Bonds of love

Although the Eucharist is celebrated every day, at different times, in all parts of the world, it is fitting that a special day be set apart to make us stop and think about this tremendous reality: Jesus Christ, our God and Saviour, is "really" present among us.

Whole treatises have been written about the meaning of "presence" in the case of Jesus being present in the Eucharist. Presence entails more than meets the eye. A person may be physically present to you, while in reality he is altogether absent, either because he is hardly aware of you, or because your attention is directed to anything but to him.

Christ's presence in the Eucharist is real, but "sacramental". You cannot see him and touch him, but you know through faith that nonetheless he is there no less than anything else which might be around you and constitute an object for the activity of your senses.

This concept can be developed briefly under three main headings: the Eucharist is a mystery of faith, hope and love.

"Mystery of Faith!" This exclamation is pronounced by the priest immediately after the consecration at Mass. It is in fact both a challenge and a proof of our faith in "who" Christ is and in "what" he has done for us.

If we are prepared to believe that what looks and tastes like bread is in reality the living Person of Jesus Christ, as it is our privilege to do as Christians, then belief in all other mysteries of our faith should be a matter of fact. So that is what we do every time we participate in the celebration of the Eucharist and receive Holy Communion: we renew our faith in all that Christ has taught us or done for us.

The Eucharist is also a mystery of hope. By being spiritually nourished by the Body of Christ we receive the seed of eternal life: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood shall live for ever!" How could it be otherwise?

In Holy Communion we become so united to Him that, just as he was raised from death never to die again, so we too shall rise again to eternal life. In the Eucharist God has placed at our disposal what scientists of all times have been seeking: a remedy that prolongs human life indefinitely.

In the Holy Eucharist we have above all a mystery of love. It has been said that love either finds equal or makes equal. If this is true of human love, it is much more so with Christ. We are far from being equal to Jesus, but we become like him thanks to the Eucharist.

When we eat ordinary bread or any other material food, what happens is that we assimilate it to us in such a way that it becomes a part of us. In Holy Communion, on the contrary, we become what we eat.

We in our turn become assimilated to him, thanks to a union which is far from physical. It is a mystical union, the most perfect union possible, far superior to any other, whether it be moral or physical. In our case this union can begin already here in this life, thanks to the Holy Eucharist.

There is a strange legend that when Almighty God had finished the creation of this beautiful world, He called His angels together and asked them if they could think of anything further that was needed to complete it.

"There is nothing," said the angels, "but that a Voice, strong and adoring, should praise God day and night, for His goodness." Such a voice is heard in the Eucharistic Sacrifice which is offered continually from God's altar throughout the world.