Eucharistic Living

by Sr. Therese Maria Touma, MSCL

“Dear Jesus, help me to spread Your fragrance wherever I go. Flood my soul with Your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly, that my life may only be a radiance of Yours.” (Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman)

Cultivating an ongoing reverence and love for the Eucharist is key if we seek to be people of Eucharistic living. Attending Divine Liturgy on Sunday (or daily if your schedule permits) and spending quiet time in adoration before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament are two primary ways to encounter Jesus, the source of all love, healing and life. As God’s beloved sons and daughters, we have been given a tremendous gift in the Eucharist; Jesus’ precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. 

Recent polls have shown that close to 70% of Catholics do not believe in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. These statistics are alarming as the Eucharist is a central doctrine of our faith. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: the Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life (CCC #1324). If most people do not recognize or reverence Jesus in the Sacred Host, how will they recognize and reverence Jesus in their brothers and sisters? 

As Baptized Christian, we are called to be living hosts broken and shared for others. We are given a perfect example of this at the Last Supper, when Jesus gave us his Body and Blood and showed us how to humbly give of ourselves in service, and live the Eucharist. Jesus knelt down to wash the feet of His Apostles, and He told them to go and wash the feet of others. “I give you a new commandment: love one another; you must love one another just as I have loved you. It is by your love for one another, that everyone will recognize you as my disciples (John 13:34-45)

Eucharistic living is “going out of our comfort zones” to care for and be attentive to the needs of those suffering in our homes and parish communities; it is tangibly reaching out to the lonely, poor, sick, hopeless and the vulnerable. It is sowing words of peace, hope and forgiveness. It is carving out time to pray for those who need our prayers. It is seeking to love others and understand them with the compassionate heart of Christ. It is making a total gift of ourselves back to God so that our will can become one with His holy will. 

We ask you Mary “Mother of the Eucharist” to lead us closer to your Son Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. We entrust to you our hearts. Give us the courage and generosity to give of ourselves without counting the cost. Arrange our hearts as you see fit and help us to be Love and credible witnesses of your Son, Jesus. Amen.

Preparation and Thanksgiving for the Eucharist

By Sr. Natalie Sayde Salameh, Maronite Servant of Christ the Light

The greatest privilege and gift in our lives as Maronite Catholics is to receive the Lord of lords and King of kings, Jesus Christ, into our souls in the Eucharist.

Reflect on this just briefly, that He who made the stars, the oceans, the sky, the sun, the moon, and the entire universe comes down ever so lovingly at the words of His priests, and becomes our food and drink to nourish and sustain our souls. He is the One who loves us beyond all telling and measure, and longs to dwell within us and become one with us. 

This amazing gift of God becoming our food and drink requires from us some preparation before receiving Him and thanksgiving after. Many of us would come to a dinner invitation with an important dignitary prepared with something in hand, and looking respectable, and I am certain that we would not come late either. In a similar way, the Liturgy is the ultimate invitation for us to dine at the supper of the Lamb, which requires important preparation.  

Before Receiving the Eucharist

The Catholic Church sets out specific guidelines regarding how we should prepare ourselves to receive our Lord’s Body and Blood in the Eucharist. First, you must be in a state of grace, which means that you must be free of all mortal sin. To receive the Eucharist without being in a state of grace profanes the Holy Mysteries in the most grievous manner. If you are in mortal sin, the Church requires that you go to Confession before approaching to receive the Eucharist.

Also, you must believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. According to the most recent 2019 Pew Poll, only one third of Catholics believe that the Eucharist is the Real Body and Blood of Christ. We must remember that at the Last Supper, Jesus held what appeared to be bread and wine, yet said: “This is my body. . . . This is my blood” (Mark 14:22-24, cf. Luke 22:14-20).

Also, we must observe a Eucharistic fast. Canon law states, “One who is to receive the most Holy Eucharist is to abstain from any food or drink, with the exception only of water and medicine, for at least the period of one hour before Holy Communion” (CIC 919 §1). 

All of the above are minimum requirements established by the Church in preparing to receive the Eucharist. Here are a few tips to help you ready yourself before Divine Liturgy, and place yourself within a prayerful and reverent mindset for your awesome encounter with God.

·      Before Divine Liturgy, read the Sunday’s Epistle and Gospel readings in order to sharpen your focus on the feast that is about to be celebrated.  

·      Come a little early before Divine Liturgy begins. 

·      Bring your intentions before the Lord in prayer, He wants to hear them all. The most powerful time to offer these intentions is before Divine Liturgy begins, and this will keep you focused on the prayers, as you participate with purpose and meaning.

Thanksgiving After Receiving the Eucharist

There is nothing that delights the Lord more than a grateful heart. In all relationships, especially in marriages, one of the greatest dangers is to start to take the other for granted. In a similar way, we can become accustomed or used to the Liturgy and the Eucharist that we start to take the Lord for granted, and forget to thank Him for the gift of Himself.

On Sunday many are busy, rushing to get lunch prepared, gathering family and friends, greeting one another, and so forth, but I encourage you to spend a little time after Liturgy to offer intentional prayers of thanksgiving, which can be found in our Maronite Book of Offering, or online, or in any Catholic devotional.  

Solemnity of Corpus Christi – June 15

The following Homily was given by Fr. Herbert Nicholls on June 15th at the Mother of the Light Convent

My reflections today are taken from a homily given by John Cardinal O’Connor, former Archbishop of New York on a Friday night at a conference at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio.

The Cardinal began with his well publicized chastisement of the New York Yankees for playing their home opener on Good Friday between 12PM and 3PM. As a result he told Mr. Steinbrener that he would not attend any Yankee games that year. The Cardinal received many letters of encouragement and support from laity and clergy as well. But several weeks later when he asked that Little League organizations refrain from playing on Sunday mornings, the volumes of letters turned against him.

The Cardinal explained that baseball is not the issue. “I am as much a supporter of baseball and little league as anyone, but I chose to bring attention to a much broader picture—the secularization of modern society”.

In a secularized society, there is no such thing as mystery. There is no reality except that which can be experienced through the senses. There is therefore no such thing as Eucharist. It is not the Body and Blood of Christ, but merely bread and wine. Since mystery cannot be unveiled, there is no need for a mediation from God on our behalf.

Each person in a secularized world has rights that are not God-given and inalienable but rather given by the government. In such a society where government endows rights, it also reserves the right to rescind them. They are no longer inalienable. We have seen the results of such thinking in the society of Nazi Germany where persons became victims of the state. Are we beginning to see the formation of similar thinking in our own society today?

In a secularized society, the Church must defend itself, and its need and right to worship. The Church which is the Body of Christ must be involved in the defense of every aspect of God-given self-defense, based on the dignity of persons and God-given inalienable rights.

This confrontation becomes a nasty struggle, requiring much courage to continue and not give up. The temptation is there not only for laity and priests but for this Cardinal as well. The courage required to persist can only come from feeding on the Body and Blood of Christ, the one who never gave up; from communion with Him who strengthens our heart’s desire to be saved.

The Cardinal went on to speak of his own ministries to the physically and mentally handicapped and the autistic, to aids victims, to mothers who would otherwise have aborted their child. He went on to give example of a young autistic girl who was unable to demonstrate any visible response, not even the batting of an eyelash, no response even to her mother. Yet when the Cardinal comes for Mass, the child insisted upon sitting near him and watching his every move, staring intently as if she truly understood the mystery unfolding before her. Is it coincidence or is it miracle?

According to one recent survey, 71% of Catholics claim to no longer believe in the Eucharist because they have lost the sense of intimacy. Some of the early Fathers of the Church were not embarrassed to compare the intimacy of the Eucharist with the intimacy of marriage. The Sacrament of Marriage is complete unless and until it is consummated, until the bodies become one in an act of love. Unless the bodies are given to each other in unity the marriage is invalid.

Can we also say that the union of persons, body and blood, must be given to each other for the Sacrament of the Eucharist to be valid and effective? The Bible speaks of sexual intercourse as “knowing”. Adam knew Eve and Mary did not know man, but God invites us to know Him in a sacred spiritual union.

We can come to Mass merely to fulfill an obligation, to be present through the rituals; many marriages make that same mistake and fall apart. We can choose not simply to be present as Mass but to participate by entering into a relationship with God, Who is absolute Love, who can empower us to change our lives as well as society. We can enter into mystery but only if we believe, only if we want to. It must be our heart’s desire. God does not force love, there is no such thing. Forced love is no love at all.