The Holy Eucharist: Did You Know?

We as Catholic Christians possess a great treasure. No other denomination has been given so great a gift. This treasure is the Living God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, Jesus, who is TRULY present to us in the Holy Eucharist.
Last year a Pew Poll found that 70% of Catholics and 80% of young Catholics do not believe in the Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. This weekly treatise will be an effort to delve more deeply into this “Mystery of Mysteries”.

We shall explore why the Catechism of the Catholic Church describes the Eucharist as “The Living Heart of the Church” and why Vatican II pronounced the Eucharist to be “The Source and Summit of the Christian Life”.  We’ll look at the graces we receive in Holy Communion.  What happens to us when we come to Mass and receive the Sacred Host. What are the eternal promises that Christ as made to those who receive Him in this Sacrament? And we shall also examine the insights which the Saints were given into the mystic realities of the Blessed Sacrament. St. Jerome said that “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”  Perhaps ignorance of the Holy Eucharist is also ignorance of Christ….and on a most profound level. This series will hopefully enhance our love, gratitude and appreciation for this most gracious gift of Divine love.
Please join us each week as we probe the depths of this Sacrament of Sacraments.


October 25, 2020

When we eat our food, we assimilate the food and it becomes a part of us.  When we worthily receive Jesus in Holy Communion, He assimilates us into Himself. We become what we consume.

We therefore become more Christ-like; more filled with the Holy Spirit. We share in the Divine Life of the Blessed Trinity through sanctifying grace.  The Spiritual Life given to us in Baptism is sustained.
We grow in our capacity for holiness. Venial sins are forgiven.

Reflection: “O Precious and wonderful banquet, that brings us salvation and contains all sweetness! …here Christ himself, the true God, is set before us as our food. No other sacrament has greater healing power; through it sins are purged away, virtues are increased, and the soul is enriched with an abundance of every spiritual gift.” Saint Thomas Aquinas (Opusculum 57, Feast of Corpus Christi)
How can we ever thank Our Lord enough for this gift? How can we ever forego these graces offered to us at every Mass?


PREVIOUS WEEKS:

October 18, 2020

The Holy Eucharist is NOT a symbol.  Jesus is ALIVE in the Eucharist.  We know this because what Jesus says IS.  He is the WORD made flesh. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1) Whatever Jesus says happens. “Lazarus, come forth.” And the dead man came forth from his tomb. (John 11:44-45) “Little girl, arise.” And the little girl awoke. (Luke9:55-56) At the Last Supper Jesus said,  ”This is my body, which will be given for you, do this in memory of me.” And “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which shall be shed for you: (Luke 22:21) There was therefore a change in substance from bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Our Lord.

Reflection: The Second Vatican Council states that, “God makes things by His words.” We read in the Book of Genesis how God creates by saying the words, “Let there be….” And it happens. (Genesis 1) Faith enters into accepting the word of God. Faith enters into accepting the true Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. But for those who need scientific proof, Google “The Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano”. God wishes to reveal the Miracle of the Eucharist to doubters. He wishes all to come to Him and be saved. He loves each of us, as if we were his only child.

October 11, 2020
By the words of the priest, “This is my Body.” “This is My Blood.”, there is a change in the substance of the bread and wine. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the bread and wine become the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus. (The Council of Trent) Therefore, we receive NOT a symbol, but the LIVING Presence of Jesus. We know this because of Jesus’ words in the Gospel of John 6:6,  “I Myself am the living bread come down from Heaven.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that, “The Eucharist is the LIVING heart of the Church.”

Reflection:  Jesus told St. Faustina, the saint of Divine Mercy, that after receiving Him in Holy Communion “People treat Me like a dead object.”  (The Diary of Saint Faustina) After receiving Holy Communion, do we treat Our Lord as a dead object or are we aware that the LIVING God is intimately present to us and within us? The Holy Eucharist is NOT a thing. It is the LIVING Person of Jesus the Christ.