At the last super, Jesus said to the apostles: “Take it; this is my body.” “This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many”. Jesus gave us his body and his blood. He gave us himself for our salvation. Each time we celebrate the Eucharist, we remember what Jesus said and did at the last super.
Today we celebrate Corpus Christi, the body and blood of Jesus Christ. We celebrate the core and center of our Catholic faith. Today is an opportunity to check our belief in the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Every Sunday we receive the body and blood of Jesus.
When the priest says to us: the body of Christ, we used to respond, Amen, which means, Yes, we accept that this is the body of Christ we receive. And the question is: How many Catholics believe in the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist? Can we consider ourselves Eucharist people? How does our daily lives reflect the Eucharist we celebrate?
These are some important questions we need to ask ourselves about the Eucharist. In fact, years ago, a study revealed that, only 30% of the Catholics believe in the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. The same study tells us that 29% of Catholics believe that the Eucharist is a simple symbolic presence. This result shocked me. I do not know what to you say about it! It seems like many people ignore the treasure they have in their lives.
That is why each time I speak about the Eucharist, I like to tell this following story:
A married couple wanted to go on cruise for 30 days. Before the trip, they decided to buy 80 pounds of bread and 40 pounds of cheese because they are poor people (they had no money to eat in the restaurant inside the cruise). And every day they sacrificed themselves eating bread and cheese….cheese and bread. That was their menu for 29 days. At the end of the trip, (the last day) they decided to go to the restaurant to enjoy good food. Getting there, the security guy asked them to show their ticket. The husband handed it to him. And after checking their ticket in the computer, the guard said to them: “You have a first class ticket. You were suppose to eat here in the restaurant every day. Why did you come only the last day of the trip?” They just laughed. This couple had a treasure but they did not know that. They wasted their time eating bread and cheese every day.
The same thing happens to us in our Catholic faith. Some of us don’t know that we have a treasure. Our treasure is the Eucharist, the body and blood of Jesus Christ. The same Jesus who healed the sick, raised the dead, and performed miracles is present among us in the Eucharist. The same Jesus who raised from the dead ….. The one who says whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, is present in the Eucharist. We receive Him in the Eucharist. What privilege!
What privilege to receive God, Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. This is a great treasure we have. What privilege to receive the eternal life for free by receiving Jesus in the Eucharist. So, knowing that (believing) our treasure, Jesus Christ is really present in the Eucharist, we are called to visit the Blessed sacrament often, even when we are busy. Notice that, our time in Eucharistic adoration before Jesus is very special. Because the more we adore Jesus in the Eucharistic Adoration, the more His grace brings down blessings of every kind upon us. Also, believing in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, we are called to clean our hearts if we know that we are in need of God’s mercy before receiving the Holy Communion. It is a great testimony to our belief . By doing that, we are saying that Jesus deserves the best place.
My brothers and sisters, the Eucharist is to the Church what our heart is to our body because the Eucharist keeps the Church alive. Hopefully, celebrating today, Corpus Christi, we become more and more Eucharistic people and our daily lives reflect the Eucharist we celebrate. May Jesus in the Eucharist always be the center and heart of our Church, the center and heart of our faith, the center and heart of our parish, and the center and heart of the lives of each of us.
In Christ,
Fr. Kalombo
