EUCHARISTIC SPIRITUALITY

Christ desires the good for us. He realizes this through our openness and cooperation with His plan for us. The good Christ has for us takes place in our life in the same manner with which He realizes our salvation: through the Eucharistic spirituality of offering, breaking, and sharing.

Offering

We give and offer whatever we have to God. The disciples had five loaves and two fishes. They thought these might not suffice to feed a multitude of people. We often have the same disbelief that our abilities may not be good enough to be God's channel of grace and blessing to others. We devalue our abilities and ourselves as worthless and useless; not good enough to be presented before the Lord.

But all that we have comes from the Lord and therefore bears the goodness its origin intrinsically possesses. There is goodness in us, and goodness can be generated from it. (I never thought I could sing and chant until I gave it a try. Though I may not have an operatic or a pop star’s voice, I realize I can pray twice by singing).

In the Eucharistic spirituality, we offer the good God has given us. This may entail difficulties and sacrifices: difficulty of giving up whatever is precious to us for the good of others (for sometimes we are tempted to keep the blessings we have received for ourselves); difficulty of believing there is good that we can offer (that our five loaves and two fishes may not be good enough). We offer our "five loaves and two fishes" nevertheless, with faith in God that He will bring forth miracles from our offerings. 

Breaking

Our offerings placed in the hands of God are broken into fragments; broken from our egotism and self-centeredness; broken from our own ambitions and plans in life. Breaking facilitates the emergence of a new self; as the bread is consecrated in the Eucharist, it turns into the body of Christ. It is broken that it may be shared later in the communion.

There is always that obsession to maintain our wholeness by self-preservation. We secure our future through the worldly riches we keep for ourselves (money, beautiful houses, luxurious cars). Our wholeness can only be attained by being broken to pieces (and shared to others). Devoid of the trappings of this world, our broken selves reveal who we are, what is essential in our life. We can only realize who we are, whom God intends us to be, when we cease to focus on ourselves and begin to be concerned on the needs of others, like God who never remained for Himself. By self-emptying ourselves (kenosis), God can fill us with goodness that will truly satisfy us. We are broken that we may be shared. There lies our true wholeness.  

Sharing

Communion is the culmination of every Eucharistic celebration. We are not stuck in being broken. We are shared. Being shared is the fulfillment of every offering and breaking. For if we are to assume the identity of Christ, for us to tread the footsteps of Jesus whom we follow, we are to be led to sharing ourselves; to empty ourselves for the sake of others. In sharing, in emptying ourselves (kenosis), we find fulfillment. Emptied, God can finally fill us. God fills us more than we deserve (even with twelve baskets of excess).

Through the Eucharist, we find a spirituality.  We offer whatever good we have received from the Lord; whatever good we have worked through our hands, we empty ourselves. Placed on His hands, the Lord breaks our offering; breaks our selfish ambitions and egotistic desires that we may be shared to others. We share our brokenness touched and blessed by the Lord. In the process of sharing, we are made full and we find fulfillment. This is the goodness Christ desires for us.