Jesus loved us so much that he promised us that he would be with us from age to age. As Catholics, we believe that the Mass is the greatest prayer we can offer because Our Lord is at the center and His real presence that was with his disciples over 2,000 years ago, is with us at each Mass. We also are blessed and graced to experience the real presence of Jesus. Specifically, Catholic teaching says that the true presence of Christ exists at the Eucharist and exists most fully when the assembly, and the priest, (all of us are together at the Mass). Jesus exists in the Word (Sacred Scripture) and the Sacrament (the changing of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus). According to the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council, Christ is present in his Word (3) "since it is he himself who spe aks when the holy scriptures are read in the Church." So, Christ is present during the Eucharist in four ways.He is present in the person of the priest (1) who offers the sacrifice of the Mass. He is also present in the assembled people (2) as they pray and sing, "for he has promised ‘where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them' (Mt 18:20)" ( Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 7). He is present in the Sacrament (3) and He is present in the the Word (4).
It is critical that we know that the Mass, bringing the real presence of Our Lord to the World, to our local community cannot occur without us. Our presence is crucial to bring Christ’s real presence to the World. We all make up the Mystical Body of Christ and we are all needed to bring forth the presence of Christ to the world around us. As we just celebrated the Christmas Season, we celebrated with joy how St. Joseph and Our dear Mother Mary bore Him to the World in humility and in sa ying Yes to God’s will which is to be with us until the end of time. They were the first disciples who brought His mission of love to all humanity. As part of His mystical Body, we are also part of the mission to bring Him to the world, His presence to the world. We say “Yes”, Amen (let it be so) as we receive Him in Holy Communion, the summit of the Mass, and we are willing to take what we receive to others.
When we blessed ourselves with the Sign of the Cross with Holy Water as we enter, we use this as a sign of our own baptism as we make a promise to use our gifts given at our Baptism to bring His life into a world so desperately in need. The transformation made in the simple bread, the basic wine, used with His Apostles, His disciples, over 2,000 years ago are transformed into the greatest gift of self-giving that Our loving Father gave us in His Son at Christmas time and always. The final transformation however occurs after the Eucharistic Celebration, after the Mass, as we become what we consume – we lowly human beings become transformed into beings capable of humble service to the Lord and to each other as we become Christ-bearers to the World. Let us imitate the Magi that we remembered at the Epiphany (the manifestation) and offer our gifts to the Lord by, through them, let us share the real presence of Christ, received at the Mass, and become His living presence to all in our lives. Let us receive the Gift . . . and become what we receive.