Dear Parishioners,

When all is said and done, we cannot say that we can fully explain away the Eucharist. Being an expression of our faith, and faith being a mystery, the Eucharist truly remains a Mysterium Fidei which surpasses our understanding and can only be received in faith. St. Cyril of Jerusalem exhorts, “Do not see in the bread and wine merely natural elements, because the Lord has expressly said that they are His body and blood; faith assures you of this, though your senses suggest otherwise” (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, No. 15). And because faith is a shared reality, the Eucharistic sacrifice is intrinsically directed to the inward union of the faithful with Christ through communion; we receive the very one who offered himself for us, we receive His body broken for us and his blood which He “poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matt. 26:28). We are reminded of Jesus’ words: “As the living Father sent me, so he who eats Me will live because of Me” (Jn 6:57). Jesus emphasizes the objective truth of His words: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life within you” (Jn 6:53). This is no metaphorical food: “My flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed” (Jn 6:55). “He, who eats it with faith, eats Fire and Spirit. . . . Take and eat this, all of you, and eat with it the Holy Spirit. For it is truly My body and whoever eats it will have eternal life” (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, No. 17).

In conclusion, we must convince ourselves that the Eucharist is truly a glimpse of heaven appearing on earth. It is a glorious ray of the heavenly Jerusalem that pierces the clouds of our history and lights up our journey. Proclaiming the death of the Lord “until He comes” (1 Cor. 11:26) entails that all who take part in the Eucharist be committed to changing their lives and making them in a certain way completely Eucharistic.

The practice of faith can be hindered or destroyed because of lack of adequate catechesis (ignorance), unbelief, partial assent, denial of the cross and a deliberate life of sin. Faith cannot be lived if it is not nourished. To live, grow and persevere in faith until the end we must nourish it with the Word of God and with the Eucharist; we must beg the Lord to increase our faith; we must be working through charity, abounding in hope, prayer, almsgiving, and the reception of the Holy Eucharist and the sacrament of reconciliation. In the act of faith, the intellect and will display their spiritual nature, enabling the subject to act in a way which realizes personal freedom to the full. Though the assent of faith is by no means a blind impulse of the mind, still no one can assent to the Gospel message without the illumination and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And we come to the end of our discourse on the Eucharist as the source and summit of our Christian life – Adoration. 

Happy Sunday to you all!