REFLECTION FOR TODAY
June 6, 2021
By Fr. Andrew Ibegbulem, OSA
While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.” Mk. 14:22-24
Today we celebrate the very heart of our lives as Children of God, our new covenant in the blood of Jesus. In our gospel reference today, Jesus offers his body and blood as food, He offered himself for our sins. By this offering we are reconciled to the Father in heaven and receive His life. This is the covenant we celebrate whenever we gather to receive the body and blood of Jesus in the Eucharist.
At every celebration of the Eucharist at Mass, as soon as the priest pronounces the words of the consecration, transforming the bread and wine into the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ our Lord, he says, “The mystery of faith.” What is “the mystery of faith?” Oftentimes, when we say that something is a mystery, we mean that the conclusion is hidden but that there are certain clues to help solve the mystery. And once the mystery is solved, everything is clear, and it is no longer a mystery.
“The mystery of faith” is much different. Those words are spoken at Mass immediately after the consecration as a way of drawing the faithful into a holy awe and amazement of what just took place. But this mystery can only produce wonder and awe if the reality of what just took place is understood through the gift of faith.
Faith is knowing and believing without perceiving the reality before us with our five senses or through logical deduction. In other words, faith produces true knowledge of a spiritual reality that can only be known, understood, and believed through spiritual insight. If we attend the Mass and have been gifted with the knowledge of faith, then as soon as the consecration of the bread and wine take place, we will cry out interiorly, “My Lord and my God!”
The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life. How much do we appreciate or give proper reverence to Jesus in the Eucharist? Many saints in the past had great devotion and reverence for the Eucharist. St Padre Pio once said “it will be easier for the world top exist without the sun than for it to exist without the Eucharist
As a Sacrament, the Holy Eucharist imparts to us Jesus’ abiding presence in our souls. The Eucharist also offers us the opportunity to share in Jesus’ Divine life, which is an assurance of eternal life and the basis for the conviction that we are children of God the Father.
God shares His life with Jesus and with all of us. The Eucharist is the Sacrament of our union with Jesus. In this Sacrament, Jesus gives us his own Body, broken for us on the cross and his precious Blood poured out for us, in order that our sins may be forgiven
Reflect, today, upon the wonderful gift of the Eucharist and the hidden but real Mystery of Faith. Allow yourself to be drawn into a wonder and awe at what you are privileged to attend. Let your faith in the Most Holy Eucharist grow by being open to a deepening of this gift of faith through spiritual insight and belief. Behold this great Gift of the Eucharist with the eyes of faith, and you will be drawn into the wonder and awe that God wants to bestow upon you.
My Eucharistic Lord, I do believe that You are here, made present in our world under the form of bread and wine, every time the Holy Mass is celebrated. Fill me with a deeper faith in this Holy Gift, dear Lord, so that I may be drawn into wonder and awe every time I witness this holy Consecration. Jesus, I trust in You.