Today, we hear further explanation from
Jesus in the sixth chapter of John in how we receive him in the Eucharist: “Whoever
eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood remains in me and I in him.” How do we experience Christ in the Eucharist
and what implications does this have for us?
The American actor Martin Sheen, the star of the the movie The Way, about the pilgrimage of St James in Spain, had this to say in an interview he did this past
December about the importance of the Eucharist in his Catholic faith: “one of
the great mysteries that I experience at mass is the reception of communion.
How do we embrace that? How can we possibly, consciously understand what that
is? And I don’t have a clue. I just stand on line and say, 'I’m Ramón, called
Martin, your friend, you’re welcome here. And I’m with them.' Whoever the crowd
is I’m getting in line with, you just look at the people who are on that line,
that community, that is the greatest and simplest expression of overtly trying
to explain this mystery I’m talking about, because it is a mystery. It is
probably the most profound mystery in all of the universe, this love. Sometimes
I’m overwhelmed just watching people on line to embrace that sacrament. It is
the most profound thing. I never ever can get over it. It’s just something you
have to surrender to. And just saying yeah, I’m with them. That’s the community
of saints.” It is hard to put into words
what the Eucharist means to us and what affect it has on our lives, for it is
indeed a profound mystery, as Martin Sheen says. Do we let the Eucharist challenge us and
change us and transform us? Or do we
just not think about it?
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