Food for the Journey: The Eucharist - Food that transforms us
July 1, 2022
We hear them so often that they have now become either prosaic, poetry, or quotidian.
What are they?
They are the words of consecration at every Mass: “Take this, all of you, and eat it. This is my body, which will be given up for you…Take this, all of you, and drink from it: this is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven. Do this in memory of me.”
What are we to make of these words if we give them some closer considerations?
First, it’s important to know that the word “body” does not mean a part of the human being which, with other parts, form the human person.
The word “body” refers to the totality of the human person. So in Jesus giving us his body, he is giving us his entire person from the very beginning of when he first incarnates in Mary’s womb to his ascension into Heaven, everything that made up his life: joys, hardships, tears, laughter, struggles, victories, etc.
Second, “blood” in the Bible is most often understood in context of an event or experience: death. Genesis 9:4 gives us a good indication that blood is synonymous with life.
Thus, in giving us his blood, Jesus directs us towards the event and experience of his death by which we are restored to proper relationship as daughters and sons of God to himself.
But what are some practical conclusions we can draw from these words that make real the body and blood of our Lord for our consumption?
Once we receive the Eucharist we are transformed into “walking Christs,” called to give our body and blood. We give our body, our whole lives, to others by giving up our time, our energy, and our treasure to those who need us. We must be mindful to give not only to those who deserve these things from us, but to give especially to those who we think least deserving of them; for Christ calls us to love even our enemies (Lk 6:27).
In imitating Christ to shed our blood, we offer our death events to God: our physical and/or spiritual sufferings, our humiliations, our physical and/or mental illnesses; our failures in trying to live our calling to love.
We offer them in hope so that we may remind ourselves that no suffering is meaningless, and neither is God indifferent to them.
We offer them to know that our sufferings matter to God and we hope to find redemption in them.
In other words, the Eucharist transforms us into a living sacrifice.
John Huynh is the director of the diocesan Faith Journey program and coordinates the Catechetical Institute. To reach him email jhuynh@dmdiocese.org or call 515-237-5006.