Why do we need a feast of the Eucharist? A feast like this affords us the opportunity to give God collective thanks for Christ’s abiding presence with us which is made visible in the Eucharist. It is also an opportunity for us to seek a better understanding of the sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ and to order our attitude to it accordingly, since the Eucharist is a sacrament of life. In order to arrive at a better understanding of the Eucharist we need to ask why Jesus gave us this sacrament in the first place.
(1) Jesus promised to be with us until the end of time (Matthew 28:20). In the Eucharist Jesus provides a visible sign and an effective means of him being present to us and us being present to him. As Jesus himself said, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.” (2) Jesus said that he came that we may have life and have it to the full. In the Eucharist he provides a visible means of communicating this life to us so that we can be fully alive both in this world and in the next. As Jesus said, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day”
Quite often, we focus on the enhancements to our celebration of Mass, the music, the priest, the length of the Mass or the homily and we forget why we attend Mass in the first place. We attend Mass to be united with Jesus Christ in the Upper Room at the Last Supper, and on the Hill of Calvary at the Crucifixion of the Lord. We attend Mass to be united with Jesus Christ in the Eucharistic Gift of His Body and Blood.
Today’s celebration, the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord, is an opportunity for us to focus on the Mass and the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the Lord’s dying gift to us. The Eucharist is Jesus Christ within us. We receive His Body, His humanity and divinity, we receive His Blood, His saving us on the Cross, and we celebrate the Living Memory of Jesus Christ. We speak to Him within ourselves. And He speaks to us, calling us to unite our pains to His Cross, strengthening us with the eternal Food for the Journey of our Lives. I hope you are enjoying our good weather and will have a wonderful week!
