Sometimes you get overcome by something your read. Johannes Tauler (1300-1361)  was a German Dominican preacher. Reading his sermons had a tremendous impact on Martin Luther. This is a quotation from a sermon of his on Holy Communion.

Those “who find the depth of their soul and their intentions pure and whose aspirations are directed wholly toward God will receive the greatest fruits for the Blessed Sacrament; nothing will put them off, nothing will shatter their trust in God, no matter what He sends them or takes away from them. . . . It is God they love, and it is Him they have in mind. They sink into Him, seeking not His gifts but Him only . . . In such people the Blessed Sacrament affects a noble and glorious transformation.”

Reading that made me think. When was the last time I went to Communion with the expectation that God would transform me. I go to Communion, of course, for the forgiveness of sins as I was taught in the Small Catechism. But is that all I should expect? Shouldn’t I expect to come from the altar made into a new person? I should expect that, but I don’t. I sadly expect life to go on pretty much the same after I commune as before. And that’s wrong.

The sign of change in me lies, I think, in Tauler’s words, “they sink into [God] seeking not His gifts but Him only.” To desire  God, not what God can give me or do for me, but desiring only God. This is the fruit of the sacrament.

Read John 6:56 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne