7 Secrets of the Eucharist by Vinny Flynn

Author:Vinny Flynn [Flynn, Vinny]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781884479311
Publisher: MercySong Ministries
Published: 2012-09-16T04:00:00+00:00

SECRET 5

We don’t just receive.

The Eucharist involves more than just receiving; it also involves satisfying the hunger of Christ. He says “Come to me.”He is hungry for souls. Nowhere does the Gospel say: “Go away,” but always “come to me.”

Mother Teresa

We saw earlier that the words we use can often get in our way, actually limiting our understanding of what they are intended to reflect. “Receive” is one of those words.

Just as the phrase “the Body of Christ” can suggest merely the human nature of Christ or the image of His dead body on the cross, so the phrase “receiving Communion” can suggest a passive reality. It can reinforce the concept that we’re not really “doing” anything. God is the one who is doing; we are simply receiving.

But think back on what we’ve just seen about the incredible gift we’re being offered, the awesome miracles that are taking place so that we can receive the fullness of God Himself. How can we receive such a gift in a merely passive way?

Yes, Christ is doing something. But part of what He’s doing is calling to us, inviting us to respond to His initiative in an active way.

As Mother Teresa explains, Christ is “hungry for souls,” and He is calling us to come to Him and satisfy that hunger. He is calling us not to merely receive Communion but to enter into communion.

How do we enter into communion?

One way to start is by taking a fresh look at the word communion itself.

It literally means “union with,” or “completely one.” When used to denote the sacrament of the Eucharist, it suggests a similar union to that which is effected by the sacrament of marriage, where “the two become one flesh.” As the Catechism explains, the Eucharist is called “Holy Communion”

because by this sacrament we unite ourselves to Christ, who makes us sharers in his Body and Blood to form a single body.

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