Eucharist Triptych: Part II "Love"

Now for the second portion of that essay:

When my brother Andrew serves the Homeless, he lives out the meaning of Eucharist. When my brother Josh reflects on the interconnectedness of humanity, he contemplates the meaning of Eucharist. Whether we seek Christ present in the Word, Christ present in the Church, the People of God, the Body of Christ, or Christ present in the priest, we will find Him. When we seek Christ present in the Bread and Wine, we do all of the above.

Eucharist is about relationship and Communion. Whether we pray in communion with God before a tabernacle or we live in communion with others at a homeless shelter, we are developing relationship with the Triune Community of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

When I serve as a Eucharistic Minister, I try and communicate the love of Christ to each person who comes to receive. I touch their hand, maintain full eye contact when possible, and act with reverence. I try and see the Body of Christ in each and every single one of them even as I offer the Body of Christ to them even as I try and be the Body of Christ in some small measure for them.

Being in relationship with Christ in the Eucharist is demanding work. I feel exhausted when I finish administering the Eucharist. Doing that one small task draws forth so much from me. When my brother Andrew serves the homeless, he gets pretty exhausted by the end of the day; it demands much from him. But even in that labor, we find the meaning of Eucharist. Eucharist is about sacrifice, the demands placed upon us every day. Eucharist is about sacrifice because it’s about relationships, and relationships demand much from us. Being in Communion with one another is not always an easy business.

I imagine that somewhere the perfect Mass is being held. Christ has already made the most perfect sacrifice. He offered Himself for our transgressions. He wanted so badly to be in relationship with us, He subjected Himself to death. But we also believe that by offering ourselves up, by dying to self in small ways each and every day, we can be more fully united to Christ Crucified, Christ the Paschal Lamb.

And then we can rise with Him, on the Last Day, and join in the Heavenly Banquet, where the perfect Mass is always being held.

St. Thomas Aquinas once described the Mass as the point at which the Heavenly and Earthly realms unite, the point at which the supernatural and natural, the corporal and spiritual, the temporal and divine meld. Sometimes I try to imagine this going on. Bukowski Chapel is an ideal location for such musings; one can imagine that the balcony is the heavenly host, the lower level is the Assembled Faithful here on earth, and the choir of Angels sings under the direction of Dennis Rybicki.

It’s almost like a giant pillar descends from on-high and these swirling vortexes of Heaven and Earth move along the pillar until they meet in a spherical amalgamation at the exact moment where the priest lifts the Body and Blood…

However you imagine it, it’s interesting to think of being surrounded by the Communion of Saints. It’s interesting to know that all around the world priests are saying Mass. It’s even more interesting to remind oneself that every member of the faithful who has died and every member of the faithful here on Earth and every member of the faithful yet to come are all present every single time the Mass is said.

The mind reels.

Eucharist should be mind-reeling. It should so overwhelm us that we have energy merely to focus on the present, the Presence. Eucharist is about relationship, eternal relationship with the Creator of the vine and the kernel, eternal relationship with the Lamb, eternal relationship with the Spirit that invites us to share in such Holiness, Wholeness, wholesomeness, health, wellbeing, and Salvation.