Eucharistic life

SOME weeks ago, we observed the solemnity of Corpus Christi , the liturgical celebration of the Body and Blood of Christ.

Usually after the Mass, a procession around town of the Blessed Sacrament was made, drawing a big crowd of devotees. In some communities, the celebration was extended to a week-long adoration of the Eucharist.

They’re Christian practices, happily common in many places all over the world and deeply rooted in the long history of our Church tradition.

In our country, these practices are still popular, thanks be to God. But they certainly need a lot of boosting, given the secularizing tendencies of our times. We ought to be more aware of this concern that should involve all of us.

To date, we already have a very comprehensive theology about this central mystery of our faith. And a good number of relevant spiritualities have developed through the ages. There also are several groups who ardently dedicate themselves to this devotion.

Just the same, we need to multiply and sustain our efforts to transform this Eucharistic devotion into a Eucharistic life, involving not only a few or even many people, but in fact all of us, as it should.

This is because the Eucharist is the source and summit of our Christian life. It’s where we have Christ sacramentally present and where he continues to offer his life on the cross for us and who gives himself as our spiritual food.

To put it bluntly, our Christianity ceases if this sacrament gets completely obliterated.

This truth of our faith is that with his death, Christ has not left us orphans. He continues to be with us, through the sacraments and in the Church, thanks to the Holy Spirit who extends Christ’s presence and work throughout time without any diminution, regardless of our conditions.

Especially through the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, Christ has not left us not only with some symbols and signs alone.

Through the liturgy, the real Christ, in the entirety of his divinity and humanity, who is now seated in the right hand of his Father, comes to us, remains here on earth and makes himself intimately available to us.

With this sacrament, Christ and us are not held hostage by the limitations of space and time. We manage to be together—in fact, in so direct and personal a way as to be properly termed as communion, a union of life and love.

With this sacrament, time and eternity merge, and so do heaven and earth. United to it, even our smallest and most insignificant detail in our life, including our sufferings and things we don’t like, acquire eternal and redemptive value.

This is the supreme treasure of a truth that we all need to be more aware of. Hopefully, we can then start to earnestly conform our whole life to this reality—our thoughts and desires, our feelings, outlook and attitudes, etc.

In fact, this is the ideal that we should pursue always. This is because the Eucharist, the real Christ in the sacrament, is the ultimate and constant food for our life. We don’t depend on food, water and air. We depend on Christ.

And neither do we depend on our intellectual progress and technological and scientific advancement. These things can be very impressive. But they don’t completely satisfy our soul. We long for more. It’s Christ that does that.

Our usual problem is that we don’t go all the way in our Eucharistic faith. Our devotion to it often appears simply posed, scripted and staged, and not really issuing vitally from our heart and life. Thus, it is also not abiding, but rather intermittent. It’s on and off depending on conditions.

It should be no surprise if we are often dominated by our weaknesses, not to mention, the continuing temptations around us.

Our catechesis on this truth of our faith should never stop. Parents in their respective families should talk ceaselessly about this. Priests, of course, should preach about it in homilies and in other occasions.

Everyone should do something to help one another live an authentic Eucharistic life. We have to foster going to Mass often, making visits to the Blessed Sacrament, spending time adoring our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament chapels, making frequent spiritual communions, etc.

We have to understand that our life should not be any other than Eucharistic!