O Good Jesu, Hear Me

I'm continuing with looking at the Anima Christi prayer. If you want a more in-depth theological look at it, I highly recommend Micah's posts over at The Ranter's blog. Here's the full text of the prayer:

Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from the side of Christ, wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Suffer me not to be separated from Thee
From the malicious enemy defend me
In the hour of my death call me
And bid me come unto Thee
That with thy Saints I may praise Thee
For all eternity
Amen

O good Jesu, hear me.

On the face of it, this doesn't seem like a profound statement.  OK, so it's a prayer to Jesus and we're asking Him to hear us, what's the big deal?  I sometimes (OK, often) forget how amazing this is.  Our God isn't far-off and we don't have to wake Him or somehow make a fuss to get His attention.  He's listening, He's with us.

I think it's apt that this phrase falls today, the day we celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi here.  The day we celebrate the miracle of the Eucharist, wherein Jesus gives us His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity.  Of course we can always talk to Jesus and know that He hears us, but going before Him in the Blessed Sacrament and talking to Him there, bringing Him our cares, worries, hopes, joys: ourselves, in short.  Well, it's amazing to think of, and to be reminded that He is there, waiting for us and listening.  While we entreat Him to hear us, perhaps the real reminder here is that He is there waiting for us, there offering Himself for us so that we might have eternal life.  I'm going to post the Gospel reading from today below.  I know I've gotten a little off the topic of the Anima Christi prayer, but I think these things work together.

Jesus said to the Jewish crowds:
"I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give
is my flesh for the life of the world."

The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,
"How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
Jesus said to them,
"Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,
you do not have life within you.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.
For my flesh is true food,
and my blood is true drink.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me
and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on me
will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,
 whoever eats this bread will live forever." (John 6:51-58)