|
Why
Christ Is Present in the Eucharist
Fr.
George Smiga
June
17 - 18, 2006
Mark
14: 12 – 16, 22 - 26
On
this feast of the Body and Blood of the Lord we celebrate
the foundational Catholic truth that Christ is present, really
present, in the Eucharist. What should we say about this wondrous
gift? In past centuries much theological time and effort was
spent on trying to understand how Christ was present.
But to this day the mode of Christ's presence remains a mystery.
So today I would rather emphasize another aspect of the Eucharist
and one which I think perhaps even more important. Rather
then centering on how Christ is present I would
like us to reflect on why Christ is present. Because
the wondrous gift of the Eucharist allows Christ to be present
for our benefit—present to help us live.
Now
how does the Eucharist help us live? I would suggest to you
it does so in three distinct ways. Three ways that correspond
to the mystery we celebrate. What is the mystery we celebrate?
We proclaim it in the midst of the Eucharist prayer: “Christ
has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.” Each of
these three aspects of Christ's paschal mystery corresponds
to a way in which the Eucharist helps us live. For the Eucharist
gives us the power of letting go, the power of seeing goodness,
and the power of holding on.
Christ
has died. We remember in this meal the wondrous love by which
Christ gave his life for our salvation. Dying is about letting
go. As we encounter in the Eucharist the Christ who died for
us, he imparts to us the power of letting go of those aspects
of our life that which hold us back. What are the things that
hold us back? Each of us must answer that question from the
circumstances of our lives. Perhaps we must let go of resentment
or hurt or self-indulgence or addiction or prejudice or pride.
Each time we come to this meal we set those obstacles before
the Lord, and the Christ who gave his life for us enables
us to let go of whatever hinders us.
Christ
is risen. Here is the center of our faith. We believe that
the love and goodness of God was so real in the person of
Christ that God conquered even death. As we encounter the
risen Christ in the Eucharist he gives us the power to see
the goodness that is a part of our life and our world. Do
we need to see that goodness? Without a doubt. How easy it
is of us to center on what is wrong, what is broken, what
has failed? In doing so we discount all the goodness and blessing
that surround us in our lives. What could be a greater waste
than to be a blessed and loved person and never claim and
celebrate that gift? So each time we come to this meal and
encounter the risen Christ we receive the strength to be thankful
for the people who love us, for our health, for our talents,
for the beauty of the world around us. We pray for the risen
Christ to make us always conscience of those gifts and never
take any of them for granted.
Christ
will come again. Although Christ is risen, the victory of
Christ is not yet complete. Evil, injustice, violence, and
hatred remain as a part of our world. They touch our lives.
But we as a community believe Christ will come again, and
when he comes the ultimate victory will be won and all evil
will be destroyed. So each time we encounter the Christ who
will come again in the Eucharist he gives us the strength
to hold on, to hold on in hope. This strength allows us to
believe that whatever troubles we must face God has not forgotten
us and will not abandon us. In this Eucharist meal we pray
that Christ will allow us to hold onto hope, even in the midst
of family troubles, in the midst of sickness, in the midst
of discouragement and failure, and yes even in the shadow
of death.
Christ
has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. This is
the Christ who is present in the Eucharist. It is in the Eucharist
that this Christ gives us the power to let go of those things
that hinder us, to see the goodness of the world around us,
to hold on the midst of trial. On any particular day that
we come to the Eucharist our lives might require one of these
gifts more than another. But every time we come to the Eucharist
the whole Christ is present to us.
So
what do you come for today? What needs shape your life? Whatever
you need, approach this table with confidence, with the confidence
that you will be fed. The good news of the Eucharist is not
only that Christ is present, really present, but that Christ
is present for our benefit, present so that we might live.
|
