So, WHAT CAN receiving the Body of Christ do for each of us? Let me name 3 important benefits.
Benefit 1: While the Eucharist you & I receive is physically made only of flour & water, it can explode within us & work miracles in us, because it’s filled with the power of Jesus Christ. There are witnesses everywhere to Jesus’ saving power. In another parish where I served, a man who didn’t speak to his brother for 20 years because of a disagreement between them picked up the phone & reached out. They had an emotional reunion because Jesus has the power to change hearts, if we let Him. In fact, church history reminds us that the Eucharist was the very 1st sacrament of reconciliation, even before we had confession, penance, and reconciliation!
Benefit 2: no matter whether you are married, separated, divorced, widowed, single, partnered, or searching, every one of us needs a faithful companion who’ll be with us for our entire life span. Jesus is that true nourishment & companion; He is Food for our journey, wherever it takes us: & I’m talking about the little ups & downs, as well as the mountains & the valleys. My father was an alcoholic, and so was his mother. When my father died, I went through all the stages of death & dying: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, & eventually acceptance. But in the beginning, I walked around numb, and couldn’t feel anything. The only consolation that brought me ANY feelings of being alive was the Eucharist, & having the Eucharist in my body helped me get through the day & week. I tell you the truth that even when my head & heart were not right, Jesus stayed with me, & led me eventually out of the darkness. Letting Jesus lead me was the best decision I ever made.
Benefit 3: when we think about what Jesus did for us in giving us his Body & Blood in the Eucharist, & the great sacrifices He made for us on the cross - & doing it without whining or complaining about doing them, Jesus can expand our hearts to greater freedom, sacrifices, & generosity, if we let Him. There’s a woman in our parish to whom Jesus spoke after communion one Sunday, & all she remembers hearing Jesus say, over & over was: “count your blessings.” On her way home in the car, she counted a lot of blessings, including the fact that she had food in her fridge and on her table all week long. That’s when she thought of others, and their food situation. Today, that same woman watches the bulletin weekly, & whatever Virginia our Parish Outreach Director says we need for our neighbors, she buys it & drops it off. So, this woman receiving Jesus in the Eucharist has stretched her ability to sacrifice: & she’s more thoughtful, more caring & more grateful as a result of letting Jesus work actively in her heart.
When the priest, deacon, or priest, or Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion holds up the host and says: “The Body of Christ,” they are recognizing two things: first, that the holy & true presence of Jesus Christ is in the Eucharist; second, that YOU are a vessel of God’s Most Holy Spirit, and a person within whom God dwells. So, you as a member of the Body of Christ, are RECEIVING the Body of Christ. This thinking is NOT NEW: St. Augustine, our brother in faith from way back in the FOURTH century, taught that our goal on earth is to become the Jesus we receive. I believe that happens when we perform an action we did as children: when we “connect the dots!” When we connect the Consecration, when Jesus says, “This is my Body; this is my Blood, ” with opening our mouths and receiving communion, and with the sending forth statement the deacon or priest offers at the end of Mass when he says: “Go forth to love & serve the Lord, and one another.” By “connecting the dots,” we realize how the love of Jesus is penetrating our hearts: that just as God fed Jesus with love, & Jesus did God’s work all week long, so can we. Blessed be God forever. Love to you in the Eucharist, Father Chris
