Live what we receive

There is nothing more exhilarating for a Catholic than participating in a grand celebration of the Eucharist.

If you were at the Beatification of Blessed Stanley Rother, for example, when we gathered more than 15,000 strong at the Cox Convention Center and celebrated Mass together, you know it was unforgettable. We prayed together in several languages, we sang together the liturgy we all know by heart and we enjoyed one another’s presence at this great, historical moment, together.

I will remember it as one of the most notable chapters in the story of the Church in Oklahoma and the highlight, so far, of my ministry as archbishop of Oklahoma City.

And yet, even when we gather at the humblest mission church in the smallest of our parishes, or when there are just a few of us together at daily Mass, the mysterious splendor of our celebration is not diminished.

Beyond the details and grandeur of great moments, there is the great promise we celebrate at every Mass, everywhere. When we gather and we say our “amen” to the gift of Christ, he is among us.

This is the great inheritance we receive as part of our life in the Church. When we celebrate the Eucharist, we are celebrating the real presence of Jesus with us.

Of course, we are sometimes reminded of our weak faith when we look at the host we receive and the chalice we’re offered. But we also know the power of the truth of what is offered to us. Each of us has been initiated into the mystery of real presence. We know how powerful and moving this is. It is the great gift of the sacrament.

But it is the great gift of life as well. The presence of our parents is obvious to us, even when they have passed away. One who has fallen in love knows the gift of the presence of the beloved, even when he/she is away. The mysterious promise of presence is real to us even when we don’t see and experience it directly.

Whether in the everyday data of our experience, or in the blessed truth of the Eucharist, the mystery of presence is evident to us. This was encapsulated whimsically by a seminary professor who mentioned once that children in First Communion class often have a harder time believing a host is a piece of bread than it is the Body of Christ!

All joking aside, we celebrate what is offered to us, the presence of Christ coming into our lives.

This is the greatness of the sacrament of the Eucharist.

The promise of Jesus at the Last Supper is that we are invited to receive what he offers. His offer is more astonishing that we might at first understand. In the Jewish world of Jesus, there was no distinction between a person and a person’s body. When Jesus said, “Take this and eat, this is my body,” the disciples heard his intention: “Take this: this is me.”

Jesus’ command is, “receive me!”

The hidden measure of the Eucharist is its transformational impact in our lives. Approaching the altar to receive communion is not our reward for a life well lived, it is our way of cooperating with Jesus to keep his presence alive in the world. 

When we say “yes” to the offer of Christ’s body and blood, we welcome the presence of Christ into our lives. Our actions, our decisions, our work become the continuation of the presence of Jesus in the world.

We know this implicitly when we look around at the world in its brokenness. When we see the hungry without bread, we don’t wait for angels to descend from heaven to feed them. We are to do that. As we encounter children and others with little or no faith, we don’t expect the wisdom of the catechism to suddenly pour into the minds of these little ones. Teachers and catechists are needed to make the words of the Gospel come alive by their witness.

In the world where one person tears at another in cycles of vengeance and regret, the statues of saints don’t leap down from their niches to promote forgiveness. We do that. In our lives, by our work, in our decisions and intentions, we become the presence of Christ in the world.

This is the challenge for us. It’s easy to say “amen” to what we’re offered. It’s even easier to be satisfied with what we have received. But to turn from the altar with the gift of Jesus’ own presence in us, demands that we also unwrap the gift we’ve been given and make it a part of our living. When we do that, we know, and the world knows, that through the Eucharist Jesus is really present.

If Christ is not made present in the world through us, where will he be found? We have the scriptures, the sacraments and the Church, but all of these are means by which the presence of Christ is offered to us. As we are transformed, so Jesus becomes real right here, in the corners and contexts of our neighborhoods and families. We receive Jesus in order that Jesus be present in us for the world.

Eucharistic Revival is our focus this year. We can take up this theme for our Lenten observance as well by unwrapping the gift of Jesus truly with us, and the challenge of making Jesus known in the everyday parts of our lives. To revive the power of the Eucharist in our lives, we have only to live what we receive, the Body of Christ.

When we do, the whole world will know the truth of his presence.