SWEET SACRAMENT DIVINE | KAIROS GLOBAL | SEPTEMBER 2022

Author:  Prejomy Jose

Intro: When Sunday church-goer, Prejomy Jose had an encounter with the Eucharistic Lord, life changed with a thirst. 

Just as a regular Catholic, I was only a Sunday church-goer for years. From the year 2000, I got involved with the Jesus Youth movement.  In 2001, while attending a JY programme, I saw the agonized face of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament during adoration. I knelt down and cried aloud with tears gushing from my eyes; it was my first encounter with the Eucharistic Lord. From that day onwards, there was a thirst from my heart to attend the Holy Mass daily.

Though it was my desire to attend daily Mass, due to my work location and timings, I was not able to attend it often. My wife Reeja and I shared the same desire and we had been praying together for the grace to receive Holy Communion every day since our marriage. After eagerly waiting for almost 5 years, we finally received the blessing to go for the daily Eucharistic Celebration and receive Jesus. Since 2009, with divine grace, we – the entire family – have been going to church daily except in unavoidable circumstances. 

The Holy Mass is the source of my energy. When I am weak – physically, mentally or spiritually; it is my holding point. In every Holy Mass, I feel the presence of Jesus and many times I have been unable to leave the church without my eyes getting wet. To add cherry on the cake, the Lord opened Eucharistic Adoration centres in all the parishes where we stay. My children also love to sit before the Blessed Sacrament and testify how the Holy Spirit is guiding them in their life. As Psalms 51:22 says, I cast all my burdens to the Lord during Eucharistic adoration and come out with a renewed heart. 

I love to travel and in all my journeys I never missed daily Mass. Even at remote villages of North India or in countries with minimal Catholic presence, according to the travel time the Lord arranged things so that I never miss the Holy Mass. On some of my journeys, when I was sure that I would miss Mass, to my utmost surprise, I was able to attend inside the airport terminal itself during the layover time coinciding with the exact Mass timing.

After attending the daily Mass for many years, a thought came to my mind. Am I attending Mass because of my love for Jesus or is it because of a habitual activity? I was unable to find the answer for quite some time and then the Covid-19 pandemic came. It was then I realised that attending online Mass does not fulfill the desire to receive the Eucharistic Jesus in its physical form. The joy of hearing the news of church reopening after the lockdown could not be expressed in words. Online Mass can never be a replacement for the actual Eucharistic Celebration attended in the church.

And finally, my only prayer is not to take me from this world without receiving Jesus on that particular day.

Prejomy Jose works as a senior planning engineer for an oil company. He lives with his wife Reeja and their six children in Abu Dhabi, UAE.