THE MYSTERY OF THE EUCHARIST IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH (Part-5)
We also sense that others, having lived without Mass for so long during covid time, may have become discouraged or accustomed to life without the Eucharist. We know that we need Christ to be present in our lives. Jesus Said in the Gospel of John 6: 53 “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.” The Lord accompanies us in many ways, but none as profound as when we encounter him in the Eucharist. (As the Servant of God Dorothy Day said: “… We are nourished by [Christ’s] flesh that we may grow to be other Christs … I believe this literally, just as I believe the child is nourished by the milk from his mother’s breast.” … [However, as Pope Saint John Paul II stated:] “Those who have received the grace of baptism are not saved as individuals alone, but as members of the Mystical Body, having become part of the People of God.” As we take a fresh look or, perhaps, look for the first time as adults may we gain new insights, new appreciation, and a new desire to worthily receive the Lord Jesus in Holy Communion. And may we better become what, or rather, Who, we receive. (To be continued…) Father Maria Joseph Kodiganti