The Eucharist
A Few Reflections
Father
Ed. Wood, SSS.
Reprinted
February 2015
Father E. Wood, SSS, St. Francis’ Church,
326 Lonsdale Street,
Melbourne, 3000, Australia.
Tel: (03) 9663 2495 Fax: (03) 9663 2817
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CONTENTS
1. The Eucharist2. The Paschal Mystery
3. Bread of Life and Love
4. A Presence Divine and Benign
5. Presence and Communion
6. Abiding Presence
7. Presence and Prayer
8. Presence and Service / 3
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These reflections on the Eucharist were written over a period of time and are reproduced here in a single booklet. They may be used for quiet prayer before the Eucharist that remains a Mystery of Faith as the Liturgy proclaims. Prayer and re-flection will reveal a little insight into the gift of the Lord.
Edward Wood, SSS
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1. The Eucharist
Lent is over. Holy Week has come and gone. We rest in the glow and joy of Easter. We have remembered the giving of theEucharist. The death of the Lord wherein Christ gave himself wholly as the Suffering Servant. The Resurrection followed baffling and defying all explanation, yet remaining the basis and foundation of Christian life and meaning.
Each Eucharist we celebrate both recalls and makes present the passion, death and resurrection of the Lord. This passage from life to death is generally called the Paschal Mystery yet other names are also used of this mystery of faith.
At the heart of the Eucharist is the total and unconditional giving of Christ. It remains the unconditional love of Christ reaching from two millennia ago to all ages and to simplest celebration o the Eucharist. It is both Christ’s total love offered to the Father and the unconditional love given for the life of the world. Who can fathom this love? Words fail to express its depth since the love of God cannot be measured and, indeed, as the psalmist repeats again and again: “forhis love endures for ever.”
At the heart of the Eucharist is love. This love is actively present at every celebration since it is the sacrifice of Christ that is recalled and made present. True, it remains unseen, perhaps unfelt by all who participate in the celebration, but we hold dear and believe the Lord who said: “This is my body given up for you.”“This is the cup of the new covenantmy blood which will be poured out for you. This is divine love without measure.
The Eucharist may be likened to a divine invasion of love welling-up from Christ’s offering on Calvary and flowing everlastinglyto touch the hearts of all who gather to celebrate. No wonder we pause as we begin each celebration calling to mind our failures and weaknesses and ask for divine pardon as we open our hearts to the immensity and profundity of the Lord’s love.
The Lord is present in every Mass freeing from sin, speaking in the words of the Scriptures, gathering us as he offers himself to the Father, he endows us with the gift of himself as bread of life. Christ is our Bread of Life
This gift of Christ calls us, in turn, into his unconditional gift of self in love. Our participation in the Eucharist is to nourish and transform our lives into the likeness of Christ. Thus fed on the Bread of Life we give ourselves in unconditional love to all we meet on our pilgrimage of life.
The Eucharist enables us to love God with all our hearts and souls and minds and strength and, at the same time, moves us to open up in love toall and even, if the situation arises, to love our enemies.Did not the Lord say: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hateyou and pray for those who persecute you.”This seemingly impossible command becomes possible by the Eucharist we receive since it is the enabling power of Christ let loose in our hearts.
The Eucharist gives the power, the strength, the grace to live as our Lord lived: “a man for others. “ It enables us to have a profound change of heart and to live as Christ taught in the Beatitudes, trusting in God, being gentle, humble, compassionate, just. Lives abounding in mercy, hearts set on Christ, true peacemakers and reconcilers and, at all times, being courageous and persevering.
The command of the Lord at the Last Supper to “do this in memory of me,” is actualised in the celebration of the Eucharist which both recalls and makes present the passion, death and resurrection of the Lord from which we receive divine life. This divine gift inspires and moves us to be truly disciples of Christ. The Eucharist opens up the vision of the wonder of the Good News of salvation. It opens for us the meaning of the Sermon on the Mount, but, above all, it makes us children of God living the same kind of life that Christ lived — this is our challenge and destiny!
CHRIST HAS DIED
CHRIST IS RISEN
CHRIST WILL COME AGAIN!
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2. THE PASCHAL MYSTERY
The forty days and forty nights of Lent are almost over andwith hearts and minds renewed God’s people will enter intothe ceremonies of Holy Week. This time will culminate inthe celebration of the Paschal Mystery in its fulness– thepassion, death and resurrection of Jesus.
In these celebrations the church not only remembers thePassover of the Lord, but also enters in and participatesliturgically in the primary saving event lived out inJerusalem some 2000 years ago. God’s love and compassionare present to us as they have been to every generation ofChristians and will be so till the end of time.
Hearts that have ‘turned away from sin and been faithful tothe Gospel’will receive what may be termed a divineinvasion of love. The floodgates of God’s love and kindnesswill flow in ever-increasing streams into hearts open to theLord. Did not our Lord say that streams of living waterwould flow from him? For example, to be forgiven or toforgive is to bathe in living waters of love.
The passion, death andresurrection of Jesus – the PaschalMystery – draws us into the total gift of Christ, the highestexpression of his love for the Father and of hisunconditional love for us. He gave himself that we might bedrawn into unionwith our Triune God.
Passion (Palm) Sunday gives us the opportunity toremember Christ’s entry into Jerusalem, to hear anew thewelcome of many. It gives us the possibility, as a peopleand as individuals, to welcome him into our hearts singing,
Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of theLord.
Holy Thursday invites us to recall the historical LastSupper, the Lord’s preparation of the event, his words oflove, his washing of the feet of the disciples and the gift ofthe Eucharist. However his presence for us is the RisenLord and while we have died with him in baptism our risenlife is not yet fully achieved. On our pilgrimage we sit attable with the Risen Lord, we listen attentively to hiswords, we learn from the washing of the feet of the selflessservice expected of disciples, and then we partake of thebanquet of the Lord, the Eucharist. In all these things weare invited to walk with him, live his kind of life, knowinghe has called us friends. (Read John’s Gospel, chapters 13to 17)
Good Friday grips the hearts and souls of all Christians.The cross, the symbol of the ultimate gift of Christ for usand for our salvation, touches so many – one wonders aboutthe attractive power of this day. Is it Christ’s awful death?Or does it remind so many of their own struggles in life –betrayal by friends, loneliness, loss of friends, torture,injustice, suffering, lack of human compassion, rejectionand a feeling of Godforsakeness? Whatever the tragedy ofChrist’s death and the conjoined sufferings of so manyothers, the cross is a symbol of HOPE. A symbol telling allthat despite all trials, struggles, sufferings and even death,that all is not lost since Christ has conquered sin and death.In a word, the cross means hope springs eternal.
Easter is the fulfilment of the hope symbolized by the crosssince Christ truly rose from the dead and so entered intoglory. His resurrection is celebrated in the Easter Vigil – apowerful recalling and making present of our sacred historyand, at the same time, drawing us into the reality andmystery of the resurrection, drawing us into new life inChrist. Indeed, if Christ be not risen from the dead our faithis in vain. Darkness yields to light and the Exsultetresounds throughout the world.
Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing, choir ofangels!
Exult all creation around God’s throne!
Jesus Christ, our King, is risen!
Sound the trumpet of salvation!
Rejoice O earth, in shining splendour,
radiant in the brightness of your King!
Christ has conquered! Glory fills you!
Darkness vanishes forever!
Rejoice O Mother Church! Exult in glory!
The risen Saviour shines upon you!
Let this place resound with joy,
echoing the mighty song of all God’speople!
3.BREAD OF LIFE AND LOVE
To share a meal is a joyful event. It is not only the foodbut also the company, the conversation, the friendshipthat are integral to the meal. To enjoy such a meal withfamily and friends binds all together and gives renewedenergy to face the ups and downs of life.
It was no different at the Last Supper when Jesusgathered around him all his close friends and disciples.On that unique occasion the friendship and love ofJesus,- the Giver of Eternal Life, were plainly shown, as,we read in the Final Discourses of John’s Gospel.(Chaps. 13 -17) Jesus spoke of many things close tohis heart and his heart was truly open to all gatheredaround him. Above all, he stressed the need to loveone another even unto death. Love was to be thehallmark of his friends and disciples.
Every time we gather to celebrate the Mass/Eucharistwe relive the Last Supper event. We meet Jesus ourRisen Lord, our Brother and Saviour, and receive theshared life of God himself. John’s Gospelrecordseloquently that Jesus offers us his Body and Blood asa necessary food for the pilgrimage of life. This ismanifest especially in John 6. The Lord also warns ofthe consequences of not accepting the gift he gives inthe Eucharist.
“If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man
anddrink his blood you will not have life in you.”
John 6 reminds us of the closeness of the union towhich Christ calls us in every celebration of the Mass.It is a union that reaches its fulfilment in eternity. Jesusoffers us a life that will not grow older, a life that will goon forever. In the Eucharist, our Communion, we areoffered the life that Jesus shares with God our Father.
Christ is not present on our altars simply for ouradoration and admiration, but ultimately he is presentso: that we might become one with him. Our celebrationand reception of the Eucharist move us to allow itseffect to flow out into our daily lives. The union wehave with Christ is one of love and it is that love that hewills us to show to others without reserve.
Communion, means setting our hearts on drawing evercloser to Jesus and, in turn, drawing ever closer toone another by love shown practically in our weekdaylives. Receiving Communion becomes meaninglessunless the love given by Christ has a profound effect inthe way we live.
At the end of each Mass we are sent out to serve theLord wherever we live andbecome Christ-bearers,living his life and making Jesus present in a world thatotherwise would conceal him. To continue to show truelove and give the Christ-life to others we need to returnfrequently and partake of the BREAD OF LIFE, the LIVING BREAD, from which we live and move andhave our being.
As Jesus said,
“He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
livesinme and I live in him.”
To receive Communion, to receive the Eucharist, is tobe one with Christ and hisgracious presence enablesus to truly love one another, to be gentle, sensitivelycompassionate, fair in our dealings with others,merciful, peace-makers and ever constant in faith.
May I speak once again for ongoing prayer
so that the Lordwill send
his Church and our Blessed Sacrament Congregation
disciples afterhis own heart
for the well-being of the Australian Church.
4. A PRESENCE DIVINE AND BENIGN
To speak of presence leads one to think of immediateproximity, nearness, a sense of a person or thing beingnear. It may also denote a sense of awe or wonder arisingfrom the presence of a person, a sacred place or a specialenvironment. In such instances a person ‘feels’ in thepresence of, or being close to someone or somethingsomehow greater than oneself. One could ponder andreflect on the meaning of presence and its many aspectsand be enriched by the experience.
In our Christian lives to speak of presence will surelyencompass the Divine. Indeed, the Divine Presence is everso central to Christian life and worship. One finds ayearning, like the psalmists, to enjoy the presence of the All-Holy. The Lord is present everywhere and this may beexperienced providing we stop and be still for a moment ortwo. Our hurrying often prevents us from savouring aoneness with the Lord who is the alpha and omega, thebeginning and end of all that exists.
In Catholic life and worship we acknowledge, at leastintellectually, that the Eucharist/Mass is the source andcentre of our way of life and worship. Whilst we accept thistruth in faith it does not follow that every time we participatein the Eucharist that we have a deeply-felt experience of theDivine. It is one thing to live and worship in faith and anotherto sense the presence of the One who comes so near, soclose, in every celebration of the Eucharist and touches ourlives in the most profound manner. As Vatican II teaches, the Risen Lord is
“present in the sacrifice of the Mass . ..inthe person of His minister... He is present in the Eucharisticspecies. He is present by His power in the sacraments...Heis present in His word, since it is He Himself who speakswhen the holy Scriptures are read in the Church. He ispresent when the Church prays and sings as He promised,‘Where two or three are gathered together for my sake,there am I in the midst of them’.”(Mt. 18:20)
The words quoted above are the voice of the Holy Spirit, theAdvocate, speaking through the Church and announcing thegood news of the dynamic presence of the Risen Lord inevery celebration of the Eucharist. The good news is thatthe Lord is so close, so near to us, and is touching ourhearts and souls. He nourishes us with words of life, heredeems us, he graces us with the gift of himself at themoment of Communion. We are one with the Lord!
One wonders sometimes whether all experience, at leastfrom time to time, some glimpse of the multifacetedpresence of the Risen Lord in the Eucharist. It is possiblethat some Catholics have not heard or understood theteaching of Vatican II. Others have heard andacknowledged the received teaching in faith, but how manyhave had what may be called a “faith experience” and felt inevery fibre of their being the Presence Divine?
To more fully experience the presence of the Lord it seemsessential to spend some time reflecting, pondering themanner of the Lord’s presence and asking in profoundprayer a deeper understanding of the mystery of theEucharist, a mystery of Presence. This is open to all in agreater or lesser degree but there is need for apreparedness to spend time in prayer, preferably in thepresence of the Blessed Sacrament. It is in silent momentsthat one will be led into a deeper appreciation and a feltexperience of the presence of the Lord.
This movementcannot be hurried, it is, as often quoted, “Be still and knowthat I am God.”In this quiet stillness remember the Lord’spromises, “Ask, and you will be given; search, and you willfind; knock, and the door will be opened to you.”Thispassage from Luke 11:5ff. concludes with Jesus saying thatthe heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to those whoask him! It is in this indwelling of the Spiritgiven to thosewho watch in prayer that will lead to an ever-deepeningappreciation and understanding of the most precious gift wereceive in the Eucharist. It is the Lord raised from the dead,a saving Presence, a loving Presence, a divine Presence,the Eucharist! A prayer from Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.,fittingly concludes this reflection.
“Grant, O God, that when I draw near to the altar to
communicate, I may ever discern the intimateperspective
hidden beneath the smallness and thenearness of the Host
in which You are concealed.Amen.”
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5. PRESENCE & COMMUNION
The reflection ‘A Presence Divine and Benign’ touched uponthe various ways by which the Lord becomes present to us inthe celebration of the Eucharist. The manifold presences ofthe “One giving himself for us,” are in many ways the living outof the Lord’s promise to be with us until the end of time. He ispresent in communities who gather in his name, he is presentin the proclaimed Word of God, he is present in the Eucharist.
However the high point of the Eucharistic celebration is whenwe receive the Bread of Life. Communion is the most intimatemoment of our encounter with the Risen Lord. At the time ofCommunion we all share the one Bread of Life and are bothcommunally and personally bonded to the Lord and to oneanother. How may we really describe this moment ofCommunion? Christ gives himself whole and entire and webecome one with him in the most profound union weexperience on earth. We can truly say at that moment. “Heand l” are one.
Recently we celebrated the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Bodyand Blood of Christ. Much of the liturgy for that day flows fromthe prayer, reflection and writings of St. Thomas Aquinas, agreat saint and theologian of the 13thcentury. All his writingson the Eucharist are inspired and he had the ability to expressin a few words much of the wonder of this Sacrament ofSacraments. In the antiphon for the Evening Prayer of theChurch he wrote of Communion as the “Sacred Banquet.” Ourpondering on the notion of banquet may take many forms andall of them are in the ambience of joy, celebration and love.