The Gospels present a great dilemma, how can a person share their whole life with us. Often we become used to people speaking or writing to us. With modern technology, this has an immediacy which wasn't always present in the past. So much so that we have difficulty processing all the information and become selective in what we read or what we choose to hear. Certain words can strike home for us while others become background noise. This may be especially true when the people ask Jesus, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" and he replies, "If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you will not have life in you. Anyone who does eat my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in him." The words challenge us because there is something happening here which meets us in our everyday reality which disturbs us and causes us to stop in our tracks. Is this truly an encounter with the person of Jesus or is it just a symbolic representation?
When we seek to understand Eucharist we actually encounter his real presence which becomes part of us when we receive the Body and Blood at communion. The reality is not that he becomes part of us but we are also drawn into union with him. It is this profound union which lies at the heart of this reception where we start to see that this is a meeting so direct, so personal and so intimate that we are drawn into his human and divine presence. We are transformed by this reception which is a living remembrance of how he shares his life with us. This also allows us to come into closer communion with each other and which missions us to live that life in our world. In becoming one in the Eucharist we are called to be Eucharistic in our world by what we have received during the celebration of the Mass.
It is this living memory that we hear people talk about especially in the reception of organ donation where a person starts to remember things which have not been part of their life. Therefore, in our gathering together at each Mass and in the reception of communion we are called to encounter the living memory of Jesus. This is a profound sharing of his life which basically says take me as I am!
When we seek to understand Eucharist we actually encounter his real presence which becomes part of us when we receive the Body and Blood at communion. The reality is not that he becomes part of us but we are also drawn into union with him. It is this profound union which lies at the heart of this reception where we start to see that this is a meeting so direct, so personal and so intimate that we are drawn into his human and divine presence. We are transformed by this reception which is a living remembrance of how he shares his life with us. This also allows us to come into closer communion with each other and which missions us to live that life in our world. In becoming one in the Eucharist we are called to be Eucharistic in our world by what we have received during the celebration of the Mass.
It is this living memory that we hear people talk about especially in the reception of organ donation where a person starts to remember things which have not been part of their life. Therefore, in our gathering together at each Mass and in the reception of communion we are called to encounter the living memory of Jesus. This is a profound sharing of his life which basically says take me as I am!
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