Jesus tells his disciples today to ask a very specific question to the owner of the
home where they will share the Last Supper. They are to ask: “Where is my
guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” Where is that
distinguished place where I will give to them for the first time the most precious
gift of my Body and Blood? From a spiritual point of view, a house—a room
especially—is used to symbolize the soul. I think it puts a different spin on the
question: Where is that soul where I will dwell and give the grace of my Body and
Blood? When we present ourselves to the Lord at Mass in anticipation of
receiving the Eucharist, will our souls be like that upper room that was furnished
and ready to receive Jesus?
On this solemn Feast of Corpus Christi, we reflect on the Eucharist, the Body and
Blood of Jesus Christ, and our readiness to receive him. How many truly believe
in the Real Presence? Of those that do believe, how many are sharing that with
others? How many are treating the Eucharist with the love and respect it
deserves? And how many come to Mass every Sunday, eager to receive Jesus
in the Eucharist, knowing that it is only through Him that we have the grace to
face the challenges of the week ahead?
One of the greater challenges in presenting the Eucharist is to prove that this is
truly the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, and not just bread and wine. How do
you prove that beyond the shadow of a doubt? The truth is, we can’t prove it, at
least not by appealing to your senses – after the consecration, I can’t give you
the Eucharist and show you any way that it’s visibly changed. It looks the same.
It smells the same. It doesn’t taste any different than it did before. But a very
important change has taken place. The bread and wine has been transformed
into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, through the power of God. I can only
prove this to you by the evidence of faith, by appealing to the words of the One
who has the power to make such a claim and to actually follow through on such a
claim:
 If you believe the words of Jesus, then you know that when he offered the
bread and wine to his disciples at the Last Supper and said “This is my Body”
and “This is my Blood”, he meant it.
 If you listen to Jesus’ teaching to the crowds in the sixth chapter of John, he
said, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do
not have life within you.” After hearing the objections and confusions of the
people who thought he was just speaking symbolically, Jesus didn’t try to
reword what he was saying – he just repeated the same statement again and
again: “Eat my flesh. Drink my blood.” He could not have been clearer. He
was not speaking symbolically. He was speaking of true food that can
change a life.
Only one other food in the history of man has had the power to change life so
dramatically. And it was a food that we were forbidden to eat, the fruit of the
Tree of Knowledge. Adam and Eve were told they could eat from any of the
trees in the Garden of Eden, but of this one tree, God said, “Do not take, and do
not eat, or else you will die.” They didn’t listen. So now, Jesus comes along,
after sin has ravaged mankind for so long, and he offers this gift of himself, the
Eucharist, the bread of life, and he says, “Do take, and do eat, and you will live!”
How awesome is it that things have turned around in such a way, that a
prohibition becomes an invitation, and the cause of spiritual death is replaced by
a means to eternal life!
Why is it that in the beginning we were so eager to take what was forbidden, and
still today we’re drawn to the “forbidden fruit”, but now we‘re invited to come forth
and freely take the most valued food of all, the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ,
and so few take advantage of it, and fewer still perhaps receive it worthily?
In the beginning, man was created to be in perfect communion with God – but we
went astray. And so the world has lost sight of its need for Jesus. But now more
than ever the world needs Jesus. Each of us needs Jesus now more than ever.
We need a way back to full communion with God. Jesus offers us the way
through the gift of himself in the Eucharist. This simple gift—what appears like
bread and wine—is the source and summit of our faith: it is Jesus. The power of
Christ in the Eucharist is the power to unite us further to Jesus and to one
another; the power to wipe away venial sin and to preserve us from future
serious sin; it is the power to lessen our desire to run from God and increase our
desire to live in virtue. It is the power of Jesus Christ alive within us, and it fills us
with a divine peace and joy. The Eucharist is an opportunity for all those who
believe—and all those whose hearts cry out “Help my unbelief!”—to come back
to God, to repent of their sins, and to invite Jesus into their hearts and souls. It’s
our weekly altar call. Our “Amen” is our profession before God that we want to
enter into fuller communion with God through Jesus Christ. Our “Amen” is our
profession that “Yes, the bread you offer is Your Precious Body, and the wine
you give is Your Precious Blood, which have the power the world cannot give.”