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Eucharist:
A Change in Us
June
10, 2007
Luke
9:11b-17
During
the second world war the Nazis forced young boys, twelve to
thirteen years old, to leave their homes and join the junior
gestapo. In order to break their wills, they made them do
hard work and gave them very little food. At the end of the
war, there were hundreds of boys who were disorientated, separated
from their families, and wandering about Europe without shelter
or food. As part of the reconstruction after the war, these
boys were gathered in tent camps, where doctors and psychologists
attempted to return them to some form of normal life. One
of common problems was that the boys would frequently wake
up in the middle of the night, frightened and terrified, because
they thought they were ready to starve and die. In time, however,
the doctors discovered a simple solution. After giving the
boys a hearty meal, they put them to bed and gave them a piece
of bread to hold as they slept. This action of holding on
to the thing that they feared would not be theirs in the morning
allowed many of the boys to sleep the whole night through.
Holding on to that piece of food gave them security and peace.
That bread had the power to change them.
This
story is an appropriate one for us today on the feast of Corpus
Christi, the body and blood of Christ. On this day we celebrate
the Eucharist, and the Eucharist has the power to change us.
As Catholics we believe that the bread and wine which we place
on the altar becomes for us the real presence of Christ, the
body and blood of the risen Lord. But it is also important
for us to understand that that change is meant to cause a
change in us.
St.
Augustine in one of his letters says to his readers, “Do not
simply celebrate the wondrous change that happens to the bread
and wine on the altar. Celebrate as well the change that occurs
in us who eat this spiritual food.” The Eucharist is meant
to change us. How is it meant to change us? The answer can
be found in the Eucharistic prayer that we pray at every Mass.
Shortly after remembering Christ's words at the Last Supper,
the presider prays, “May all of us who share the body and
blood of Christ be brought together in unity by the Holy Spirit.”
We pray for unity in the Eucharist. The Eucharist is meant
to change us and make us one. The Eucharist empowers us to
be Christ's body. If we are to be unified, if we are to be
one, we need the power to forgive. We need the power to believe,
to hope, to love. We need the power to sacrifice, the power
to tell the truth, the power to build God's kingdom. The Eucharist
empowers us in all these ways. It changes us so that we can
be one, so that we can be Christ's people.
How
do we open ourselves to this changing power of the Eucharist?
I have asked Alice after communion today to share some of
her thoughts on how we can be open to this change. But as
we proceed now to the table of the Lord, let it be clear that
we not only pray for a change in the bread and wine. We pray
for a change in us, a change that will make us one, a change
that will make us Christ's body for the salvation of the world.
Reflection
by Alice Hinkel
If
our experience of Eucharist is meant to transform not only
bread and wine, but also our very selves, into the body of
Christ, so that unity might become a reality in our world,
what is required of us to ensure that this will happen? While
the Holy Spirit is the primary mover here, the one who transforms
bread, wine and people into the body of Christ, we need to
be involved in the process. Our cooperation is important.
A heart disposed and open to God's action is essential.
Such
a heart will first need to be willing to receive and secondly
to be generous with what has been given. To be transformed
into Christ means we must first be open and receptive to God's
grace, which certainly has come to us in this Eucharist and
in many other ways throughout our day. It may come through
the faithfulness of a spouse or a friend, the laughter of
a child, the wisdom of a grandparent, the beauty of music
or art, and certainly the glory of this day itself.
To
notice and receive and appreciate such wondrous gifts makes
us more supple in God's hands, softens our hearts and moves
us to compassion. Receptivity to the grace of the Eucharist
and the goodness around us is essential if we are to become
the body of Christ and leads very naturally to the second
characteristic, which is generosity.
Paradoxical
as it may seem, the only way we can keep goodness, love, mercy,
wisdom or any gift from God is to give it away. We need to
be faithful. We need to share our beauty, our wisdom, and
to laugh and be joyful. What we have received as a gift in
this Eucharist or any aspect of our life, we must also give
as a gift. If we are both receptive and generous, then our
unity in Christ will follow. And we, like bread and wine,
will become his very presence, offering nourishment to a world
hungry for love and peace.
Receptivity
and generosity: two fairly simple and straightforward suggestions
that can open our hearts to the working of the Holy Spirit.
But these characteristics, so essential for our unity, are
not necessarily easy to practice and to remember. We will
need ongoing and repeated sustenance for the journey. That
is why we are invited to this table again next week, to receive
once more the very life of Christ in word and sacrament and
community, that we might continue to generously share all
that we have received and all that we are becoming.
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