and the west and shall sit down to the Lord's banquet whence many of His ungrateful children shall have been cast out. The poor shall be there; that is, the humble, the unworldly, the poor in spirit. The blind shall be there; that is, those who though 'they saw not Christ in the Eucharist still believed Him to be present. The feeble and the lame shall be there, viz., those who by the spirit mortified the deeds of the flesh, believing it better to enter into life blind and maimed rather than to be cast with all their members into unquenchable fire. Like the Patriarch Jacob they wrestle all through the night of time with the Lord and, though they come out of the contest broken and lame, still they attain the blessing of God and achieve their souls' salvation.
Brethren, let it not be said that Christ instituted for you in vain the Sacrament of His love. Let it not appear as though the Church was obliged to force you to that heavenly banquet by her holy commandment. Come to it rather with strong faith and eager love and deep gratitude, that the body and blood of the Lord may be for you indeed a remedy unto the remission of your sins and an earnest of your future entrance into life everlasting.
