The Body of Christ. God shows His love for us by taking on the accidental forms of bread and wine in the Eucharist. When we partake of the gift of His body and blood, we are invited to experience a joy beyond all imagination. We are given the opportunity to accept this joy by expressing our love for God. Finally, we are called to radiate this joy and bring others to the light of God's presence.
At the moment of consecration, bread and wine are transformed into Christ's body, blood, soul, and divinity (1). The miracle of the consecration is difficult to grasp since our senses perceive bread and wine. This is what we mean when we say that God's form in the Eucharist is "accidental": bread and wine do not contain God in their nature. His presence is not an essential part of bread and wine, and yet God chooses to reside under these forms in the consecrated Eucharist.
Even the grandest philosophical explanations of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist may still leave us doubting the power of this sacrament. We might be able to understand that God is present in the Eucharist from a philosophical standpoint, but perhaps our hearts haven't accepted this reality. Understanding the consequences of Christ's true presence in the Eucharist is a helpful way of connecting what is known by the intellect to what is understood by the heart. In reflecting on the Eucharist, Pope St. John Paul II said, "In that little Host is the solution to all of the problems in the world." Every hurt, every injustice, every human weakness is perfected by the presence of God in the Eucharist. The proper response to this reality is profound joy. What other natural response is there when we have received the grace to conquer all of our problems, limitations, and fears?
Perhaps our response is to have no response at all: to receive the Eucharist out of routine and to leave Mass only to be overwhelmed by worldly concerns the moment that we exit the church doors. If God gives us the grace to overcome all of the difficulties in our lives, then why do we still struggle? Why is it that we receive Communion every Sunday and still experience sin, difficulty, and sadness? God will only help us if we lovingly accept His presence. Love is not a feeling. It is not a warm fuzzy affection that we feel in our heart like when we think about our wives or our children. These are feelings of consolation, but love is something entirely different. To love is to will the good of the other. The definition of love implies action on our part. We can't simply think good thoughts about someone and watch him fall into ruin. How can we will another's good if we refuse to help him where we can? Love is demonstrated through appropriate action.
While it's easy to understand love in the context of human relations, defining love for God can be more complex. Thankfully, Christ gave us a clear idea of what it means to love God when He said,
"He that hath my commandments and keepeth them; he it is that loveth me. And he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and will manifest myself to him (2)." We love God by keeping His commandments. God desires a relationship with us. He becomes present in the Eucharist and wants to dwell within us, bringing us every good grace and blessing. However, God will only reside in us if we open our hearts to Him through love by following His commandments. The goal is not for us to begrudgingly follow a set of arbitrary rules. Rather, we are called to follow the teachings of Christ and His Church with joy, knowing that doing so will bring us freedom and greater union with God.
If we are dedicated to following these precepts, we can hope that our love for God will become a light for others. Receiving God isn't just about us. As children of God, we are called to bring the joy of His presence to others. Jesus instructs those who possess the joy of God's presence to "let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven (3)." Christ calls for the children of God to practice generosity. This spirit of charity to which Christ calls his children is something far greater than addressing human or temporal needs. Jesus calls us to use our joy to lead others towards the truth of God's love for us. Jesus expressed the gravity of this mission when he said, "Except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink of his blood, you shall not have life in you. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day (4)."
The choice to accept Jesus by receiving His body and blood in the Eucharist comes with the highest stakes imaginable: receive Christ and be saved or reject Him and be lost for all eternity. We can experience true joy by accepting the gift of God's presence in the Eucharist. This joy can only be felt if we love God by following the teachings of Christ and His Church. Once we attain this joy we experience the light of God's presence, which we can then share with others. This is why evangelization is so important and all too often misunderstood. Yes, we need to tell people about the good news of Jesus Christ and His Church, but before we look outward, we must turn inward. We have to ask ourselves whether we truly love God and whether we are courageous enough to be lights for others, beacons of joy in a world of darkness.
Questions for reflection:
Do we feel true joy in our hearts that comes from our deep relationship with God? If not, have we examined our conscience and considered whether we are striving to love God by keeping His commandments?
Do we strive to share the joy of living in God's presence with everyone that we meet?
Do we strive to understand Christ's teachings and those of His Church?
Do we strive every day to fulfill these teachings, realizing that they will not only bring us authentic happiness but everlasting life?
Do we accept the fact that we are only saved by receiving Christ's body and blood?
Do we ensure that we are properly disposed to receive the Eucharist by being free from mortal sin, by striving to remain focused at Mass, and showing reverence in church?
Do we thank God for the gift of His presence by spending a few moments in silent prayer after Mass instead of rushing out the door?
Is the Eucharist the center of our lives?
Do we reject the notion that we can be saved by any other means other than Christ's body and blood?
Do we recognize that no matter how nice we are or how good of a person we are that we cannot have salvation except through Christ and His one true Church?
Do we understand that ecumenism is about uniting non-Catholics to the One True Church; that the goal of ecumenical outreach is to bring nonbelievers home to the Catholic Church (5)?
Do we understand that it is an error to believe that God wills the diversity of religions (5)?
Do we earnestly pray for those who are have rejected God by practicing a faith other than the Catholic faith or by claiming to be Catholic without accepting the Church's doctrines in their entirety?
Do we offer up our daily sufferings, big and small, in reparation for the countless offenses and sacrileges against the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ?
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Quotations and Ciatations:
(1) Fourth Lateran Council, c. 1; Council of Trent, sess. 13, c. 4
(2) John 14:21
(3) Matthew 5:15-16
(4) John 6:53-54
(5) Declaration of the truths relating to some of the most common errors in the life of the Church of our time. Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke et al. 2018. http://www.ncregister.com/images/uploads/Declaration_Truths_Errors_final_version_clean.pdf
Images:
(1) Corpus Christi Procession. Oil on canvas by Carl Emil Doepler. Accessed via Wikipedia.
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