The
Jews are absolutely scandalized by what Christ was saying about the
gift of the Eucharist. They cannot not believe it. This is present
here in our own world: it is difficult for non-believers to
understand this great mystery. In fact, we ourselves never fully
comprehend what the Eucharist is, because it is the living God, and
God in himself is absolutely inexhaustible to our minds. It's like
looking at the sun, our eyes simply cannot take it all in. This
doesn't mean we run from contemplating this gift; rather, we adore
and honor the host and chalice even more as Our Lord reveals Himself
to us slowly, as He makes our eyes more and more able to see Him.
However,
like Christ, we need to help others where they are at, to meet them
where they are, so that we can bring them closer to Jesus.
The
first way of teaching others about the Eucharist is holding the
Eucharist in the highest reverence, in our actions, our words, and
our thoughts. Since actions speak louder than words, if we do not
have reverence for the Eucharist, how can we expect others to
understand what this great sacrament is?
The
Jews could not believe what Jesus was telling them, because they
didn't know who it was that was speaking to them. We have to know
Jesus in order to understand the promises he makes for us, in order
to share this great Gift.
The
three theological virtues that are directly related to our
relationship with God are faith, hope, and love. And virtues are
like muscles, they need to be used or they will slowly weaken
and disappear.
So, every day we should pray to God for an increase in these virtues and exercise them, saying: “Lord I love you so much; Lord I believe in you. Lord I hope in you!” We can also pray in reparation, or in intercession, for those who do not love the Lord, do not believe in the Lord, do not hope in the Lord and his promises.
Next, these prayers for ourselves and for others need to be backed up with real, concrete exercises and practices in our life! Faith is shown by coming to mass every Sunday; by setting time aside daily for prayer, and especially praying devoutly while we are here at mass for ourselves our families and everyone who is in need. Our Hope needs to show itself, also: if we truly trust that God has a home for us in heaven, we should show that by the way we live in this world, by how we treat each other and how we we use the goods that God has given us. Most importantly, our Love for God needs to be shown in our love for others, no matter who they are, as Saint John has said: “How can we love the God whom we cannot see, if we cannot love our brothers and sisters whom we can see?”
So, every day we should pray to God for an increase in these virtues and exercise them, saying: “Lord I love you so much; Lord I believe in you. Lord I hope in you!” We can also pray in reparation, or in intercession, for those who do not love the Lord, do not believe in the Lord, do not hope in the Lord and his promises.
Next, these prayers for ourselves and for others need to be backed up with real, concrete exercises and practices in our life! Faith is shown by coming to mass every Sunday; by setting time aside daily for prayer, and especially praying devoutly while we are here at mass for ourselves our families and everyone who is in need. Our Hope needs to show itself, also: if we truly trust that God has a home for us in heaven, we should show that by the way we live in this world, by how we treat each other and how we we use the goods that God has given us. Most importantly, our Love for God needs to be shown in our love for others, no matter who they are, as Saint John has said: “How can we love the God whom we cannot see, if we cannot love our brothers and sisters whom we can see?”
And
if we persevere in these virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love, this will
open us up to the greatest way to show others what and who
this Eucharist is: by being transformed, by allowing others to see
Jesus in our actions, by truly becoming “Christians,” little
Christs.
The
greatest vessel of God's transforming Grace is this Eucharist. If we
come to Him and are open to what the Lord wants to do in our hearts
we will be renewed just as Elijah was strengthened to journey for 40
days.
If
someone we know, or we ourselves, are unable to receive the Eucharist
for any reason, we can also pray a prayer of spiritual communion,
asking our Lord Jesus, who knows our longing, to come and fill us
with his Grace as if we had received him in the Sacrament of
Communion. And this can be prayed many times daily!
As
we continue our prayer, we give reverence to our God for this
greatest of gifts, we pray for Faith Hope and Love, and we beg to be
consumed and transformed into Our Lord.
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