Monday, October 10, 2005

Beautiful words about Our Eucharistic Lord

From this morning's interventions at the Synod, an Australian bishop:

Consider the fact that the Author of the Universe took human nature to himself, was born of a Virgin, had (and still has) a human body and a human soul, lived, died and rose again on this tiny planet we call Earth. He did all of this for us and our salvation. And his presence remains with us substantially and really in the Eucharist. This Mystery staggers the mind; is beyond our full comprehension. But the human heart can know it and love it and accept it in true humility in the act of conversion.

We know that the Eucharist is the Father's pledge of fidelity to and love for the human race. Our faith is audacious and bold in its vision. It comes from God as a gift. We, who are its teachers, must mirror its staggering beauty in the way we speak of the Eucharist, in the way we celebrate the ritual of the Eucharist, and the way we live the Eucharist.

Thanks to Amy Wellborn for posting this.

I wanted to post it, primarily so that I can find it later, in case I choose to use this as part of a future homily.

I especially like the last part: "we...must mirror its staggering beauty in the way we speak of the Eucharist..." -- oh, how I cringe when anyone speaks of "the wine"! I recall having a "dry Mass" (not a Mass at all, just an instructional run-through) for RCIA participants, and I said, very strongly as I recall, "there's no wine served at Mass; no one ever tastes even a drop of wine..."

1 comment:

DP said...

What beautiful words from the Australian bishop. I think all too often we forget how significant it is that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist. I've had friends (Catholic!) question me about why I'd bother to go to daily mass when I have so much on my plate. But really, if we think about it, if we really and truly believe that the Eucharist is the body and blood, soul and divinity, of Jesus Christ, why would we NOT want to do everything possible to get to daily mass???

I can relate to your comment at the end about there being no wine consumed at mass. My university has a contract of community standards that all students must sign, one of these being that we will not consume alcohol. I was pointing out to a Catholic friend that this might be a problem for some people who consume both species at mass and he didn't miss a beat in responding "But it's not a problem because it's not wine."