The Eucharist Matters

When I was a kid, I remember very clearly asking my mother once at Mass right before communion:

“Does the priest ever run out of hosts?”

She gave me a quick and hushed response, “No, he never does.”

My mind registered her answer with utter amazement.  The priest never runs out of hosts!  God must miraculously keep putting hosts in there so the priest never runs out.  I imagined angels dropping hosts into the ciborium to make sure everyone received communion.

Though that would be an amazing thing, and though technically nothing could keep God from multiplying hosts in a paten or ciborium if He so desired, even more amazing is what ordinarily happens every time a Mass is celebrated.

It is more amazing than Elisha feeding one hundred hungry men and Jesus feeding five thousand men plus women and children.  Jesus transforms ordinary bread and wine into His own body and blood to feed us not only once, but to feed us daily into eternal life.

I remember accompanying my mother towards the priest and watching in awe at her receiving something I could not yet receive.  I stood beside, her admiring this mysterious food.  What does it taste like?  Is that truly God himself?  Is it allowed to chew the host?

Jesus gives us himself for heavenly food.  Jesus transforms creation, making Himself truly present in our midst.  The Gospel passage of the feeding of the 5,000 anticipates Jesus’ giving us the gift of the Eucharist, a gift that not only fills the belly, but fills the soul.

There is the popular phrase “you are what you eat.”

At Mass, in the Eucharist, we consume Jesus, we receive Him into our bodies and souls.  The creator of the universe, the creator of heaven and earth, He who created you and me comes into our bodies.  What happens to you and me when we receive Him, if indeed we are what we eat?

Saint Athanasius, great saint of the early church, wrote, “God became man so that man could become God.”  At this banquet of the Lamb to which we are all called, we certainly become what we eat.  We are united to God through His grace.  We live out here and now what we long to experience for eternity.

God comes to us so to lift us up to Him, and we share in His divinity as He has shared in our humanity.

We may not always consider these things when we receive communion.  It oftentimes becomes ritualistic, repetitive, and ordinary.  Yet it is in the ordinary that we are called to find Christ.  At this altar we see beyond ordinary bread and wine and we know Jesus Christ makes Himself present for our sake.

How is it that our lives are different because we receive Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament?  If we did not have this great gift, would something be lacking in our lives?  The Eucharist matters, so our lives should be different because we receive the Body and Blood of Our Lord.  Our lives should be different because God raises us up to Himself, because we become what we eat.

The Eucharist reveals to us the great dignity we have as human beings.  Though we are unworthy, Jesus invites us to receive Him.  Our lives are different in the Eucharist because we learn that God sees our infinite worth as his creatures.

Our lives are different because the Eucharist calls us to live out an unconditional love that imitates the love of Christ, a love that sees giving your life for your friend as the greatest love.  The Eucharist makes husbands love their wives more, wives love their husbands, parents love children and vice versa.  It allows us to love coworkers, acquaintances, friends and strangers.  It allows us to love those who annoy us, those who hurt us or frighten us.  It allows us to see each person, no matter what they may have done or do, as a child of God.

The Eucharist also propels us to action.  John Paul II wrote that how we treat others gives authenticity to what we celebrate here inside the church.  Here we affirm we are all one in Christ, here we affirm unity and love, so we must work tirelessly for peace and justice so that what we proclaim here through our actions matches how we live.

As we prepare to receive Our Lord, let us ask Him to transform us.  That we may be grateful for this amazing gift that that fills us and satisfies us.  That in becoming what we eat, we may be faithful instruments of His presence in the world.