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Following this reflection by board member Linda Tedrick, there are excellent sources listed for studying the Eucharist.
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The Eucharist is the Real Presence of Jesus Christ. Just as He appeared to the apostles in the upper room, He comes to us under the appearance of bread and wine. Jesus instituted the Eucharist at the Last Supper before He died. The Catholic Church teaches that the Eucharist is the body, blood, soul and divinity of the Risen Lord. It is not a thing; it is a person, Jesus Christ. Titled the Most Blessed Sacrament, this is the Sacrament of Love and Unity, the central Sacrament of the Catholic Church.
In looking for a simple explanation of this mysterious truth, I'd like to share a true story told to a group of lay ministers at a seminar on the Eucharist by Fr. James Conlon of the Diocese of Lansing:
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The now-deceased Cardinal Hume of England and Wales took a helicopter crew to Sudan in order to survey the hunger devastation there as a result of the famine. Once he was able to see what the exact needs were, he would make a plea to all countries for aid. The Cardinal's first day among the hungry and dying people was heart-wrenching. A young boy grabbed hold of the tall Cardinal's hand in the early morning and never left his side all day. Every time the Cardinal would look down at the dark-skinned boy with the distended stomach, the boy displayed his bright white teeth in a huge smile. Although they were unable to communicate in each other's native tongue, the Cardinal understood that the boy was very hungry and gestured to let the boy know that the crew would be returning in a very short time, and there would be food for the boy and his family. The boy seemed content just looking up at the Cardinal and trusting that he would be cared for.
That evening when alone in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament in prayer, Cardinal Hume sadly reviewed his day and the suffering he had witnessed. He was immediately consoled with the thought that every human person has two basic needs. Those two needs are, to be loved and to be fed. He discovered the joy behind the young boy's smile; it revealed that he felt loved by the Cardinal and knew that he would then be fed. At once the Cardinal was overwhelmed with gratitude for the Eucharist which is the source of our spiritual well-being that nourishes our need to be loved and to be fed. The day ended on a very good note.
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We can look at the cross and know how very much Jesus loves us. But Jesus knew that He had to care for us by supplying food for our spiritual wellbeing. As devastating as His death was, it ends on a good note: Jesus arose from the dead and lives! He is alive in the Eucharist. The most intimate we can be with Jesus is when we receive Him in the Eucharist. The opportunity to adore Jesus in the Eucharist at a Holy Hour of Adoration is like smiling up at Jesus, content for now and trusting that He will care for us and be the food we need in order to live like Him. To live like Him is to love God with all our mind, heart and strength, and to love others as He loves us. We believe that Jesus not only loved us to death but gives us His very self, body, blood, soul and divinity to nourish our desire to live in love here on earth and then for all eternity in Heaven. We should be filled with great joy and overwhelming gratitude that Jesus loves and cares for us so very much. And we believe this because Jesus tells us to.
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Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the desert and they are dead; but this is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world. (John 6:47-51)
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It is understandable that many people cannot accept this teaching. We read in scripture that many of Jesus' disciples who even witnessed His miracles no longer followed Jesus after, "Jesus said to them, 'Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you." (John 6:53) As Christians we find it easy to believe that Jesus is God and that all things are possible with God; He can heal, raise people from the dead, walk on water, etc. But we find it hard to believe that He would take on the appearance of bread and wine to let us consume all that He is, in order to supply our need to be loved and fed for eternal life. It is hard to fathom such love, and yet, that is exactly how very much God loves us.
Do Catholics truly believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist? Or are we a lot like Thomas who had to see Jesus' resurrected body before he believed in the resurrection. Do we need to see Jesus in the bread in order to believe in His being really present in the Eucharist? Jesus said to Thomas and to all of us, "Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed." (John 20:29b)
In healing the woman with a hemorrhage, Jesus said, "Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you."(Matthew 9:22) In healing the blind beggar, Jesus says, "Have sight; your faith has saved you." (Luke 18:42) We must have faith in order to be saved. Perhaps Jesus hides Himself in bread so that we might have the kind of faith needed to be saved. It is only by God's grace that we can have faith, as Jesus said, "For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father." (John 6:65) If we desire to truly believe that we can go to Jesus and receive Him, all we must do is ask the Father in Jesus' name for the faith to believe. For those of us who do believe in Jesus but doubt His real presence in the Eucharist, all we must do is cry out like the father of the boy possessed with a demon, "Lord, I do believe. Help my unbelief." (Mark 9:24b) He who gives us Himself will give us everything we need to believe and be saved, if we desire it.
It could be said that the proof of the fullness of our Catholic faith lies in the sacrificial lives of the saints who were transformed to be Christ-like. They believed. We must first truly believe before we are transformed. It was said of St. Francis DeSales that if every Catholic acted like he did, everyone would want to be Catholic. St. Francis DeSales truly believed and so must we. Why? Because as soon as Peter stopped believing that he could indeed walk on water like Jesus, he began to sink. Jesus said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" (Matthew 14:31b) If we have doubts about whether Jesus is really present in the Eucharist, we are unable to experience the miracle of being one with Him and being able to do what He does, to pour ourselves out for the love of others. To know the joy of being Christ-like, we must truly believe and have no doubts. Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, "I know I wouldn't be able to work one week if it were not for that continual force coming from Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. All of us know that unless we believe and can see Jesus in the appearance of bread on the altar, we will not be able to see Him in the distressing disguise of the poor."
Jesus promised, "Know that I am with you always, even to the end of the world." (Matthew 28:20) He is with us in the Eucharist. The mission of our Apostolate, the Apostolate for the Eucharistic Life, is to bring lives to the Eucharist and the Eucharist to lives. The Bread of Life Retreat Residence, located in Ann Arbor, Michigan is operated by our apostolate as a place of spiritual rest and renewal for individuals and families to be with Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, reposed in the tabernacle of the peaceful Chapel, and surrounded by the natural beauty of God's creation. It is in the quiet that we can hear the whisper of God. He calls all of us to Him in the Eucharist, the sacrament of love and unity. Have faith that we can unite with Him here on earth in order to live like Him and never die.
May all God's children hunger for the truth and pray to the Father through the Holy Spirit in Jesus' name for the faith we need to be loved and fed by Jesus, so that one day we may all be one in Him. It is impossible to put into words the faith, hope and love in my heart for the Eucharist, but I conclude with the words of a hymn that come as close as any words I can say.
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Hymn: One Bread, One Body Be
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At that first Eucharist before you died,
O Lord, you prayed that all be one in you;
At ev'ry Eucharist again preside,
And in our hearts your law of love renew.
Thus may we all one Bread, one Body be;
Through your blest Sacrament of Unity.
For all your Church, O Lord, we intercede;
O make our lack of charity to cease;
Draw us the nearer each to each we plead,
By drawing all to you. O Prince of Peace.
So, Lord, at length when sacraments shall cease,
May we be one with all your Church above,
One with your saints in one unending peace,
One with your saints in one unbounded love.
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SOME GREAT SOURCES ON THE EUCHARIST
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- Pope Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis (The Sacrament of Charity - On the Eucharist as the Source and Summit of the Church's Life and Mission), February 22, 2007 www.papalencyclicals.net
- Pope John Paul II, Ecclesia De Eucharistia (On the Eucharist in its Relationship to the Church), April 17, 2003
- Pope Paul VI, Mysterium Fidei (On the Doctrine and Worship of the Eucharist), September 3, 1965
- Pope Leo XIII, Mirae Caritatis (On the Holy Eucharist), May 28, 1902
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- 7 Secrets of the Eucharist: by Vinny Flynn, published by MercySong in collaboration with Ignatius Press, 2007
- The Lamb's Supper: by Scott Hahn, published by Doubleday, 1999
- Catechism of the Catholic Church: States Catholic Conference, Inc., 1994
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