Last Sunday the Catholic Church celebrated the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, as well as the Catechism of the Catholic instruct that the Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life” (Lumen Gentium, 11; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1324). In this august sacrament Christ is truly present, in his Body and Blood, to nourish us in our earthly pilgrimage towards the Heavenly Jerusalem. Jesus’ Body and Blood are incorruptible food and drink because they lead to eternal life. Jesus says explicitly: “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life” (Jn 6, 54). Whereas the African teacher of the faith Tertullian affirms in his treatise on the Resurrection of the Dead: “The flesh feeds on the body and blood of Christ, so that the soul too may fatten on God” (8,3).
When one studies prayerfully the Eucharistic discourse of the sixth chapter of St John’s Gospel, one notices that the sacrament of the Eucharist is the sacrament of divine friendship. This is underlined in the way Jesus presents his teaching to his audience: “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him” (Jn 6, 56). And what is more significant is that this living in Jesus and the latter in the communicant is not a temporary experience but an eternal one. “If any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever” (Jn 6, 51). A sound relationship with Jesus is in itself destined to remain. St Paul hints at this reality when he writes to the Romans: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (Rom 8, 35).
Like St Paul we are all challenged with our tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, peril, fear, etc. But no matter what we go through in life we have a sure hope: Jesus is with us, not only spiritually but also physically through the Eucharist. The time is opportune to examine ourselves to see if the Eucharist really plays a key role in our life of faith. It is not enough to receive it. Like a priceless treasure that is not appreciated, the Eucharist runs the risk of being neglected by the very people who receive it. In his last supper with the Apostles Jesus makes an extremely profound statement which sometimes, we Christians dismiss it all together: “You are my friends” (Jn 15, 14).
A friend is recognised as such because s/he is ready to share who s/he is with the other person s/he is in relationship with. Furthermore, a real friend is the one who is ready to listen to what her/his friend wants to share with her/him. Certainly these two dynamics are aptly present in Jesus. Jesus likes to share with us who he is. “I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you” (Jn 15, 15).
On the other hand, Jesus is the listener we earnestly desire to have. “Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt 11, 28). Jesus in the Eucharist is there to be a sharer and a listener to us. If we truly believe in him, we shall find that by spending time adoring and conversing with him, heart to heart, our lives become more authentic and down to earth. We start reading life between its lines and not let ourselves be hooked or crashed by what appears to be good and ultimately leads to our and others’ destruction.
The adoration chapels that are scattered around Malta and Gozo are really spiritual oasis whereby intimacy with God is taught, experienced and promoted first hand. As Pope John Paul explicates in his Encyclical Letter On the Eucharist in its relationship to the Church, Ecclesia De Eucharistia, “Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is … an important daily practice and becomes an inexhaustible source of holiness” (Ecclesia De Eucharistia, 10). Such a practice is highly suggested because, when done with great faith and love for Jesus, it makes the believer “feel the infinite love present in [Jesus’] heart” (Ecclesia De Eucharistia, 25) for her/him as well as for those who want to enter into a deep, eternal and friendly relationship with him.
Do we want to be loved? If yes, why not spending sometime everyday before the Eucharist, the sacrament of friendship, so that Jesus’ sharing, listening and presence will help us live our lives to the full?
Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap