By Scott Foley
Jesus promises to be with us always, even until the end of the world (cf Mt 28:20), but what does that concretely mean for us? First and foremost, it means the Eucharist.
The Eucharist is alive. It is so much more than a symbol; it is a reality. The Eucharist is the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ.
Alive? Really? St. Faustina tells the tale of the Eucharist alive:
“When I steeped myself in prayer, I was transported in spirit to the chapel, where I saw the Lord Jesus, exposed in the monstrance. In place of the monstrance, I saw the glorious face of the Lord, and He said to me, What you see in reality, these souls see through faith. Oh, how pleasing to Me is their great faith! You see, although there appears to be no trace of life in Me, in reality it is present in its fullness in each and every Host. But for Me to be able to act upon a soul, the soul must have faith. O how pleasing to Me is living faith!” (Diary of St. Faustina, 1420.)
The Eucharist we receive at Communion looks like bread and tastes like bread, but it is really Jesus. Faith is a gift God longs to give us, and he longs for us to freely ask for it. I invite you to ask Jesus, in this very moment, for a strong faith in the Eucharist. It may seem strange, but God often waits for our permission to bestow his gifts.
The Eucharist is powerful, and it is the greatest source of grace that Christ has given us. Every grace is a gift, and every good thing is made possible by God’s grace. Think of how happy you make Jesus when you believe in the Eucharist. When we genuflect to the tabernacle when entering church we are greeting Jesus, truly present in every consecrated host within.
(Scott Foley is a seminarian for the Diocese of Davenport.)
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