PART II

 

 

15. THE CROSS AND THE EUCHARIST

 

“Holy Communion is the most efficacious means of uniting ourselves with God. Be always prepared for the holy table, purify well your heart. Above all, carefully guard that tongue which is the first to touch the adorable Sacrament."   (St. Paul of the Cross, CP)

 

 

Back in Argentina, years ago, I often heard women react to a baby, lightly squeezing its cheeks, saying: "You are so cute, I could eat you!" I have also heard of a certain tribal group in the Amazon who, years back, would eat a brave enemy warrior's heart with the intent of becoming heroic as that warrior. It sounds, and is, gruesome. I think these examples reveal a reality deep down in human nature. It is possible that this is connected with our first experience in life with our mothers, as if we were nourishing ourselves with her; a baby possibly doesn't distinguish between the milk given by the mother and mother herself. No doubt, there is a very close relationship between a baby and its mother, and I am sure that a mother experiences joy, in being able to nourish her child, as she shares a product from her body with her child. This is also the first means of communication a child has in life. Food and communication go together.

 

With this in mind, we recall Christ saying once again, that when he is lifted up from the earth, he would draw everyone to himself.  (cfr. John 12:32) The incredible Love that Jesus has for us on the Cross draws us to him, and in responding to that deep human need of feeding from the one we most love, he offers his broken Body and Blood spilt out of Love for us from the Cross.

 

"Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him." (John 6:56)

 

This is done now in a way that is not gruesome, while responding to that deep human need of the creature, to be in deep communication with its Creator. In feeding ourselves with the Body and Blood of Christ, we become one in Him and with one another, like grains of wheat in the bread and grapes in a cup. In this way we become the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church. We also feed ourselves with each other, as we embrace the New Commandment to love one another as he has loved us. [1]That is why it is important, what Christ says:

 

"Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift." (Mathew 5: 23-24)

 

It is in the Eucharist that we celebrate this mystery. The sacrificial love of Jesus on the Cross is represented in the Eucharist by the bread and wine, separated from each other that become his Body and Blood, just as it happens on the Cross when blood pours out of His Body, separating from each other. The same meaning would be expressed in the breaking and distribution of the Body of Christ. In Spanish we can say 'se rompió por nosotros', literally meaning 'he broke himself for us', which is closer in meaning to the English expression 'he busted himself for us'; this highlights His sacrificial love for us. This is the perfect sacrifice that is offered once and for all, for all times.

 

He has no need, as did the high priests, to offer sacrifice day after day, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; he did that once for all when he offered himself. (Hebrews 7:27)

 

The 'do this in memory of me' is not a simple remembrance. The Spanish Sacramentary actually speaks of 'comemoración' (commemoration) instead of 'memory' during the consecration, which is a more exact term to indicate, that this is a living memory that becomes present in every Eucharist we celebrate. This permits us to be one in that mystery, where God reaches out to us once and for all, for all times, and we reach out to God in Christ and become one in Him, and with all his chosen ones of all times. And we become one with this Sacrifice of Love and participate in it (Colossians 1:24) when the priest says, in the name of Christ and of us all, His Mystical Body: 'Through Him, with Him and in Him, oh God Almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all honor and glory is yours for ever and ever', to which all agree with a vibrant 'Amen'. It's interesting here to observe some of the alternatives in different languages: the Italians say 'Through Christ, with Christ and in Christ...' which highlights that in the resurrected Christ, there is no longer male or female.

 

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)

 

The Spanish on the other hand says: "Through Christ, with Him and in Him…"

As one realizes, each language is limited and nuanced but none stray from the truth.

 

Placing the Eucharist in connection with all we have been talking about, we could state the following:

Ø The most important thing in life is sacrificial LOVE (Charity) (click link to view)

Ø This is at the heart of what CHRIST (click link to view) is all about. He is the embodiment of love in the deepest sense of the word.[2] His death on the Cross is the maximum expression of this type of Love. Forgiving others, doing good, and praying for the enemy are examples of this type of Love.

Ø Christ today is found in person at the heart of the EUCHARIST (click link to view). It is there that he becomes present, so that we may share in his sacrificial Love offered to God (vertical beam of the Cross), and at the service of others (horizontal beam of the Cross)

Ø The Eucharist is at the heart of the CHURCH(click link to view). It is where the community as Church, the Body of Christ, becomes one in Christ in a special way.

Ø As Christians, we consider that the Church has a role to play in the WORLD (click link to view It is called to be the heart of the world, meditating on different issues that emerge in history and reaching out to enlighten, inspired by the Holy Spirit.

 

Example: Recently, as the world becomes aware of the importance of caring for ecology, Pope Francis brought out a document called "Laudato Sii" in which he refers to our planet as our common home. It doesn't address just the issues of climate change, but also in many other ways. We as a global community through abuse are endangering the survival of our common home: animals, plants, water, soil, etc. Many thousands of species already have gone extinct and we could be on the list of extinction as well. We, in 2020 and following years, got a taste of this possibility with the COVID -19! The Church also in recent times brought out a list of new sins in relation to abuse of our 'common home'.

 

With the increase of extreme climate conditions, record wild fires due to extended droughts and record high temperatures, we are facing a very dangerous future.

 

 

16. THE CROSS AND THE SHEPHERD

 

INDEX

 

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