Day 7

The Eucharist

Prayer

Dear Lord,

Help me to believe that the Eucharist is truly Your body, blood, soul and divinity; that when I receive the Eucharist, I receive You.

My Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingly power. I love you. Thank you for loving me first.

+ Amen +

Reading

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever.” This he said in the synagogue, as he taught at Caper′na-um.

Many of his disciples, when they heard it, said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at it, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of man ascending where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you that do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who those were that did not believe, and who it was that should betray him. And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him. Jesus said to the twelve, “Will you also go away?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

– John 6:53-69

Reflection

We have now arrived at the most important topic to Dear Mom, the Catholic Church and to all Christians: the Eucharist. If there is anything that separates our faith from any other faith, it is the Eucharist.

Christ, the Source of Eternal Life

Christ declared that His flesh and His blood was the food and drink that would lead to eternal life. Many deserted Christ over this teaching because they could not believe Him. Yet He never amended His message. It was the truth.

St. Paul confirms this when he says:

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself.

– 1 Corinthians 11:27-29

But, how is it possible to eat and drink the flesh and blood of God? At the Last Supper, Christ made this possible.

The Last Supper

In the Gospel of St. Matthew, St. Mark and St. Luke, we read about the Last Supper where Christ turned the bread and wine into His body and blood. Those who ate and drank it, ate and drank Christ Himself.

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after supper, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”

– Luke 22:19-20

This tradition was then passed down from the Apostles to the whole Church. St. Paul, who did not sit at the Last Supper, continues this sacred tradition.

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

– 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

To this day, this tradition is completed at every Mass.

The Eucharist

At every Mass, when the priest lifts up the tiny piece of bread and says, “This is My body,” that piece of bread is Jesus Christ Himself. And when the priest lifts up the chalice of wine and says, “This is My blood”, that chalice now contains the same Jesus Christ.¹

This bread and wine, now His body and blood, is called the Eucharist. And the Eucharist is all of Christ, His body, blood, soul and divinity.

Jesus Christ is with you

Please ponder this teaching.

Recall the last Mass you attended. When the priest elevated the Eucharist, you saw Jesus Christ. And when you received Him in your mouth, you consumed Jesus Christ.

Look in the direction of your closest parish. There, in that building, there is a little box called the Tabernacle with a red candle burning beside it. In the tabernacle is Jesus Christ.

Is the parish closed at this time? Is it empty? Is it night time? There is Jesus Christ, surrounded by Heaven, but alone in this world.

People ask God, “Where are you? Why are you not here? Prove to me your existence!” And yet, at every Catholic parish, there is God among the people; alone, because very few believe and visit Him.

But not so with you. You belong to Dear Mom now. Where Mom goes, we go. And Mom is by her Son and we will be too.

The Catholic faith is the only religion where God is physically present among the people. No other religion claims this, no other religion believes this.

And yet it is true.

The Eucharistic Miracles

To preserve the faith, God has sent miracles where the Eucharist has turned into actual human flesh and blood. Many of these miracles have been tested by skeptical scientists and doctors and shown to be the heart of a man from the middle east (Jesus Christ!). With much scrutiny, many of these miracles have been approved by the Church.

Bl. Carlo Acutis, who died in 2006 at the age of 15, spent his young life documenting these Eucharistic Miracles, which can be found here, because he believed that if people came to understand that the Eucharist was truly Christ, they would turn back to God.

The most touching miracle for me was the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano, Italy. My wife and I personally visited the parish that housed the miracle. We saw the miracle with our own eyes. In the monstrance was the bread that had transformed into a piece of human heart (cross-section of the left ventricle), perfectly intact even though it was over 1200 years old. I committed my whole life to God at that altar.

God does not need to send us these miracles. His words alone should suffice for us. But because we do not believe, He sends these miracles to prove His presence among us.

Honoring the Eucharist

Now knowing that the Eucharist is God, we must understand that when we consume God, we become His tabernacle. But, if we continue in our evil ways, we abuse the Eucharist; we abuse Christ!

After receiving the Eucharist and returning to our daily life, do we speak anything foul, get angry unnecessarily, act impatiently, commit sins of impurity, look at anyone with impurity, or entertain ourselves with vile music or media? In these ways, we abuse Christ.

As children of Dear Mom, we must remember this and never abuse the Eucharist. We must honor the Eucharist and treat it with the utmost reverence.

There are three ways we can honor the Eucharist.

The Eucharistic Life

It is true! At Mass, you are truly seeing God! At Communion, you are truly consuming God! God is truly and personally nourishing you!

I remember attending Adoration at my local parish and realizing that I was before Almighty God. If I ever wanted to talk to an earthly judge or a king, it would be near impossible. Yet here was the Creator of the whole world, sitting at the parish, alone, unprotected and undefended, open to me, listening to me, being with me. I was in awe, fell on my face and worshiped.

I hope you will experience this too.

If your parish is hosting Adoration, the Eucharist is there on the altar, open to your visit and worship. But even if Adoration is not available, you can go inside and kneel before the tabernacle and worship; and even if the parish is closed, you can drive to the side of the building where the tabernacle would be and worship.

Remember that God’s beloved disciple rested on the heart of Christ (John 13:23) and that he was standing by the Cross with Dear Mom when Christ was crucified (John 19:26).

You can now do the same. The Sacred Heart of Christ is at every Catholic parish and at every Catholic Mass. He is waiting for you. Receive God, rest with Him, and be loved by Him.

Today’s Task