God Can Do Anything
I’ve been helping at my parish by leading a few of the OCIA classes (Order of Christian Initiation). They gave me a hugely important topic this week — the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist. How do I fit the centerpiece of the Catholic faith, something that has been debated and philosophized about for centuries, into a thirty-minute question-and-answer session?
Most importantly, Jesus is fully present in the Eucharist. It’s not a symbol of an event that took place 2,000 years ago. It is Jesus fully present in the form of bread and wine. I heard a priest explain this phenomenon well. He said that if God can take the form of a human through Jesus Christ, he can take any form he desires and be fully present in that form. Who are we to understand or evaluate how God chooses to manifest himself? It’s his creation, his rules.
I then watched this short video on the Eucharist. The video mentions the Hope Diamond in the Smithsonian. Millions of people wait for hours to see it for a minute or two. But in the end, it’s just a lump of shiny carbon. There is something infinitely more valuable in every tabernacle worldwide — Jesus Christ! You don’t have to wait in line or pay an admission fee to spend time with God.
We Can Talk to Jesus Anytime
Imagine if Jesus, in human form, came walking into a church and started reciting the Beatitudes. Everyone present would flip out, right? It would make news and headlines and converts. But is Jesus taking the form in a different arrangement of atoms as bread and wine really any different? Is the Word of God any different whether we hear it proclaimed by Jesus in his human form or from the priest at Mass? Does God hear us any differently when we pray to him versus him in human form hearing us via vibrating eardrums and brain pulses?
I know that the Real Presence in the Eucharist is a hard concept to wrap our heads around. But when I recall that God created everything out of nothing, I’m reminded that there is nothing beyond his capabilities. If we truly believe that, then it shouldn’t be too much of a stretch to believe he is truly present in the form of bread and wine.
When we pray the Fifth Luminous Mystery of the Rosary, we reflect and meditate on the fact that we have the faith and belief that we really do receive Jesus Christ through the Eucharist. We should show the Eucharist the same reverence and respect that we would show Jesus if He came to us in human form. This mystery goes to the core of the Catholic faith; that the bread and wine at Mass actually are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ.