When I come to the Eucharist I see it as the source of love. It fills all things and all peoples. The power of this act of wonder gives life to life and gives reality to all existence. I have come to see love enlightened in the Eucharist. When I was growing up, I struggled in school. It was not so much that I was stupid or scared. I had a deep struggle with adjusting and how I was accepted. I was picked on in school by other kids. At home there was some tension. My Mom and Dad are very good people. It was that at my time of growing up there were the problems that often follow an adolescent. My family survived no matter what challenges were brought. My family never failed me. They always came to sports and school activities. They always came to help their kids if we needed them. That is the truth. As a kid I worried about how things would turn out. I did not know if I would amount to anything and I was worried about life. I found that life would work out for my family and I, all that came from the assurance of God’s love flowing from Christ in His Church. No matter what happened my family went to Mass and we always reconciled if there was any problem. My parents loved each other and worked through any problems they would have. And they always loved us kids. I write this to show how the life of the Christian is rooted in the Eucharist in love.
Now, my Mom and Dad are happy Grandparents who give so much love to their grandkids. They built a home on love and kindness, and they built it around their living faith. They still go to Mass together to this day. Seeing them happy has made me happy as well and thankful to God in the Eucharist. Perseverance in life does indeed come through the resilient love of the Eucharist. So many people I know have come to peace in their life by living in the presence of the Eucharist. It has become the dynamic center of their lives. Even if they cannot explain the technical aspects of their faith and of Transubstantiation, I see them authentically living out their faith from the constant reception of Holy Communion.
God’s Love
I want to take this time to really hone in on the love of God expressed in the Eucharist. God’s love is so often described in the Bible and in preaching and teaching of the Church. The qualities so often missed are the beautiful and innate graces of God’s love that permeate the Eucharist and inseminate the whole World and all of Time with salvation. God’s love inspires all things and is what makes the Church able to express and carry out God’s salvific plan. The Church would be nothing without charity. This comes first for the Church. I remember the kindness shown to me when I was in my home parish, St. James Church. The small yet intensely vibrant parish had so much faith to give. The school was well put together. The liturgies were celebrated with graceful intention. The priests cared. The readers cared. The cantors and Mass ministers put great care into Mass music. Their sincere faith and authentic generosity to everyone in the parish never ceases to amaze me. All these things came together at St. James. I could see so much love in this beautiful home of God’s people. In these things I find great inspiration to believe in God’s love.
Love itself is something that can be flaky, fluffy, and hard to define with any real substance. Love is called Hesed in Hebrew when referring God’s merciful love. The Greeks defined many words for love. Agape, the most potent, means selfless love. I personally favor Thomas Aquinas’ definition of love, to will the good of the other. All these things point to a love which is experienced better than it is defined. I find that familial love magnified in the Eucharist. In the Mass we do not have a message of comfort and lofty encouragement. We have consolation, yet it is a consolation rooted in the stark reality of the Cross. I have brought my problems and life struggles to Mass countless times. I find Jesus calling to me from the Cross, “Come, I am opened up for you. Don’t ask me to come down from the Cross. Come up on the Cross with me.” The Eucharist is a constant encounter with Christ’s one true sacrifice. It is, indeed, the purest form of resilient love. God’s love is pouring forth into the World. My family would always come to Mass together regardless of whatever else happened. We persevered in familial love together. We have to keep faith in that love, even amidst pain and suffering, for love “endures all things, believes all things. Love never ends” (1st Corinthians 13: 7-8).
Invitation
The Eucharist is our participation in God’s divine life. We cannot turn away from so great an invitation to love. So, how will you respond to this great invitation of love? How will you rise to the occasion to present your love of Christ? God’s love is perfect and is something we could never repay on our own. We are meant to “pay it forward” by how we live out our faith. Take this Eucharistic love forward. You can share this love outside of the Church walls. Take Holy Communion to the faithful in retirement homes and consider taking this most sacred gift to those who are shut-ins and cannot make it to Mass. It can even be a blessing to bring the Eucharist to those Catholics in prison. Embrace the gift of God’s resilient love by your own living faith. Amen.
