Receiving the Eucharist means adoring Him whom we receive. Only in this way do we become one with Him, and are given, as it were, a foretaste of the beauty of the heavenly liturgy. The act of adoration outside Mass prolongs and intensifies all that takes place during the liturgical celebration itself.
More on this, by Doug Lawrence: The reality of the Presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist is probably the single most significant difference between the Protestant and Catholic faith traditions.
For the last 500 years or so, Protestants of all kinds, due to their voluntary separation from the true church of Jesus Christ, and their rejection of the ministerial priesthood, as well as many other related Catholic doctrines and dogmas, have concentrated on trying to develop a relationship with Jesus through the use of the Bible, fore-going the authentic, personal, grace-giving sacramental union that Jesus had already prepared and prescribed for us, while he still walked the earth.
It is only through the authentic sacraments of the church that we, in this life, are enabled and empowered to encounter the risen and triumphant Jesus Christ, in a way that even our fallen, myopic humanity can actually touch, comprehend, and assimilate.
While any attempt to develop a relationship with Jesus Christ is commendable … there can be no doubt that a long-distance, “pen pal” type of approach cannot compare to the awesome and all encompassing, physical and spiritual “hug” we receive from Jesus himself, whenever we Catholics receive him, in the holiest Sacrament of the Altar.
Catholics have always understood that the divine inheritance we presently receive through baptism in Christ, is infinitely richer than anything we can ever hope to read in any book. Yes … even the God-inspired, Holy Bible.
Catholics have been blessed, from the earliest days, to personally encounter Jesus Christ, in both a physical and spiritual way, through our regular reception of the sacraments. Hence, as a Catholic, Jesus’ flesh and blood already nourishes my flesh, while his supernatural grace simultaneously refreshes my soul.
To put it simply, the only way most of us can hope to experience true holiness in this life is by personally encountering the Holy One … Jesus Christ … in and through the grace-giving sacraments that he personally instituted … for that express purpose.
Sure, I love to read the Bible … the written Word of God …
but, for the very practical reasons already mentioned, I love to eat the flesh and drink the blood of Jesus Christ, who is
God, the Word … much, much more.
From the “old” Baltimore Catechism:
Q. Why did God make you?
A. God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.
Hopefully, on the great day of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9) thanks to the church, the sacraments, and of course, Jesus … he and I will “know” each other, in the most intimate way possible … as the here-to-fore “Mystical” Body of Christ reaches its ultimate, divine potential … in and through an incredibly awesome, glorified and eternal, one-flesh union with our Holy, Creator God.
And that is precisely what the highest form of the biblical term “to know” actually means.