Newspaper Column on Eucharist

The following Pilgrim Center of Hope “Living Catholicism” column appears in Today’s Catholic newspaper (June 8, 2018 edition).

In that little host is the solution to all the problems of the world.

These words of John Paul II on the Eucharistic presence of Jesus Christ give an answer to so many questions, doubts, and problems people experience today. In that little host is the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ; also referred to as his Real Presence who dwells in the Tabernacle.

Volumes have been written on this greatest and most fundamental mystery. Christians have given their lives for the Eucharist, people have become Catholic because of the Eucharist, healings have occurred because of the Eucharist. John Paul II continues, The church draws her life from the Eucharist.

For 2,000 years, Catholics have believed this truth, and have offered the sacrifice of the Mass every day throughout the whole world. What a consolation to know there is a Mass offered somewhere in the world at every hour, considering the various time zones and churches throughout the world. The words of the Eucharistic Prayer during the Mass include each one of us and those who have left the Church: Father, hear the prayers of the family you have gathered here before you. In mercy and love unite all your children wherever they may be.

Discover Jesus in the Eucharist
Father John A. Hardon, S.J. wrote extensively about the Catholic faith. He states, We believe that the Eucharist is Jesus Christ – simply, without qualification. It is God become man in the fullness of his divine nature, in the fullness of his human nature, in the fullness of his body and soul, in the fullness of everything that makes Jesus. He is in the Eucharist with his human mind and will united with the divinity, with his hands and feet, his face and features, with his eyes and lips and ears and nostrils, with his affections and emotions and, with emphasis, with his living, pulsating, physical Sacred Heart. That is what our Catholic faith demands of us that we believe. If we believe this, we are Catholic. If we do not, we are not, no matter what people may think we are.

Spiritual writers identify the Eucharist as the Presence Sacrament. Christ is on earth. He wants to perform miracles of his grace, especially miracles of conversion in what is becoming a Christ-less age. The key to tapping the resources of his grace is our deep faith in Christ’s living presence among us in the Blessed Sacrament.
Go to him!

• Take time to adore Him. Make an appointment with Jesus; we do for so many other things in our life. There are numerous churches offering availability for Adoration. St. Maximilian Kolbe said: God dwells in our midst, in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar.
• Take a couple of moments after receiving the Eucharist at Mass to thank Him for this gift. He is in your soul. Take Mother Teresa of Calcutta’s advice: If I can give you any advice, I beg you to get closer to Jesus in the Eucharist.
• Receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation to prepare you to receive the Real Presence.

Leave behind for a while the noise, the agitation, the superficial; and enter into this time of silence where he awaits you. In this encounter with Jesus, we do not seek entertainment or comfort. We seek God. It is a challenge demanding effort and sacrifice. Have an encounter with Jesus, mysteriously present in the Eucharist. Discover the joy of adoring him in a silence of love.

In that little host is the solution to the problems of the world; this reality becomes our hope for our daily journey.

Mary Jane Fox, along with her husband Deacon Tom Fox, are co-founders and co-directors of Pilgrim Center of Hope. Living Catholicism is a regular column of this Catholic evangelization ministry that is answering Christ’s call, by guiding people to encounter Him so as to live in hope, as pilgrims in daily life. PilgrimCenterofHope.org