Page:Meditations For Every Day In The Year.djvu/210

 prophet, "  He  will  overshadow  thee  with  His  shoulders." (Ps. xcl.  4.)    He  suffered  from  man,  for  man.

How does  He  suffer? By His  own  free  choice,  cheerfully, constantly,  and  in  silence. " He  was  dumb  as  a lamb  before  His  shearers." (Is. liii.  7.)

When did  this  scene  take  place? During the  solemn festival of  the  pasch,  at  a  time  when  the  city  was  unusually crowded  with  strangers  who  had  resorted  thither from all  parts  to  celebrate  the  feast. These circumstances increased  the  ignominy  of  His  sufferings  and  the confusion of  the  sufferer.

"Come eat  My  bread  and  drink  the  wine  which  I  have  mingled  for you." (Prov. ix.  5.)

Christ with  five  loaves  fed  five  thousand  persons. (John vi.)  The  same  Christ  will  enter  this  day  into your soul,  to  feed  it  with  a  food  the  most  wholesome and the  most  precious  that  ever  could  exist,  His  own precious body  and  blood:  "  For  My  flesh  is  meat  indeed, and  My  blood  is  drink  indeed." (John vi.  56.)  To  remove your  apprehensions  and  fears,  He  himself  invites you to  His  feast:  "Eat,  O  friends,  and  drink,  and  be  inebriated, my  dearly  beloved." (Cant. v.  1.)

II. Corporal food  produces  three  effects  on  the  body; it strengthens,  satiates,  and  preserves  life. Three similar effects,  as  the  Angelical  Doctor  observes  are  produced in the  soul  by  the  eucharistic  bread. This divine  food strengthens it  by  giving  it  grace  and  virtue  to  overcome vice and  bad  habits. Next, it  satiates  the  soul,  by  creating a  disgust  of  earthly  pleasures;  for,  as  the  Wise  Man says, "a  soul  that  is  full  shall  tread  upon  the  honey-