Corpus Christi Reflection.

Eating is important stuff, but there is also something very intimate about it. What I mean to say is that you don’t typically invite people over for dinner if you don’t like them because sharing food together is something that is communal and it’s also a gesture of friendship and love.  For this reason, the words “Can you stay for dinner?” are the most Christian words we can say to another person.

What, then, does it mean for Christ to invite us to share in a meal that is Himself? It means that we are His friends and that He loves us. It means that no matter how many times we fail
to follow Him through sin, He always invites us back to His table where He Himself nourishes and strengthens us.

Because of what this sacrament means and the way in which it draws us both closer to Christ and to each other, I think of this as the most beautiful sacrament entrusted to the Church by Jesus. But at the same time, this sacrament presents one of the biggest issues in the Church. I love to talk about the experience of receiving Our Lord rather than define what the Catholic Church teaches about transubstantiation and the nature of the Eucharist. Why? Because we already don’t fully perceive Christ in the Eucharist! We know through faith that Jesus is truly present, but our senses do not perceive it. So, then, if we look at the Eucharist only through the lens of study, we can still fail to realize what a gift and what a mystery this sacrament truly is for us.

Transubstantiation is not some distant, abstract doctrine that must be memorized. It is a wonderful reality that takes place at every Mass. It is something we must all undergo: a transformation of ordinary bread and wine that, when received with faith and love, has the power to transform even the most hardened of hearts and the most unrepentant of sinners.

One of the things that amazes me about us human beings is how forgetful and ungrateful we can be. How many times have we sat through Mass, persevered through the homily, waited in line, heard the priest or lay minister say “The Body of Christ”, and then stuck out our hands thinking yeah, okay, whatever “Amen”? I’m not pointing any fingers at anyone here except myself, because I’ve done this often. But do you ever stop and think about Who you’re receiving? Does it ever strike you as you hold the consecrated Host that you hold Jesus Christ in your hands?

Jesus shows us a tremendous amount of love in this sacrament, so much so that it’s far beyond words. He is the God of the universe, and yet He humbles Himself. He is the Almighty, and yet He deigns to come to us, His creatures, as food. What more could we possibly ask for? Our God comes to us to give Himself to us Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. What more could we ever want?