August 22, 2022 Daily Dose of Discernment

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.” (John 6:53)

We sacramental Christians believe the consecrated bread and wine are the body and blood of Jesus, and that partaking of them gives us life. That life we are then expected to share with others. This is why after the mass, we are sent out into the world. As the Eucharistic prayer says, “As we partake of the body and blood of Jesus, may we be transformed to become the body of Christ to the world.” That’s how essential Holy Communion is to our Christian life.

The Eucharist is a visible, tangible sign of God’s invisible grace. We don’t obtain that grace virtually and we don’t get it anywhere else but in church. Online masses may have been a special dispensation during the pandemic lockdown, but it’s not a substitute for the real thing. Thank God we have physical access to the Eucharist again. May we not take it for granted.