The Sacrament of Holy Communion

The Sacrament of Holy Communion
 

“…unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,
you do not have life within you”
(Jn 6: 53)
 

At baptism, every child is launched into the journey of faith by the Church in communion with his/her parents. As soon as he/she reaches the age of reason, it is time to share the banquet of Christ’s sacrifice by receiving the Holy Eucharist for the first time. The sacrament of confirmation will allow him/her to receive the fullness of God’s Spirit. As a sacred event, the Holy Eucharist is, like the other sacraments, received not only by the grace of God but also by the recipient’s free acceptance of this sanctifying grace. The recipient is both sanctified and saved from sin and death. He/she shares in the life of Christ, the first born from the dead. He/she lives in union with all those who belong to the Church, the body of Christ, and with whom he/she shares the same bread of life, the same cup of salvation, and the same dignity of God’s children. In virtue of such a unity within the Church, the celebration of sacraments involves other members of the Church.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many children have been waiting so long for the public celebration of Mass to share the Supper of the Lamb for the first time. For safety reasons, the children of our collaborative Parishes will not be receiving the sacrament of Holy Com-munion in a large group as usual. Instead, they are divided in different groups of limited numbers. We are so happy to start this Sunday, July 12, at Saint Martha’s church.

Let us congratulate all our kids who are joining us at the table of the Lord this year to fulfill the words of our Lord Jesus, the living bread came down from heaven. “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you”, says the Lord. “…and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (Jn 6: 51). As his flesh is true food, and his blood true drink, the one who eats his flesh and drinks his blood has ev-erlasting life in God the Father through the Son. Just like the Son has life because of the living Father who sent him on earth, so also the one who feeds on the Son will have life because of the Son (Jn 6: 55-57).

Jesus' teaching about himself being the bread of life raised division and questions. “The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “’How can this man give us [his] flesh to eat?’” (Jn 6: 52). Many of Jesus’ disciples judged this teaching hard to accept. As a result, they stopped following him and returned to their former way of life. Maybe some of us have the same feeling vis-à-vis the Eucharist. Others are still questioning like the Jews: do we really eat the body of Christ and drink his blood when we receive communion? As the answer is affirmative, it raises another question. How come we eat the flesh of a man and drink his blood? The question – "How can this man give us [his] flesh to eat?" – is so relevant be-cause it only addresses Jesus in his human nature. When one understands him only as a man, it is normal to question the fact of eating the body of a carpenter, son of Mary and Joseph. It does not make sense for the Jews to eat the body of the man they know as one of them among the mortals in order to have eternal life.
 

However, Jesus should never be understood only as a man. He is always and at the same time true God and true man. When we consider him in his human and divine nature, the Jews' question about eating the flesh of Jesus seems senseless. In the catholic creed we believe in Jesus, God from God, true God from true God, consubstantial with the Father; through him all thing were made. As he brought all things into being out of nothing, Jesus uses his same creative power to trans-form our bread and wine into a divine substance. As there is only one divine substance, our bread and wine become there-fore the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. By virtue of ordination, the priest received from Jesus himself, the grace and power to consecrate and transform, by acting in persona Christi, the bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus. This is the mystery of our faith. This is what we celebrate every time we eat and drink the body and blood of our Lord. It remains beyond our understanding. May the Holy Spirit continue to inspire us and grant us the grace we need so that the Eucharist impels us to live the mystery we receive to love God and our fellow human.