Dear friends, today one Sunday after the Church’s celebration of the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, Corpus Christi, our parish, Ste. Anne Salem, will be launching the year of the Eucharist. We will have a solemn vespers and procession at 6PM with the Blessed Sacrament to mark this celebration. It is another opportunity for us to deepen our faith and devotion in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ, who chose to remain with us under the forms of bread and wine.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that the celebration of the Eucharistic sacrifice has its primary focus to be “wholly directed towards the intimate union of the faithful with Christ through Communion.” (CCC. 1382). In his Apostolic Letter, Mane Nobiscum Domine, Pope John Paul II indicated that “When the disciples on the way to Emmaus asked Jesus to stay “with” them, he responded by giving them a much greater gift: through the Sacrament of the Eucharist he found a way to stay “in” them.” Receiving the Eucharist means entering into a profound communion with Jesus. “Abide in me, and I in you” (Jn 15:4) (MND,19). Thus, Eucharistic communion brings about in a sublime way the mutual abiding of Christ in each of his followers; each of us receives Christ and Christ receives each of us (Ecclesia de Eucharistia , 22). According to Joseph Ratzinger, by receiving Holy Communion, “I enter into the Lord, who is communicating himself to me.” By this relationship of profound and mutual abiding our incorporation into Christ is being renewed and consolidated. This entering into communion with Jesus is made possible because Christ was able to share his body wholly - body and spirit - with others. The nature of Christ’s person is one that exists for others. His Body “which is given up for you,” was not the boundary that separated him from others; it is, on the other hand, a bridge; it becomes a means that leads him to others. This is a body that is more inclined to communion, opening up and sharing itself. (Ratzinger, J., 2003. God is Near Us: The Eucharist, the Heart of Life). 

In the Eucharist, Jesus shares himself wholly with the recipient, who becomes united with him (Christ) and with others. In this union, the body of Christ will transform us and make us part of him. This transformation is aptly captured in the words of Saint Augustine in The Confession, “I am the bread of the strong, eat me! But you will not transform me and make me part of you; rather, I will transform you and make you part of me.” Unlike the food we eat which is assimilated in us to build our bodies, when we eat holy communion, it is the other way round; Christ is the heart, the truly existent being and in this mutual abiding, “we are taken out of ourselves, assimilated into him, that we become one with him and, through him, with fellowship of our brethren.”  (Ratzinger, J., 2003).

But for this profound union to be established there is need for the recipient of Holy Communion to be disposed. According to Aquinas, the fruitfulness of Eucharistic grace in our lives depends on our spiritual dispositions (ST, III, q.79, a.3). By mortal sin, we give free rein to the life of darkness in our souls, we say no to grace, no to God’s love; we make ourselves not disposed to receive him. Saint Paul warned the Corinthians that if they eat and drink the body of Christ unworthily they would bring condemnation on themselves (1Cor. 11.29). We must therefore always consider having a good confession in order to have a worthy reception of Christ into our souls and be completely transformed into him.

Have a fruitful inauguration of the year of the Eucharist in our parish.

Fr. Casmia