Saint Charles Garnier, S.J.: Protest to Jesus that you are his

In a letter written to his brother on 23 June 1641, Saint Charles Garnier, S.J., one of the North American Martyrs, wrote of the source of his strengthen in the mission field among the Hurons:

But the source of all sweetness and the whole support of our hearts is Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Do not say that you do not relish this Bread of Life; it is good to converse with God for some time after Holy Mass and to visit him in the Blessed Sacrament when your occupations permit you to do this. Let us adore and embrace him; let us protest to him that we are his in spite of ourselves, and let him do with us what he pleases.

Seven and a half years later, the Iroquois killed him with a shot from a musket.

Without daily attendance upon the Blessed Sacrament, without gathering daily in the presence of the Eucharistic King and gaining strength from him, the witness of the North American Martyrs would have been impossible.

Daily did Father Garnier protest to Jesus that he belonged to him, despite his weakness and sinfulness, and, in the end, he showed protestations to be true. Having tasted the sweetness of the Bread of Life, Father Garnier's heart was supported in the final moments of his life when he was indeed claimed by the Lord as his own. May Saint Charles intercede for us and teach us to savor the sweetness of the Bread of Life.