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October 21, 2022Sharing the Real Presence of Christ . . .
3 out of 3
“I am the Bread of Life . . .” “I am the living Bread. . . “ John 6
“We were created as social beings who find fulfillment only in love – for God and for our neighbor. If we are truly to gaze upon him who is the source of our joy, we need to do so as members of the people of God (cf. Spe Salvi no. 14). If this seems counter-cultural, that is simply further evidence of the urgent need for a renewed evangelization of culture.”
(Benedict XVI – 16 April 2008 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception)
We listen to the words of then Pope Benedict the XVI three years after he was elected Pope and hearing the need to revitalize the faith around the world. These words he spoke at one of our sister Basilicas in the United States help us to understand that we move forward to evangelize by our lives as Catholics. We become what we receive. And, with this knowledge, we are confident that we receive the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. We hear this from the words and actions of Our Lord when described very clearly in Sacred Scripture that while they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins (New American Bible, Matthew 26: 26-28). And, amazingly even before Matthew wrote these words spoken by Jesus (about 80 AD), St. Paul proclaimed these words in the early Church in Corinth just 20 years after Our Lord gave His life for us and left us His Body and Blood to nourish our mind, body and soul (around 56 AD) as he reported that the Lord said, “For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ ”In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ “ With these words and actions of Our Lord as His last Will and Testament, 2,000 years later as it is handed on to us like the words of St. Paul indicate, we also are blessed and graced to experience the real presence of Jesus and are sent forth to share His love, His truth, His very mission to the world around us.
Specifically, Catholic teaching says that the real presence of Christ exists most fully when the assembly, the priest (all of us), the Sacrament (the changing of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus), and the Word (Sacred Scripture) are together at the Eucharist.
The simple bread, the basic wine, is transformed into the greatest gift of self-giving that Our loving Father gave us in His Son. The final transformation however occurs after the Eucharistic Celebration 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 be transformed, let us share the real presence of Christ and become His living presence to all in our lives.
God’s peace and His graces,
Fr. John
