“Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.  And when they saw him, they worshipped him…And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, ‘All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.…and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world’ “ (Matthew 28:16-20)

This was the last of Our Lord’s Resurrection appearances before his actual Ascension. The disciples were now in Galilee where they were taking the opportunity to say goodbye to their relations and friends before going out to preach the Gospel and establish the Christian Church among all nations.

But that was not the chief reason which had led them to make this journey from Jerusalem to the north.  For they came to Galilee to receive their authority and commission to continue Our Lord’s own Ministry, and for this no place could be more suitable than that in which he himself had first preached the Gospel three years before.

They had now discovered the secret of Our Lord’s Person – that he was, as St Thomas had acknowledged, their Lord and their God.  And so, as he appeared to them on that lonely hillside in all the splendour of his glorified Body, they bowed themselves in worship before him.  They did exactly the same at the time of his Ascension when we read that,“…they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy…(NRSV, Luke 24:52).

That Body, in which he was then clothed, was the same as that which was laid in Mary’s arms in the stable at Bethlehem and which was laid in them again when it was taken down from the Cross of Calvary.  But now it was changed and glorified and raised to a higher level of existence altogether.  Until his Resurrection, Our Lord’s Divine powers had been narrowed down by the earthly limitations which his Body had imposed.  But now it was transformed and exalted to Heaven itself, and those limitations were swept away.  As he said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth”, and in particular, power over time and power over distance.

So he at once went on to assure his disciples and ourselves of his abiding Presence, “…lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world”.  For Our Lord has resumed his place in that eternal and Heavenly life, which is the close and invisible background of our earthly pilgrimage.

So now, while as God the Son, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, he is with us everywhere, he is present in his glorified human Body in the Blessed Sacrament, the consecrated Bread and Wine of the Eucharist.  This is in accordance with the promise which he forcibly and repeatedly made in his sermon in the synagogue of Capernaum – “the bread that I will give…is my flesh” (NRSV, John 6:51) – and which he fulfilled a year later at the Last Supper when he took the bread and identified it with his own Risen and Ascended Body: “This is my Body”.

It is because all power in Heaven and earth has been given to Our Blessed Lord that he is thus able to bring Heaven and earth together in the Blessed Sacrament.  The Holy Eucharist, because it centres on the living Person of the Ascended Christ, is caught up into the life of Heaven and forms part of the worship of Heaven.  And as Heaven and earth draw together, so the earthly forms of bread and wine become one with the Heavenly Body of Our Saviour and enshrine his Body.  So we rightly say, “Blessed and praised be Our Lord Jesus Christ upon his Throne of glory and in the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar”.

In the Eucharist our adoration is primarily directed to God the Father to whom we offer our Crucified and Risen Lord.  So in the words of the hymn we sing,

“And having with us Him that pleads above,
We here present, we here spread forth to Thee,
That only offering perfect in Thine eyes,
The one true, pure, immortal sacrifice”. (1)

For the Eucharist is the means which Our Saviour has given to us so that we sinners may be able to approach the all-holy and eternal God.

For this reason, although at the Eucharist we sing hymns such as,

“Thee we adore, O hidden Saviour, Thee,
Who in Thy sacrament dost deign to be”, (2)

yet this adoration of Our Lord, natural as it is, is only incidental to the Eucharist itself, which is an act of worship offered to our Heavenly Father.  Adoration of Our Blessed Lord in his Holy Sacrament, therefore, more properly belongs outside the Eucharist.  Having said that, an important way in which we express our love and adoration for Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament is by making a careful preparation before Holy Communion and thanksgiving afterwards.

In many churches the Blessed Sacrament, the consecrated Bread of the Eucharist, is continually reserved, making these places not only the Lord’s own House but also the very gate of Heaven.  For where the Blessed Sacrament is, there is Our Blessed Lord in his Ascended and Glorified Body.

The Blessed Sacrament is kept in a safe.  When the safe is on the altar it is called a tabernacle; when it is in the wall near the altar it is called an aumbry.  A white light burns close to the tabernacle or aumbry as a perpetual sign of Our Lord’s Presence there and we genuflect as we pass by to express our adoration and love for him.

And of this holy place, it may truly be said, in the words of Holy Scripture, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God” (Revelation 21:3).  And here we can come close to Our Lord and pray to him and give ourselves to him and adore him.

And in the service of Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament we give to Our Lord the honour which is his rightful due.  At that service the Sacrament is brought to the altar where we sing two hymns which are often sung at the Eucharist.  And there we adore Our Lord in his Glorified Body and receive his own blessing, just as the disciples worshipped him on the mountain in Galilee and later on Ascension Day on the Mount of Olives and received his blessing there.

Other resources

See also ‘Preparation and thanksgiving for Communion’ which was written for young people but is also relevant for adults.

References

1. Bright, W. (1874) And now, O Father, mindful of the love.  Available from: http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/n/andnowof.htm (Accessed 20 June 2011) (Internet).

2. St Thomas Aquinas (1226-1274) translated by Woodford, J.R. (1850) Thee we adore, O hidden Saviour, Thee.  Available from: http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/t/w/twaohsat.htm (Accessed 20 June 2011) (Internet).