What was the point of the USCCB’s “Eucharistic Revival”? Was it to end up with more Catholics who could correctly answer online polls regarding Catholic doctrine? Checking the right Catholic box?
While that may have been a laudable endeavor—after all, it is a good thing to know basic Catholic doctrine—that would not have gotten to the heart of the matter.
As I see it, the central purpose of the Eucharistic Revival was to lead more Catholics to say, “Life for me is the Eucharist.”
Saint Paul writes: “to me, life is Christ” (Phil 1:21). If Christ is our life and Christ is the Eucharist, then—by a move of simple logic—we have no issue in also saying that the Eucharist is our very life.
The veracity of this claim is accessible to us by faith alone.
But there lies the difficulty. It is radical to say “Life for me is the Eucharist.”
That would imply that you go to the Eucharist as often as you can—as often as the hungry search for food, the thirsty beg for water, and the weary seek rest. Do I go through my days as if the Eucharist really were a fountain of eternal life for me? Do I walk and drive by Catholic churches without giving a second thought about Jesus who dwells therein? Do the graces of receiving Holy Communion echo throughout the rest of my day? Do I receive Holy Communion without ever really pondering to think about the gift of divine love I’ve just received?
Even if our responses to those questions are sometimes less than ideal, fear not! The Lord is seeking after you, seeking to draw you deeper into the mystery of his love. Each time you receive Holy Communion, the Lord is renewing and deepening the virtue of charity in your soul. Charity is a matter of union, friendship with Christ. That is the purpose of the Christian life. And that union of friends is daily nourished, strengthened, and deepened through the reception of the Eucharist.
Nowhere in the world is Jesus more available to us than in the Most Blessed Sacrament. No one in the world waits up for you like Jesus does. No one is more willing to hear you out than Jesus. No one loves you—foibles and all—more than Jesus.
Next time you drive by a church, try crossing yourself and saying a prayer—or even stop in for a visit to the Lord. Try going to a daily Mass during your lunch break—even if it’s just once a week. Try venturing out to the adoration chapel at the neighboring parish. Maybe incorporate an act of spiritual communion into your bedtime prayers.
If we take little steps toward Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, we will be able to say truly and confidently: “Life for me is the Eucharist.”
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Photo from National Museum of Health and Medicine (CC BY 2.0)
