How shall we feed on God? First by prayer. Not as completely is the
fish immersed in the sea or the bird in the air as the soul is in
God, for He is everywhere, and "in Him we live, and move, and are."
Every time we breathe we drink in the fresh air to renew the life of
the body; every time we pray, if we pray aright, we draw down the
grace of God to give new life to the soul. And as when a man ceases
to breathe we know that the life is gone out of him, so when a man
ceases to pray we may know that his soul is dead within him. But
there is another, a more literal and yet more wondrous way of feeding
on God, and that is Holy Communion. "I am the Bread of Life," and
again, "He who eats Me shall also live by Me." "As the hare in
winter," says St. Francis of Sales, "grows white by feeding on the
snow, so the soul grows white by feeding on this Heavenly Manna."
The science may be at fault, but the thought is true. "It is the
boast of the Catholic Church," observes Cardinal Newman, "that she
can keep the young heart chaste, because she gives Jesus for food and
Mary for nursing-mother." I am quoting from memory, and do not vouch
for the exact accuracy of the quotation.
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