On this Friday in the third week of the Easter season, we celebrate the risen Lord in our Gospel reading from the 6th chapter of John, in which Jesus explains to us how he is truly present in us in his body and his blood in the Eucharist we share. It seems so long ago, but back in 2011 when I was serving as the pastor of St Mary’s in Yazoo City, we started our diocesan celebration of the Year of the Eucharist, a celebration of the real presence of Christ that we have in our Church. Last Saturday, we celebrated First Holy Communion in two special masses in which more than 40 children received Christ in the Eucharist for the first time in their lives. I know that it was a very exciting time for them and for their families.
The word “Eucharist” comes from the Greek word for “thanksgiving,” for each time we celebrate the Eucharist, each time we receive the Body and Blood of Christ as nourishment for us, we give thanks for this freely given gift from God. I think of our Eucharistic celebrations here at our parish in Tupelo where we see people from many different walks of life and many different backgrounds, how the Body and Blood of Christ unites us as we ourselves become his Body here on earth.
I was recently reading a reflection from a Catholic priest up in New English, in which he describes the Eucharist as a narrative that gathers, heals, restores, teaches, nourishes, blesses and sends us forth as God's people, strengthened for the work God gives us to do on our journeys. He describes the Eucharist as the heart of the faith community, giving us life and energy that is essential to our journey of faith. He describes the Eucharist as our home, the place where we the unfaithful return again and again. i would agree with all of those descriptions. The Body and Blood of Christ we receive in the Eucharist should we at the heart of who we are as Catholics.
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