed in many ways, but perhaps one of the main ways that we can interpret that love as presented in The Garabandal Message is in the form of holding firm in our faith and giving generously of ourselves to others.

HOLDING FIRM

St. Tarcisius is one of my favourite saints. This Martyr of the Eucharist died around the year 255 and was most likely a deacon or acolyte according to tradition. It is said that he was carrying The Blessed Sacrament from one place to another when he was attacked by a heathen mob. Curious to see what he held so tightly in his hands, these beasts became enraged when Tarcisius would not open his hands. Despite their vicious onslaught, the holy saint suffered death rather than surrender The Blessed Sacrament to the mob.

What can we possibly learn from this comparatively obscure Saint?
To begin with, Tarcisius teaches us to love Our Lord in The Blessed Sacrament with all of our might, and to respect His Real Presence in this beautiful Sacrament. Such love and respect implies that we hunger for the Eucharist and prepare well to partake of Our Lord in Holy Communion. This means going to confession often and trying to be as pure as possible when receiving Holy Communion.
 
Secondly, we are reminded that, as the Blessed Mother told us at Garabandal. "Less and less importance is being given to the Eucharist." Like Tarcisius, we must be willing to sacrifice everything out of love for Our Lord, and always hold Him close to our hearts never surrendering Him in favour of worldly things.

Thirdly, let us recall that The Blessed Virgin told the girls that it was a greater grace to receive Jesus in Holy Communion than to see her. How many of us have hoped to see Our Blessed Mother as these seers did thinking that such a wonderful blessing and yet fail to realise the daily blessing that we have right in front of us. I, for one, have neglected this great blessing terribly and need to begin taking much more advantage of this great gift.

Fourth, let us not forget that the Holy Eucharist was certainly a central part of the Garabandal events and continues to be a core aspect of The Garabandal Message. From the fact that the pines were planted by Conchita's grandfather to commemorate First Communions, to the Miracle of the Visible Host and much else surrounding Garabandal, the Blessed Sacrament remains central to the story.

In a world that is constantly ignoring, mocking and forgetting the Blessed Sacrament and the Real Presence so central to Garabandal, God asks us through the Messages of Garabandal to grasp Our Lord firmly and hold Him close to our hearts even as we carry Him to others via our words, actions and example.

GIVING GENEROUSLY

Who can forget the magnificent miracle of the multiplication of the five loaves and two fishes in John 6:1-15? This famous miracle has been analysed and interpreted by many people for many years, yet at its core, it is yet another illustration of love just as that of the Blessed Sacrament, The Real Presence, and the sacrifice of St. Tarcisius.

Many imagine that the little boy who generously offered his food to Our Lord to feed the multitude was the only person in that huge crowd who had food at all, but perhaps he was merely the only person who was willing to share what food he had. Perhaps there were others who had much more food, yet they were too selfish to share what they had with anyone. The food of those who were not willing to share remained merely food, perhaps enough, to feed a few people.

What of the food offered by the boy? Scripture tells us that Our Lord multiplied that food to feed thousands of people with much to spare. In this great miracle we see that we are expected to share our talents and what we have with others to glorify God. In return, our loving God will greatly multiply our talents and efforts such that we can help many more people than we could ever imagine.

At Garabandal Our Blessed Mother taught the girls to be attentive to the needs of others and to constantly seek ways to serve people. Much of The Garabandal Message centers on love of neighbour which includes service and generosity. In turn, Our Lord will greatly bless and magnify our efforts and generosity as long as we willingly and unselfishly offer our gifts of talents and time to others for the glory of God.

CONCLUSION

Simply put, Garabandal is also about love of God and love of neighbour. We are called to serve and love God through service and love of others. This call demands an unselfish and generous approach to life exemplified by that boy in the multiplication of the loaves and fishes and the selfless giving of his life by St Tarcisius to protect the Blessed Sacrament.

[From Garabandal International Magazine, January-March 2013]