{"id":6319,"date":"2026-04-02T01:00:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T23:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=6319"},"modified":"2026-04-01T18:33:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T16:33:26","slug":"holy-thursday-in-gratitude-for-the-great-eucharistic-gift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/?p=6319","title":{"rendered":"HOLY THURSDAY: IN GRATITUDE FOR THE GREAT EUCHARISTIC GIFT"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day, for my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. <\/span>
\nThose who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven <\/span><\/h3>\n

(John 6: 54-58)<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

FOR EUGENE, THE EUCHARIST AS THE HEART OF HIS LIFE AND ACTION<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eugene had made his first communion on Holy Thursday at the College of Nobles in Turin. It was always an important moment for him to recall the joy of this important event. Antoine Ricard, who had been a diocesan seminarian in Marseille, illustrated this:<\/p>\n

One Holy Thursday \u2013 as I personally recall \u2013 we were in the Cathedral of Marseille. The bishop (Eugene de Mazenod) was officiating with the gentle dignity and recollection that made him renowned among all the bishops, his contemporaries. Unexpectedly we saw him cry and, while trying, he could not conceal it. The seminarians who surrounded the bishop\u2019s throne, struck by the emotion of the Bishop, were moved as they looked at him. He noticed this, and turning to one of them, the author of these lines, whose short-sightedness made his staring more obvious:<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYoung man,\u201d he said with that simplicity that made him win hearts, \u201cdo not be startled like that \u2013 today is the anniversary of my first communion.\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Mgr Antoine RICARD, \u201cMonseigneur de Mazenod, \u00e9v\u00eaque de Marseille, fondateur de la Congr\u00e9gation des Missionnaires Oblats de Marie Immacul\u00e9e,\u201d p. 12.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>THE EUCHARIST FOR THE OBLATE CHARISMATIC FAMILY<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe Eucharist, source and summit of the Church\u2019s life, is at the heart of our life and action\u2026 In gratitude for this great Eucharistic gift, we will seek the Lord often in his sacramental presence.\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

OMI Rule of Life, Constitution 33<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

As we celebrate the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper, perhaps we could make this the opportunity to recall our own first communion – and every time we receive the Eucharist – with joy and thanksgiving<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day, for my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6319\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eugenedemazenod.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}