A KISS OF GRACE

A KISS OF GRACE 

Lord, I am not worthy That you should

enter under my roof, but only say the word 

And my soul shall be healed. 

The Body of Christ. Amen.   

The Blood of Christ. Amen.

 O Lord, you held out Your Hand with Thy Cup, but I have been unable to come to Your table, to drink from Thy Cup. Illness and medications which affect my liver enzymes, have denied me Your Presence, to be completely nourished and fulfilled. How can I partake in this precious gift of Thy Cup? How could I not come to You, O Lord; not find a way, to receive You? 

It is here, I stand before Christ, with complete reverence and compassion. I take His Cup into my hands and with my lips, place a kiss on the outer rim of the Cup. A simple gesture, a kiss of His Cup?  Know what I tell you here, is not simple, for how could Our Lord's sacrifice and suffering be called simple? There is great depth of reflection here, focusing on these unforgettable events of Our Lord's Passion and Death. In the heart and soul of my spiritual furnace, these burning embers are in remembrance of Our Lord's ultimate sacrifice. He, who came forward to save us, shed His Precious Blood into this Cup. 

I take Thy Cup into my hands and kiss it, very passionately, I acknowledge and accept Your Presence within Thy Cup. Oh Jesus, pour into me, into my heart and soul, Your precious drops of Blood, of Your Presence, of Your Merciful Heart: the gift of Yourself. Let Your Spirit and Grace flow from this Cup into my inner-self, into my spiritual reservoir. Consume me, into each droplet. How could I not repay You for such, a gift, O Lord? For this tender kiss, I give You, is for the deceptive kiss, that betrayed You. For the love I have for You is like no other; for who else has come forward, to kiss this Cup of Your sufferings? And where did this come from, if not from You, from Your very Self? This compassionate kiss, a token of my gratitude, my love, my tears, all my emotions pressed together: from my lips, an outpouring of my heart and soul. 

As I stand before You, O Lord, let me not fade from Your view. For in this moment, I am holding, You; I am embracing Your endurance, Your fear, Your anguish, Your most Sorrowful Passion and Death; I am here Lord, removing the Crown of Thorns, the nails from Your Hands and Feet. This kiss is to wipe away Your Tears, to clean away the spit and deafen the insults. I kiss, O Lord, the most Sacred Wounds of Your Hands and Feet, the Wound of Your Side, and from carrying the Cross, Your most painful Shoulder Wound. I kiss the Wounds of Your Heart, of those that rejected You, and hated You. I kiss Your sorrow, Your brokenness and the pierced heart of Your Blessed Mother. This, is what it is, and how it is, when I kiss, Thy Cup. 

O Jesus, these precious drops of Blood of Yourself are falling onto me in a mist of compassion. I am a little soul, with a little kiss, like a child, reaching out to You, to touch Your garment. Can I hug You? Can You hold me, stay with me for awhile? I long to be with You, in this Presence. What is, this beauty of the heart, that penetrates me, that churns within me? What is, this place of peacefulness, that flows, with such compassion, if not put there, by Your very Self? 

For the fresh water of a river, which flows to the ocean, there is a point when the fresh water intermixes with the salt water, and now becomes the ocean; so too, like the Bread and Wine in Communion, become one within the body; one without the Other, is a shallow stream, but combined together, is great substance to the soul. For the beauty of a lake, is only crystal clear, as the water within; and also, the beauty of the heart, is only compassionate as the fragrance within. The stillness of the lake, and the calmness of the heart, propel these two reservoirs into one, outpouring peace, serenity, and purity of love, with a kiss.  In scripture, and also in the Eucharistic prayer at Mass, we are told to take both bread and wine. This is a command from Jesus Himself.

(  KING JAMES ) MATTHEW 26: 26-28 

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; This is my body. And he took the cup,and gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Eucharistic Prayer 

On the day before he was to suffer he took bread in his holy and venerable hands, and with eyes raised to heaven to you, O God, his almighty Father, giving you thanks he said the blessing, broke the bread and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take this, all of you, and eat of it; For this is my body which will be given up for you. 

In a similar way, when supper was ended, he took this precious chalice in his holy and venerable hands, once more giving you thanks, he said the blessing and gave the chalice to his disciples, saying: Take this, all of you, and drink from it: For this is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of me.

With these thoughts in mind, when I kiss the Chalice I acknowledge and accept our Lords presence within the cup consuming it into my heart and soul. This gesture, is most reverent, compassionate and personal, and is beyond me to think of this by myself.

This gift of grace is the fragrance of me: like a rose, filling the air with aroma, lifting up to You O Lord, the compassionate petals of my prayers. Each kiss of Thy Cup is a rose, becoming a bouquet, a bouquet of delicate kisses from my heart. I beseech Thee, O Lord, to find me worthy, to accept my compassionate kiss, to come under Your roof, and have a place for me. Know, these are not, a fabrication of words, but sentiments You have put there, the workings of Your very Self. You have called me by invitation, O Lord, to come to You. For some of those who come to Your table are unaware of You, of Your Presence; their minds and hearts are elsewhere without reverence to their surroundings and the Gifts they are about to receive. 

It is a reminder here: to be nourished by our Lord, is to be within reach of His Heart. Does your heart come prepared to be filled with His Presence within you, to help carry His Cross for others, to respond in your actions with compassion to the less fortunate? Do you bring spiritual drink to those on your journey? 

I am here, O Lord, responding to Your call, with a kiss on Thy Cup, and these words, of my heart: I love You. I love You. I love You.

Robert J. Varrick   

 rjvarrick@gmail.com