This is My Body

This past week saw the International Eucharistic Congress take place in Dublin, Ireland. There were about 10,000 participants from throughout the globe.  My understanding was that it was an outstanding gathering centered on what is central to our faith, and our Church.  The Eucharist transcends our human limitations and draws us into the the mystery of the Paschal sacrifice.

The Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, opened the Congress with a recollection of the Vatican II document, Gaudium et Spes. The document itself invites the Church to live in the modern world as a sign and symbol of the Paschal Mystery we celebrate.  Archbishop Martin used this notion to connect the Eucharist to the world today.  Archbishop Martin suggests that just as we are in communion with God through the Body of Christ, we are also in communion with humanity.

Martin spoke about how the religion and the political/cultural realm of the Irish people were very much interconnected for generations.  While the world as a whole is very different than it was 20 years ago, there is a need of inter-connection and dialogue between our faith and the world.  Vatican II spoke about the necessity of the Church being a source of evangelization.

I like using the image of cotton candy to describe a faith with seeks very surface level satisfaction.  It is a faith, or even better a religion, which has to be sweet and tasty.  The problem is of course it never fills us up. The challenge of the Eucharist, and of the ministry of Jesus, is its call to feed, heal, forgive, and uphold.  The whole of our Eucharistic theology leads us back to the dying and rising of Christ.  Our communion with God demands that we love God and others with our whole heart mind and soul.

The Eucharist proclaims the joy of good news.  Wherever Jesus went he cared for people and shared insights of the Kingdom of God.  The Eucharist cannot be take out food not our own private devotion.  It asks us to seek truth and to work for peace and justice.  The ideal of one bread, and one body invites us to see the commonality that exists in the world.  We all share in the same hungers - and are given the same bread of life.

After Mass we go forth and become bread for one another.