THE EUCHARISTIC LIVING

 

We are on a day of the Eucharist. On this day our Lord instituted the Eucharist. Together with the Eucharist our Lord also confirmed the Priesthood to memorialize this sacrifice. Priests are ordained first and foremost to keep the Eucharist alive in the world. The presence of the Lord in the world is concretely manifested in the Holy Eucharist. In the breaking of the bread and in the Blessed Sacrament, Christ is made present in time. The only way to communion with the Lord both physically and spiritually is in the reception of the Holy Eucharist. St. Thomas Aquinas speaks of the Eucharist as the food of angels. The angels in heaven are in perfect communion with the Lord forever. However, they cannot receive this food in a way we receive. Angels as spiritual beings are without bodies. Therefore, they cannot receive the food concretely as we receive in the form of the bread. Hence, they envy us. To live forever as angels we need to eat this bread. The Lord Himself has commanded us to do so, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.” (Jn 6:53-56).

In the Old Testament, the people of Israel sprinkled the blood of the Passover lamb on the two doorposts and the lintel of their houses to be protected from the wrath of God (Ex 12:7). The blood of the Lamb served as a means to escape death from the hand of God. In the New Testament, Jesus pours out His blood from the cross to be drunk by those who want to have eternal life. His blood saves us from eternal condemnation. Therefore, eating of His flesh and drinking of His blood becomes necessary to gain salvation. We have to feed on Jesus to live forever (Jn 6:57). The commemoration of this day stands as an opposition to our protestant brethren who reject the necessity of the Eucharist.

Eucharist and Priesthood go hand in hand. Without Eucharist, the priesthood losses its purpose and meaning. And without priesthood, the Eucharist becomes impossible. Priesthood is immanent in the Eucharist. The grace to transform the bread and wine into body and blood of Christ rests in the hands of the priest. This exalts the priest from being an ordinary person to something extraordinary. Yes, the priest as minister of the Word and the Eucharist deals directly with God. The priest serve closely with God and handle God in their hands. It is something great and a mystery to comprehend. At the same time, the priest is an ordinary human being. He becomes significant only in relation with the Eucharist. Hence, the priest should direct all the exaltations toward God, rather than to himself. His function at the altar as priest is only a service rendered to God and to His people. It is the grace that makes the priest worthy of this service, nor personal holiness or merit. It is precisely because of this Jesus before instituting the priesthood washes the feet of the apostles to teach them a virtue of humility. With the washing of their foot on the Last supper, Jesus has shown an example (Jn 13:15). It is humility which makes the person holy and truthful. Pride is the cause of all the destructions in the world. Pope Francis often cites the clericalism in the Church as poisonous. The clericalism is completely opposite to what the Lord had wished from the clergy (Jn 13:15). To overcome the evil of clericalism, the priests have to live a life of the Eucharist. In the Eucharist, Christ is being given away to be eaten by the sinners. Similarly, Priests have to give themselves away to be eaten by the wolves. In this way, their life becomes more Eucharistic.   

On this day of the Eucharist and the Priesthood, let us spend enough time with our Lord. He is going to be betrayed, scourged and crucified for our sake. Let us not be like His beloved disciples who failed to give strength to Him in moments of horror and death. May we keep awake with the Lord in the Eucharist to conceive the mystery of this paschal triduum.    

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