We have been hearing to-day of the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of his redemptive work. The Eternal Word of God took flesh of the Blessed Virgin Mary and was made Man. In his sacred humanity he lived and loved, and suffered; he was crucified, was dead and buried; in his sacred humanity he rose from the dead and showed himself to his disciples; in his sacred humanity he ascended into Heaven, and entered into the fullness of his glory. Our Lord did not cease to be true man at his Ascension; in the heavenly state he continued to live according to a true manhood. Consequently questions arise about the sacred humanity to-day. What are we to think of our Lord's manhood? Where is he as man? Is he still as man present and active in the world in which we live?

It is clear from the Scriptures that we are to think of the glorified manhood of our Lord as being in Heaven. It was the vision of Christ as the Son of Man which supported the first Christian martyr; it was the appearance of Jesus in glory, yet still persecuted in his Church, which brought the apostles of the Gentiles to his feet; it was the Christ of Calvary and the Resurrection who was shown to the seer of the Isle of Patmos as the centre of the heavenly worship. So the Church has ever believed and taught. Jesus Christ, born of Mary, who died for the redemption of the world, now lives and reigns in glory, and as man shall come again at the last day to be the Judge of quick and dead.

But meanwhile what of the relation of his manhood to us who live still in this world? Is it as man that we may know him? Is it as man that he still comes to us?

It is significant that when our Lord is speaking of the most intimate union between himself and the believer he uses language directly connected with the fact of his humanity. I ma the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever, and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. He that eateth me, even he shall live by me. And these words do not stand alone; we cannot do otherwise than connect them with our Lord's action at the last supper when he took bread and said "This is my body," and blessed the cup, "This is my blood." Here is emphasis laid by our Lord himself on his real relationship in his sacred humanity with those who come to him, and, convinced of this, St. Paul says, The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

It is this same truth which the church's teachers have proclaimed in every age. Christ, though raised to highest heaven, still as man comes to his children. He has given a way by which he impart his life to his disciples under humble forms of bread and wine.

So it is that we speak of the presence of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. This idea has often been a source of difficulty to those who hear of it. They believe that our Lord is God: they know that God is present everywhere; and so they wonder what Catholics mean when they speak of the presence of our Lord in the Eucharist. "He is present everywhere," they say, "how can he be present more completely in one place than in another?" It is quite true that in his Godhead our Lord is everywhere present in all the perfection of his Being. He is as fully present at every point as if he were nowhere else, even while in him all things consist. Yet he, who is eternally the Word of God, in time took human nature, and united it perfectly with his divine nature; so that, in thinking and speaking of him, we have always to remember that he is both perfect God and perfect man. This was so in the days of his earthly life. As God, the Second Person of the undivided Trinity was present everywhere in his infinite perfection; as man he was not present everywhere. As man he was at Bethlehem, at Nazareth, by the Lake, in Jerusalem. Or think of him after the Resurrection; as God ever present everywhere; as man present where he willed to be. That will help us as we think of him to-day. We own his presence everywhere as God; as man we think of him present in the heavenly places, and, by an act of divine power, present in the most holy Sacrament of the Altar. Our belief it, therefore, that the mystery of the Incarnation has not ceased to be with us here on earth. By the power of the Holy Ghost, Jesus is present still. We live still in the days of Jesus Christ.

It is most important that we should dwell upon this fact, because this is the only way that most men can arrive at any vital faith in the Christ of to-day. We love to hear of the Christ of yesterday. The Gospels are ever fresh; the familiar scenes of our Lord's life impress us as vividly as ever; we love to think of him as he was long ago. Yet, if our thoughts of the Incarnation make us look back to a distant past, they make us sad, and fill us with a longing to have lived in those far-off days. "Long ago," we say, "Christ was here on this earth; he was at the disposal of every man; he came to each along his own earthly place that he might raise each to his heavenly plane. Now he has gone! And the world and the flesh and the devil wage their perpetual war, and hearts are cold, and faith dim." But God gives us the gift of faith. Christ has said "This is my Body; this is my Blood." We take him at his word. Through long ages the Church has taught that under the humble forms of bread and wine, and in either kind, the whole Christ is present in body and soul and divinity: and faith believes and triumphs, and bows down and adores. Yes, ere in the Blessed Sacrament is the Christ of to-day. It is God Incarnate and the Eternal grants a special presence of his Divinity in certain material elements. That would be a retrogression from the manifestation of God in human nature in the Incarnation. But it is God-made-Man who is present. In his manhood he comes, and under a veil hides his glory, and in humblest manner tabernacles amongst men. As, long ago, the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, so now that Word, still Incarnate, is amongst us, lifting up his children to the heavenly places, and teaching them how to love and pray, how to live and die.

III

Thus we think of the divine Guest; so we reverence the heavenly Gift. Christ comes, and in coming gives us the gift of himself. We aspire to Christ, and he draws near to us; but, more than that, we feed upon Christ, and he puts us into perfected humanity. Here is not merely the partaking of divine inspiration, for so there would be no fittingness in the use of material elements. Should we not for this have been better sent to nature there to breathe in the wind, the symbol of the Spirit? But here is a partaking of Incarnate God's very life, and he comes to us in a way that agrees with that tremendous fact. The principle underlying the Incarnation is that spirit is expressed through matter, the inward through the outward, the invisible through the visible. So God became man. So Christ entered into human life, and lived and loved as man, and conformed to human ways, and used simple material things for divine purposes. It is in line with this that, when he gives to his people this divine gift, this gift of himself, he should use the same method. As once at Bethlehem he hid the divine glory through uniting with it the weakness of our nature, so now that self-same Life he hides under simple material forms. It is, then, to God Incarnate that we come in Holy Communion. To the Jesus of to-day: to a living Christ: a present Christ. To Christ who, ever truly God, is still truly man, and is still to-day easily within the reach of every man, woman and child, who seeks him.

To this mighty Gift we must have recourse again and again. It is clear from the Scriptures and from the experience of the Church that frequent and even daily communion should be our ideal. Moreover this is not to be an ideal which, on account of its greatness, we put on one side as impracticable. We ought to regard it as an aim which is most right and fitting for the aspiration of everyone of us. Many people shrink from the idea of frequent Communion chiefly because they have never thought the matter out clearly. They believe most rightly that here is the greatest Gift that man can receive, and they regard it as the occasional reward granted to those who are aiming at a Christian life. They do not regard it as the very ground and condition of the Christina life. They do not realise it as the fount of all goodness, and the source of all hope. Yet our Lord invites us not only to feed upon him but to live by him; to look to him for the virtues that we lack, and let him nourish us continually with his own goodness. But how can we live by Christ if we do not come often to Christ? No doubt there are some who are able most wonderfully to keep themselves detached from the world, and live in the atmosphere of devotion; yet even these need frequent Communion, that Christ may be truly formed in them, and that sanctity may have its perfect fruit. How much more then should we come often to him, who have to fight hard to keep our place in his Kingdom, and who are daily threatened with spiritual disaster? If we are to live the Christian life, it can only be by means of the Christian Food. In face of every danger we shall best be preserved as again and again we welcome our Divine Guest to our hearts.

We remember that always it has been our Lord's way to be simple and homely in his dealings with men, even though he is Lord of all. It is still his will to dwell familiarly with his children; and still he endures the charge that he is "the Guest of those who are sinners." With all faith and penitence and devotion we must prepare for his coming, and honour him as best we may; yet no extraordinary fervours or elaborate dispositions are required of those who come even daily to his altar. A life in grace and an honest intention are the simple requirements. With these we may dare to come day after day as the Spirit draws us to him; with these fortified, we may invite him to come to us, and daily learn afresh to entertain him more worthily.

IV

The gift of the Blessed Sacrament being our Lord himself, Communion is at once man's greatest need and noblest act. Let us in conclusion dwell for a few moments upon one consequence of this. I refer to the practice of Reservation. It is plain that Holy Communion must always be available for all God's children, so from early days the Blessed Sacrament has been reserved in some safe and honourable place. But where the Blessed Sacrament is, there is Christ himself. He dwells amongst his people. He is present still. He lives to-day here upon the earth. He is here still for the purposes of redemption; to convert, to save, to transform, to feed, to uplift, to sanctify.

He lives amongst us; so here in the Holy Sacrament is the Fount of Communion. He is here to be the spiritual Food of every soul. Here is the heavenly Food for the sick, and those who are unable to come to Church. Here also is Communion for the strong and healthy who, by their labours, are hindered from coming at he usual hours. Here every day he feeds his children and every day reminds them of the nature of their life in him. Never must they be satisfied with conventional respectability, or average goodness; nerve must they settle down to a dreary round of dull routine. They must be up and doing; they must be greatly daring; they must aspire to God; they must make great ventures. They are to feed on him, and live by him; they are to rise above the natural and live on the supernatural plane; they are to aim with calm confidence and high hope at holiness itself.

So he comes to them, and so they find him. Here is the trysting place of all who desire and love Jesus. Here is the abode of peace and the home of hope. Here a great lights shines which banishes the darkness of this sad world, and illuminates the way to eternal life. Yes, Catholics know it well; in the most Holy Sacrament the Jesus of to-day is to be sought and found, loved, adored, possessed. Men may misunderstand us, misjudge us, malign us; they may repudiate what we believe, oppose it, deride it. They may do their utmost to check our devotion; they may harass us to the point of persecution; but they can neither alter our faith, nor stem the rising tide of devotion. Whatever men may say of do, here in the most Holy Sacrament Jesus Christ abides; here he will still be sought and found, still be loved and adored, and still be possessed.

There is no doubt much to be done, and much to be suffered, before the victory of the Holy Sacrament is won; but let us take courage. Christ lives and reigns in Heaven; here on earth in faithful hearts and in the Holy Sacrament he lives and reigns; so in his own time will he show all men how gracious he is; how glorious a Lord, how loving a Guest.

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