It’s kind of freaky in John’s Gospel, what happens in chapter 6, verse 66. Hello? That’s 666. In this passage, after Jesus asks us to eat his Flesh and drink His Blood. Many disciples leave Him and no longer follow Him. Should this scare us? 666? The Twilight Zone! Doo dee doo doo. Doo dee doo doo. No. every moment is a chance for us to grow. Even the 666 moments. These are just challenges for us to become holier. The Apostles stayed with Jesus even though they didn’t fully get it. God even uses the devil to mold saints. The more Satan challenges them, the more they resist, and in the process, become holy.
But why is the Eucharist so important? We describe it as the Real Presence. What does this mean? Well. Jesus is present with us, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, the same way He was 20000 years ago. But God is always Present and not only, partially. God is fully present and omnipresent all the time. God is not 100% present in the Eucharist but only 20% when you’re in your room! What the Church is really saying is that God is allowing us to enter His presence more fully at Eucharist. When Scripture says, “Where two are more are gathered in My Name, I am present,” it doesn’t mean God is more Present. It just means that when two people love, they enter into God’s Presence, Who is always there, 100%. Sometimes we fail to be open to Him though. Eucharist is a time to enter God’s Presence by listening to the Word, receiving His Body and Blood, and listening to Him through His Church, the multicolored, multifaceted, Face of Christ.
In the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist, and through the gathering of the People of God, we become what we eat. What do I mean? What I mean is that we should never leave Mass the same person. You should walk out of Mass transfigured, a new man or a new woman. In the Liturgy of the Word, we shouldreceive the Word, chew on it and digest it. When we leave Mass we become the Word to others. This is why it’s good to read the passages before Mass if you can. Then you will be more fertile for the seed of God’s Word. In the Liturgy of the Eucharist, we receive Jesus, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. At Mass, bread and wine are consecrated and transformed into Flesh and Blood, though, they still appear and taste like bread and wine.
But another consecration happens that most of us don’t know about. In the second part of the consecration prayer, something fascinating happens. It’s another consecration, not over the bread and wine, but over us as Church. It’s worded differently in each Eucharistic Prayer, but in the Eucharistic Prayer II, it goes like this, “ . . . grant that we, who are nourished by the Body and Blood of your Son, and filled with His Holy Spirit, may become one body, one spirit in Christ.” An amazing transformation is taking place. We are being transformed!
We aren’t just praying that we get along as a family. We are praying that we are actually transformed into one, not just one with each other, but with the universe and most importantly, within the Infinite Bond of Love of the Trinity. When this happens, we become more the man or woman we are called to be and more like Christ.
The difference with this transformation, however, is that we have to be open to the change. In the case of the bread and wine, they are automatically transformed through the first consecration. We, on the other hand, have to want it, for the prayer to work. How can we be sure we want it? Well, we have to be sincere at the beginning of Mass when we examine our conscience. We need to desire to turn away from sin and love more effectively. We don’t have to be perfect, but we need to desire it. If we do, we will leave Mass a new man or a new woman. In fact, we should never leave Mass the same! Each time, we should be transformed and transfigured more like Christ. In conclusion, at Mass, if we’re open, we become what we eat. In the Liturgy of the Word, we become the Word we digest. In the Liturgy of the Eucharist, we become the Body and Blood of Christ that we digest. Also, in the gathering of the faithful, we become one in the love we exchange. Through this bond, within the indestructible Bond of the Trinity, we become love. Let us be living, breathing vessels of the Word, the body and Blood of Christ, and of Incarnate Love. Together, as the multifaceted, multicolored, Church, we make up a greater aspect of the Face of Christ and discover our true selves.