The Eucharist, The Basic Sacrament

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

A few days ago I visited a Bible Study Group. They were discussing about the Catholic Faith. During our conversation I asked them: “Can you please summarize the Catholic Faith into a single word?” There was a long pause. A gentleman finally broke the silence. “The Eucharist,” he said. I thought that was a great answer. The Eucharist is the “source and summit” of our Faith. Everything else is centered around it.

THE EUCHARIST, THE BASIC SACRAMENT
The importance of the Eucharist in Christian Spirituality is an undisputable fact. First of all, the Eucharist is not just one among the seven sacraments. For example, while the Eucharist offers Jesus himself, other sacraments confer his grace. Through the Eucharist, we share in the life of God and become part of the body of Christ. Secondly, in the Eucharist we have a complete encounter of the Risen Lord. All other forms of Jesus encounters are real but partial. The Eucharist is the real presence of Jesus. A story is told about Emperor Napoleon. This incident happened during a Sunday Eucharistic Celebration. The priest while saying the words of consecration, all of a sudden went into an ecstasy and cried out with wonder and awe:
“I can see Jesus in the Host. Come on everybody and see Jesus in the Bread.” Everybody but the little Napoleon rushed to the altar to see Jesus in the Eucharist. After the mass, Napoleon’s parents asked him, “What is wrong with you? Why didn’t you run to the altar to see Jesus in the Eucharist?” Napoleon replied, “I feel sorry for you. Only today you see Jesus in the Eucharist? I see his presence every time I come to Mass.” Thirdly, the Eucharist is our food for the Journey (viaticum). Life is not a destination in itself. It is a journey. Life continues after death. Manna provides nourishment only for our earthly pilgrimage. We need bread that keeps our life alive until we reach eternity. Jesus offers that bread in the Eucharist. Jesus said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever.” (John: 6). Fourthly, the Eucharist is the ultimate sacrament that takes away the sin of the world. During the Last supper Jesus said, “This is my blood, the blood of the New Covenant which will be shed for all for the forgiveness of sins.” (Mt: 26:28). Finally, the Eucharist offers us an action plan for Christian Life. When Jesus said ‘Do this in memory of me” he was inviting his disciples to begin a new life style; a life of sharing their blessings and bearing others burdens.

A PROPER APPROACH TO THE SACRAMENT
The Eucharist being so precious and beyond human imagination in its significance in our lives, it is vitally important to approach this sacrament with right respect and disposition. To make our participation in the Eucharist meaningful and experiential I would like to suggest three things.

1 REVERENCE
Jesus was angry when he saw people making the Temple less reverential. He said, “Stop turning my Father’s house a market place.” (John 2:16). Often people show me pictures of their visit with Pope. They dressed like queens and Kings and are at the best of their behavior. Going to a town Hall meeting and going to the Church (temple of God) is different. How respectfully we enter the Temple of God? Proper attitude brings proper disposition.

2 PREPARATION
The amount of preparation one takes shows the importance of the event that one is going to attend or the importance of the person whom one is going to meet. To make the Eucharistic celebration memorable, two kinds of preparations, namely, remote preparation and immediate preparation are necessary.
1. Remote preparation. The key to remote preparation is the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Remember the words of Jesus: “If your brother has something against you, reconcile with him before you offer your gifts at the altar…” (Mt: 23). St. Paul repeated the same in a more aggressive way. According to Paul sharing of the ‘cup and bread’ with a blemish heart will invite curse not blessing.
2. Immediate preparation. Before we start any game or sports, we spend a few minutes for warm up. Today as we are busy and are distracted by too many things, it is not easy to switch over from one activity to another like a machine. We need time to dispose ourselves for the next item in the agenda. This is true with regard to the liturgical celebration too. Once a lady said: “ I am there at the Church at least five minutes before the Mass begins. I open the mislet and go through the readings of the Mass.” Another person said:
“When I enter the Church, I mark the sign of the cross on my forehead and reflect about my baptismal call.” We need to develop a way to create the right disposition.

3. PARTICIPATION
The entire Eucharistic Celebration is one single action. If we miss one part then, we miss the whole. For instance, through the penitential rite we prepare ourselves to listen to the word, listening to the Word prepare us to make the commitment (offering), offering enables us to receive Jesus in our hearts and this in turn transforms us and commissions us to serve the lord. Active and conscious participation in the full celebration is not an obligation, it is a right and a privilege.

Bread of Life

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The central theme of the readings for our liturgy these days is ‘The Bread of Life.” The first reading (1Kings 19:4-8) narrates an interesting tale from the life of Elijah. He was on a forty year journey towards mount Horeb. On the way, however, he lost hope, spirit and energy. Totally frustrated and exhausted from the burden of life, he slept under a tree praying for his death. An Angel appeared from heaven with food and drink. He ate the food, received power and continued his journey.

Two things are significant here. First of all, forty years of journey in this particular context symbolizes a person’s span of life. In those days there were no medical facilities as we have today to extent and expand their life span. Even though some may claim today that they can live the full span of their life with the support of science, the truth is the opposite. Without God’s help we are just dust. Secondly, even though Elijah could continue his journey with the bread from an Angel, he still could not reach the destination, the Mountain of God. The bread was still made of material things. This ‘food and drink’, however, foreshadow the Eucharist.

It is important to notice two things here. First of all, our life does not end with death. Secondly, because our earthly life is a destination in itself we need bread that sustains our life after death. In the Gospel reading, Jesus introduces himself as this bread. Jesus says, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I give is my flesh for the life of the world.” (John 6: 41-51)

Bread of Life has two levels of meaning in the Bible. First, bread of life is the Word of God. The Hebrew Bible used the word food for Torah, the Law. (Ps 119) Jesus also used the word bread, with the same meaning when he said, “My food is to do the will of the One who sent me and to carry out his work.” (John 4.34) With his incarnation, the Torah (the food) became Flesh in the person of Jesus, so that every word that came out of his mouth became bread for Salvation. The way of Jesus became the True path (food) for eternal life.

Secondly, not only his words but with His sacrifice on the cross, his body and blood, the acceptable offering of God, became our bread of life. Today we find this bread in the Eucharist. In the breaking and sharing of bread we receive enlightenment, nourishment and hope as experienced by the Emmaus Disciples.

The breaking of the Word and the breaking of the Bread, together constitute the Bread of Life. The word of God enlightens us to see the things above and the Eucharist grafts us to God like a branch of a tree attached to the main trunk. The immediate effect of this relatedness with Jesus is the New Way of life as mentioned in the Second Reading. Live in love as Christ loved us. (Ephesians 4:30-5:2).

CORPUS CHRISTI

(Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ)
June 14,2009

Before I received my driver’s license, I spent a few hours practicing my driving skills. Charlie was my guide and instructor. He had me drive the free-ways, the highways, the city streets, all kinds of roads. I did all the driving. Charley just sat beside me. Never once did I feel any sort of nervousness. A few weeks later, after securing my driver’s license, I went for a drive. This time I was all alone. All at once my legs and hands started to shake. My heart began to beat rapidly. “Why?” I asked myself,“ I have my license now…before I had no license ... but I never experienced any fear at all”. I started to rethink. Then I came to the insight that I needed. When I drove before I was not alone. Beside me was a person who was an expert in driving and he could control the car in case of any danger. Though he was not driving, his mere presence gave me confidence. Presence of the other is a great strength.

The awareness of God’s presence is the most powerful strength that I can have on my journey of life. The example of Peter walking over the water is a telling example of this fact. As long as he was in the presence of Jesus, Peter could walk on water. The moment he got distracted, he began to sink.

We can think of experiencing God’s presence in a numerous ways. The Eucharist, however, is the only place where we can experience the real presence of Jesus. As we celebrate Corpus Christi, the solemnity of the Body and Blood of Jesus, it is highly desirable to reflect on this aspect of the Eucharist.

The institution of the Eucharist was the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise. He said’ “I will not leave you alone. I will be with you till the end of the world.“ After the institution of the Eucharist Jesus said, ”Do this in memory of me.” His promise of staying with us is made permanent through the mystery of the Eucharist.Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist strengthens us in different ways। I would like to mention three of them. Jesus gives us:-

1. A sense of being loved through the active memory
When we celebrate the Eucharist we make the redemptive story alive, active and experiential. Active memory is something that evokes in our minds the feelings and responses that are similar to the original one. For example, the death anniversary of my Father and death anniversary of my neighbor evoke totally different emotions and feeling in me. The remembrance of my father is almost like reliving my life with him. Similarly the breaking and sharing of the Bread and Wine bring to our memories the unparallel love and sacrifice of Jesus that brought us back to life. The awareness of this unfailing love of God is our hope and comfort. If we can make this memory alive every time we celebrate the Eucharist, then we live in the presence of God all the time.

2. A sense of purpose through right direction
The major problem that we are facing today is self-ism, ego-ism, individual-ism. Here Jesus gives us a model to follow. In the Eucharist we have an action plan. First of all, this is a mechanism of breaking, sharing and empowering. When I am willing to break and share, I reveal my God given talents and share them with others bringing us to the fullness of life. Secondly, Sharing makes Eucharist. When Jesus took the bread it was a lifeless material thing. When He broke and shared it, it became Jesus himself. When we share our life, they become Eucharist. Again, everything in the world has the potential to become the Eucharist. The sacredness is hidden in the secular. It is our responsibility to unfold the sacredness in the secular and to change the world into Eucharist. This kind of understanding of the Eucharist not only give us orientation for a better life but also makes us feel good about ourselves as we become more and more useful servants.

3. A feeling of connectedness with the divine
Body cannot survive without food. A branch cannot exist unless it is connected to the main tree. The soul cannot function without being connected with its source. The Eucharist is not only the food that nourishes the soul but the bread that connect us with the Divine. In this sense it is the breath of God. Our sharing in the Divine life though the Eucharist gives us the strength and confidence to face the temporalities of life with courage and hope.

Two thousand years ago, Jesus was physically present in the world to lift up the people from their miseries. He continues his saving presence through the mystery of the Eucharist. Eucharist is his saving gift to each one of us. Approach him in faith and with confidence, you will be a different person. Bishop Sheen said, “My stay before the Blessed Sacrament changed my human ways into divine.” Stay with Jesus who is willing to stay with us.
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