In the spirit of the Eucharistic Revival occurring in our American church, Fr. Paul Mark continues our series on How the Eucharist Touches our Lives: “We celebrated the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord on Sunday, August 6. I was moved by the communion antiphon that the Church has us pray on this feast. The antiphon is a scriptural text, 1 John 3, 2. It reads, “When Christ is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” The revelation which John’s first letter speaks of is the glorified Christ, coming on the clouds, at the end of time. At that moment we shall see him as he truly is because, at the very same time we shall be like him! Amazing isn’t it?
To see Christ as he truly is demands that the Christian disciple even now be like Christ. This is a moral imperative but please don’t make the mistake to think that to be like Christ is something you or I do by our own volition and strength. But every time we participate in the Eucharist, the Mass, and receive the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, we become what Christ is. And the fruit of that reception and devotion is that we shall see him as he is on the last day when the fullness of his glory is manifested.
In this year of the Eucharist, proclaimed by our U.S. bishops, the central place of the Eucharist is highlighted in our lives as disciples of the Lord Jesus. The New Testament places the Eucharist, the Lord’s Last Supper, in bold relief.
It is no surprise then that Vatican II reminded us the Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life. All the sacraments and all Christian works are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. The Catechism of the Catholic Church adds that in the Blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch.
What an incredible gift our Christian vocation of baptism is then! To be like Christ, to see him as he truly is! Come Lord Jesus!”
For more information on the Eucharistic Revival, please visit www.eucharisticrevival.org
Blessing to you,
Your brothers of New Clairvaux
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