The Eucharist is an ‘every-day miracle’. The trouble is that for many of us, the Eucharist has become so routine that we can easily fail to appreciate its true significance.
If we really want to rekindle the wonderment of that weekly miracle, we have to start nurturing a life changing appreciation of the Eucharist and of the Mass. Key to appreciation is preparation. If the Eucharist is food for our minds and our souls, it’s important not to fill up on junk beforehand. Do we turn up for Mass in the right frame of mind ready to give genuine thought to our prayers and to the readings, or do we arrive with our heads full of trivia… life’s junk food. Chances are that if we arrive at Mass with our heads full of unrelated thoughts, we will spend our time simply going through the motions. We might as well not be there in the first place.
In the moments before Holy Communion when we are kneeling quietly in the bench with heads bowed, are we simply kneeling quietly in the bench or are we preparing our minds. We need to be preparing to receive Jesus’ real presence into our bodies and into our lives. We need to be remembering Jesus’ sacrifice and the reasons he made it. At the Last Supper Jesus charged us to keep his memory alive. In celebrating the Eucharist we celebrate the memory of his passion and death. As we break bread and drink wine in his name we recall Jesus’ opposition to religious sham, his commitment to forgiveness and inner healing, his determination to overcome sin and his ultimate sacrifice.
How do we behave after Communion? Do we hurry back to our seat and continue chatting to the person in the next bench? How do we behave after the Mass has ended, do we make a hasty exit keen to get on with the rest of the day, or do we remember that we are taking God out into the world with us?
Jesus is with us to the end of time, and one of the ways he is with us is through the Eucharist. The sooner we start appreciating this every-day miracle the sooner our lives will change for the better.