Holy Eucharist; "The Life" among lives

Holy Eucharist; “The Life” among lives

Today my great grand-duaghter received the Blessed Body and Blood of Jesus Christ for the first time.  A Solemnity that is repeated in many Catholic Churches and the souls of those touched will be grateful to the Passion of He that offered himself for us.

The Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life.”  “The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it.  For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch.”  (CCC 1324).

As elderly citizens and almost disabled as to move freely in buildings or the Church, it is easy to find that the one freedom we enjoyed for many years has slowly taken its position of control towards being included with the assembly of worshipers at Mass.  For a period of time we have neglected the opportunity to receive communion and I personally felt a type of pressure deep within my whole being and knew I was without the constant reminder of just what the Holy Eucharist meant to me.  

Within the Holy Mass we should find the very essence of Christ and the graces that he alone will pour out upon us each time we receive his Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in Holy Communion.  There is one drawback for some when receiving the Eucharist as the hearts of many are not ready to accept the holiness that exists as we consume his body and blood.  That is taking this gift for granted; as if saying, “O here it's time to get in line and do what those in front of me are doing."  

When the Eucharistic Minister comes on Sunday mornings he may not even realize the safety to our souls he is delivering.  For me it is as though I have slipped off the boat and someone has thrown me a Life-saver;  That is Christ whom for over 66 years I have lived for and found life deep within me.  Without his presence, physically and spiritually, deep within my faith, none of the basic accomplishments I gave as ministry could have been blessed by Christ.  With the Eucharist, however, everything that I am is enclosed within the very life that I receive at the altar; in Church or on my couch today and forever more.

Understanding what it is like to be missing the Holy Eucharist will be apparent to those whose life is enveloped within the Body and Blood of Christ.  If one doesn’t miss it then prayers must be asked so that they might turn back to the Church and find what our worship means.

Christ our Lord and God, was once and for all to offer himself to God the Father by his death on the altar of the cross, to accomplish there an everlasting redemption.  But because his priesthood was not to end with his death, at the Last Supper “on the night he was betrayed,” he wanted to leave to his beloved spouse the Church a visible sacrifice (as the nature of man demands) by which the bloody sacrifice which he was to accomplish once for all on the cross would be represented, its memory perpetuated until the end of the world, and its salutary power be applied to the forgiveness of the sins we daily commit.  (Council of Trent 1562).

One must always be attentive to the respect of what the Holy Eucharist is about and treat it accordingly.  Being aware of what manner some may view is sacreligiously be aware of the consequences that will incur. 

Sacrilege consists in profaning or treating unworthily the sacraments and other liturgical actions, as well as persons, things, or places consecrated to God.  Sacrilege is a grave sin especially when committed against the Eucharist, for in this sacrament the true Body of Christ is made substantially present for us.  (CCC 2120).

Ralph B. Hathaway