As we made our down the street, my kids noticed that some people in cars made the sign of the cross, while one man openly cursed. Some just walked on by.
The degree to which one reacts to the presence of the Lord in the flesh under guise of bread may say something about our spiritual state. For those who hold reverence, as is written in holy scripture, "Towards the pious, thou showest thyself pious" (2 Sam 22:26). And to the blasphemers, whose demons are riled up by the Most High God made manifest, they cry out between the lines of their curses, "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Are you here to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God!" (Mk 1:24).
And then there are the ones who shrug their shoulders, who stand unmoved. These are actually worse than the agitated blasphemers, who KNOW that He is God...there is hope there, that like St. Paul knocked from his horse their rapid fervor against holy things might be flipped on its head and they may become great apostles. But the shoulder-shruggers, the lukewarm "he vomits from his mouth" (Rev 3:16). They may not be "great" sinners, but their apathy is repugnant to the one who sacrificed his only Son to shed his blood for them.
The Catholic Church makes bold claims--that this wafer is truly the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of the Lord made present in human time and space. To be carried around into fallen humanity by fallen men; to be consumed ungrateful men; to be stomped into the carpet by careless men.
If you've ever prayed or protested outside an abortion mill, you know that those who foam most at the mouth, who yell and get in your face, are the most wounded by their own sin, because their guilt is reflected back to them and they can't stand it. Like the cross, it is a reminder that there are still holy things in this world, which have now become repugnant and offensive, and so must be erased.
But the Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament will be "be praised, adored, and loved with grateful affection, at every moment, in all the tabernacles of the world, even to the end of time." And so their rage is futile. Should they wish to be saved, all they must do is fall to their knees and adore the object of their scorn. But these are not the ones I worry about--it is the man who holds no response, no feeling of piety, but simply shrugs his shoulders and walks on by. Perhaps even a spark of curiosity will be enough for him to turn to the things beyond this world at some point in his life, question, explore, seek out, and find. But to the extent he persists in his lukewarm apathy towards the greatest gift to humanity ever given--the body and blood of Christ--this is the extent to which he will vomited forth at the final judgment, and burn with regret.
Lord may we not be like warm in our Faith!
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