Hidden presence

Today's readings: Genesis 14, 18-20; 1 Corinthians 11, 23-26; Luke 9, 11-17.

I believe there are some stereotypes about the Eucharist which hinder the day-to-day life of the Church and prevent Christians from gaining an in-depth understanding of what the Eucharist really stands for.

In today's second reading, St Paul gives us what is considered to be the oldest account of the institution of the Eucharist, dating to even before what we find in the Gospels. But what is so significant in Paul's account is that he speaks of the Eucharist as the core - the essence of the faith: "This is what I received from the Lord, and in turn passed on to you."

Much more than doctrine, it is what in the first place Paul received and transmitted as an apostle. And in some sense, this evokes the words of Jesus at the Last Supper when he told the apostles: "Do this in memory of me."

The Eucharist is the real presence of the Lord also in this sense. It is the memory and hence the identity of who we are as disciples of Jesus.

On this feast of Corpus Christi, the Gospel reading seems to connect very appropriately with the situation of the Church today. The Church seems to be "in a lonely place" where things are not as they used to be and where the crowds seem lost and in need of "lodging and food".

The Eucharist is the source of the Church's life, reaffirmed the Second Vatican Council. With this in mind, we cannot afford to keep inviting people to come and drink from 'dry wells', to use an expression so dear to Thomas Green. I write this because we are today called to give something solid to people and to the world.

Surprisingly enough, there is some similarity between the culture we live in today and the second century of Christianity, when Justin Martyr, one of the greatest apologists of Christianity and himself a convert, takes great pains to defend Christianity's astonishing claims against its many, often hostile, detractors. In his First Apology, he provides details of the Sunday liturgy of Christians and of the central role of the Eucharist in the building of the Christian community.

The Eucharist is depicted as the food which nourishes and binds together the community. Far, very far, from the proverbial boredom that characterises talk about the Eucharist in many of our circles.

The account given by Luke of the multiplication of bread has two major characteristics which link it directly to the significance of the Eucharist for the Church and for the world.

Firstly, it happens outside the confines of the temple. Rather, it takes place "in a lonely place", where people can be lost, tired, in search of something significant.

Secondly, it is Jesus himself who asks the apostles to provide "something to eat" for the crowds. Unfortunately, the world for many has become a lonely place where people are spiritually undernourished. The Church, on the other hand, badly needs an overhaul as far as its sacramental language is concerned.

Whenever we speak of spiritual nourishment it seems we no longer speak the language of the people. We seem to be providing people with answers that do not address their questions and, to quote from the prophet Isaiah, to make them "spend money on what does not satisfy" (55, 2).

At times we reduce the Eucharist to a mere inward-looking ritual, heavily loaded with rubrics, instead of a cosmic event.

The account of the miracle of Jesus is a symbol of something which is non-ritual, non-religious, non-ecclesiastical. It is the gift of self on the part of Jesus so that hunger, particularly spiritual hunger, may really be defeated.

We need to rediscover the Lord's Day as 'time away' to realise that everything can be a mask of something else. That's how the Eucharist grants new holiness to ordinary bread and wine. That's how the hidden presence opens our eyes to what could remain hidden.