Have you been
blessed by the Lord?
One of the
indicators that the Lord blesses us is the food we have on our tables. If you
eat your meals three times a day, you can consider blessed. If you eat your
meals six times a day, you are truly blessed. Others may yearn more, while
about ten percent of our population is already thankful having even just one
meal in a day (AlTangHap). Indeed, the Lord blesses most of us but
unfortunately, millions are left in hunger. Does this mean the Lord does not
bless them, or have we been negligent in our responsibility in sharing our
blessings?
Today we
celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ or Corpus
Christi Sunday. Pope Urban IV instituted it in 1264. It is a great occasion for
us to celebrate and reflect upon the Eucharist we receive in the mass. It is an
occasion for us to rejoice for the gift of the Eucharist that nourishes us;
that reminds of Christ's abiding presence among us; His great blessing to
us.
The greatest joy
we can ever experience is to be in the presence of our beloved or that our
beloved is present with us. This is what Jesus does in the Eucharist where we
experience His real presence. In the mass, particularly in the consecration and
communion, we receive the real presence of God in the appearance of bread and
wine. The bread and wine cease to be bread and wine alone but rather
transubstantiated into the body and blood of Christ. In faith in Jesus's words,
we hold those that appear to be bread and wine as His body and blood. Thus,
when the priest offers them to us as he says, "The Body of Christ" we
reply "Amen" meaning, "I believe." We believe because Jesus
says "This is my Body, this is my Blood." Only a believer can receive
the body and blood of Christ in the appearance of bread and wine.
The Body and
Blood of Christ; the Eucharist, is the source and summit of our life us
Catholics (CCC 1324). It is the source of our life as it nourishes and
strengthens us in our journey. It inspires us. It is the summit of our journey
as it is the end goal of our life; to be like Christ the Eucharistic Lord who
shared Himself to those who are in need. In the Eucharist, we hold in our hands
the creative and liberating presence of God; creative as it directs us to the
image of Jesus; the image we all desire to be transformed to; liberating as it
frees us from worries and weaknesses we may encounter in our journey, and
prepares us to imitate Jesus, the Eucharistic Lord who served others. the
Eucharist changes us internally (making us renewed creatures) and externally
(as we become the witness of our faith, of Christ). In the creative and
liberating presence of God in the Eucharist we are reminded of the extent of
the generosity of God to us; He gave His own flesh and blood for our
sustenance, just like a pelican who feeds her children with her own flesh and
blood, just so they may live (in the hope later they too will do the same to
their offspring). Truly in the Eucharist, we realize how blessed are we with
the creative and liberating presence of God.
We regularly
receive the Eucharist in the masses we celebrate. Millions of Filipino
Catholics receive the communion on Sundays. By this time, our society should
have been a Eucharistic society where hunger is unknown and charity have become
the norm. But on the contrary, if we look around us, a lot of people are still
hungry, whether physical or spiritual. Why is that so? It is probably because
we haven't received the Eucharist properly and attentively in our lives. We
haven't yet appropriated the message of the Eucharistic Lord in our own lives.
Just like the apostles, we may have Jesus in our presence but never learned to
be like Jesus (cf Lk 9:11B-17), who desires to feed the hungry by ourselves and
not to send them away.
How are we to
receive and appropriate the Eucharist in our lives?
When the priest
offers the body of Christ during the communion, others will not respond
"Amen." They will say "Thank you" instead. Others do not
even fast, with food crumbs in their mouths as evidence. Other communicants
open their mouth without extending their tongue, expecting the minister to make
a good flick of the Body of Christ into their mouth. Some communicants are like
Venus-fly traps that at the very moment they had a sight of the host they
immediately close their mouth, clutching the fingers of the minister in their
mouth. Others receive Jesus in seeming sad face. Worse is others are not in the
state of grace. How we receive the sacred host reflects our reception of Jesus
in our life. Have we sufficiently prepared our selves in receiving Jesus? And
consequently, this too speaks of the effects of the Eucharist in our lives. We
fail to like our Eucharistic Lord as we fail to receive Him properly in our
lives.
In receiving
Jesus in the Eucharist, embracing the Eucharistic spirituality can be our
guide; that is of offering, being blessed, broken and shared.
We are to offer
to god in the service of others and especially those in need whatever God has
entrusted to us. We can offer our time, resources and talents to our community
and even to strangers in need. Do not
say you have nothing to give. Christ gave everything for us His beloved, even
his very own flesh and blood. His very own life, that we may be fully
configured in His image: I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says
the Lord; whoever eats this bread will live forever.
Believe that
whatever we offer, though how small it may be (five loaves and two fish) will
be blessed by the Lord, and in turn, will be a blessing to multitudes of people
in need. Who would though five loaves and two fish can feed five thousand
men?!? Your few minutes spend with a friend in grief can mean a lot to him. A
simple smile to a stranger can make his rough day a pleasing one.
The blessings we
receive are meant to be broken and shared. They can only be shared, as they are
broken. We cannot share them as we keep them wholly for ourselves. (A
seminarian once receive dinaguan (blood stew) from his parents. In his
greediness, he kept the stew in his cabinet in the seminary, not wanting to
share it to his brothers. A day after, the stew was spoiled and wasted).
Sharing may be difficult or faithfully for others as it entails being broken of
our selfishness and personal dreams in exchange for the will of God for us. But
it is in being broken shared that our identity as Eucharistic people is
realized. It is in His suffering and death (being broken) that Jesus realized the
mission entrusted to Him by the Father (to free us from sin and share eternal
life to us).
Through the
Eucharistic spirituality of offering, being blessed, broken to be shared; we
realize our identity just like that of Jesus'.
Feed them
yourselves! Give them something to eat; Jesus admonished his apostles.
As we are blessed
by the presence of Jesus, we are to be a blessing to others. To feed the
hungry, attend the needy. Our generosity can be God's way of making Himself
present to those who could not feel His hands.
We too can be the
bread of life that can feed those who are hungry! By the bread of life, we
receive; through which we are transformed to become food ourselves for others;
inspired by the generosity of Jesus, and through which we shall give.
We are Blessed by
our Eucharistic Lord!
Be a Blessing in
turn by a life of witnessing through the Eucharistic Spirituality: offering,
being blessed, broken and shared!
