Seek and Find Jesus Truly Present in the Eucharist

By Bishop Paul S. Loverde
Bishop of Arlington
(From the issue of 6/26/03)

"Seek and you shall find." These words express the theme for this year’s archdiocesan Eucharistic Congress. The human heart is restless, and is, therefore, always seeking, always searching. What does the human heart desire most and, therefore, seek most? Authentic love, the love that God is and reveals. That is why St. Augustine writes so accurately: "Our hearts are restless, O Lord, until they rest in Thee."

Where, then, do we find this love? Obviously, not in things, but in a Person, in God, Who reveals His love most clearly through His only-begotten Son whom He sent to us to be our Savior and Lord.

But, where do we find Jesus? We seek and find Jesus in His Word, in His Sacraments, in His Church: we also find Him reflected by the beauty of nature and the goodness evident in many people whom we meet and know. But, above all, we find Jesus truly and uniquely present in the Eucharist, the Sacrament of Love. Our Holy Father puts it this way in his recent encyclical on the Eucharist: "Consequently, the gaze of the Church is constantly turned to her Lord, present in the Sacrament of the Altar, in which she discovers the full manifestation of his boundless love" (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, no. 1).

How aware are we that Christ is truly, really and uniquely present in the Eucharist? If an announcement were made that at a certain time on a certain day in a particular place, Jesus Christ would be present, people would begin days in advance to go there. Yet, in every celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, Jesus is truly, really, and uniquely made present in our midst. What took place in the large upper room where Jesus and His disciples celebrated the Passover meal, described in today’s Gospel account, is continually made present every time the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is offered and celebrated. "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. . . . He said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which shall be shed for many.’" Do we not experience amazement, wonder and gratitude that Jesus Himself is truly in our midst, just as He was present to those first disciples! He is present because He loves us and desires that we be united with Him in love, our sins forgiven and our new life in Him growing!

When we realize how uniquely present Christ is in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, speaking to our hearts His Word and drawing us into intimate union with Him in Holy Communion, how could we ever refuse to participate in the celebration of Mass, at least weekly on Saturday evening or Sunday? Why would we stay away from the very source of our life, our love, our hope, our ability to go on? In both his Apostolic Letter on the sanctification of Sunday, Dies Domini, and in his recent encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, Pope John Paul II stresses the importance of Sunday Mass, stating that it is "fundamental for the life of the Church and of individual believers" (Ibid.., no. 41).

The wonder of Christ’s love is revealed not only in the actual celebration of the Eucharist, whereby His Dying and Rising are renewed in our very midst, but by His ongoing Real Presence in the Tabernacle. How beautifully our Holy Father describes Christ’s continuing presence and our visits to Him. "It is pleasant to spend time with him, to lie close to his breast like the Beloved Disciple (cf. Jn 13:25) and to feel the infinite love present in his heart. If in our time Christians must be distinguished above all by the ‘art of prayer’, how can we not feel a renewed need to spend time . . . in heartfelt love before Christ present in the Most Holy Sacrament? How often, dear brothers and sisters, have I experienced this, and drawn from it strength, consolation and support!" (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, no. 25)

"Seek and you shall find." We find Christ truly present in the Eucharist. What happens when we find Him?

Are we not individually transformed more and more into a living image of Christ and are we not, as a community, molded more and more into His Church, His other Presence in this world? Again, to quote our Holy Father: "The Church draws her life from Christ in the Eucharist; by him she is fed and by him she is enlightened" (Ibid., no. 6). Yes, in the Eucharist, we are transformed as individuals into a clearer image of Christ, so that within our families, neighborhoods, workplaces and communities, we can bring the splendor of His Truth and the Gospel of Life and Love and Hope. Through us, Christ must reach out to heal and to make holy, to unite and to make stronger all those people whose lives intertwine with ours. Yes, in the Eucharist, we become more and more the Body of Christ, His Church, sent forth to be the Light among the Nations, the Pillar of Truth and the Beacon of Hope.

"If the Eucharist is the center and summit of the Church’s life, it is likewise the center and summit of priestly ministry" (Ibid., no. 31). We priests must continue to find in the Eucharist, the source of our pastoral love, which empowers us, like Jesus, to wash the disciples’ feet by our lives of self-giving, self-emptying service, especially in our parishes.

And because there can be no Church without the Eucharist and no Eucharist without the ordained priest, all of us, clergy, religious, and laity, must continually find tangible ways to fulfill our baptismal responsibility to promote vocations to the priesthood.

Finally, as we take up with fresh enthusiasm our mission to evangelize and to renew Christian life within this archdiocesan Church and beyond, we do so, anchored in the Mystery of the Eucharist. "The implementations of this programme of a renewed impetus in Christian living passes through the Eucharist" (Ibid., no. 59).

St. Augustine was fond of describing the Church this way: "We are an Easter people . . ." Since "the Church draws her very life from the Eucharist" (Ibid., no. 1), should we not also proclaim: "We are a Eucharistic people"? Indeed, we should and we do! May we ever more deeply find Christ truly present in the Eucharist and thereby may we ever more authentically be His Church in this time and in this place. Amen! Alleluia!

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