Holy Communion

Dearest Ones,

The heart and soul of my Catholic faith is the Holy Eucharist, which is the Body and Blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Receiving Christ's body is the highlight of my day. In John 6, Jesus referred to himself as the Bread of Life, and said that whoever comes to him will never hunger, and whoever believes in him will never thirst. Then he went even further, saying, "Unless you eat of my flesh and drink my blood, you do not have life within you."

Just what is Jesus saying to you and me? I think he is saying that we have to be fed with more then hamburgers and fries. We must be fed with another kind of bread - with heavenly bread. Jesus goes on to say, "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day."

I don't know about you, but I don't want to take any chances about not being raised on the last day! Then Jesus says: "My flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him." What is Jesus really saying? He's saying I love you so much that I want to stay with you even when it appears that I am gone. Why is it that so many people don't believe him? One reason is that many are (aethiests) who believe God does not exist. Others believe that it doesn't matter what you believe, as long as you think it's true, that makes it true for you. In other words, there is no real truth - what is true for you may not be true for me. Some believe there are all kinds of truths, even though they contradict each other.

I think everyone wants the truth - no one wants to believe in lies. If a child finds out his parents have lied to him, he feels betrayed and let down. He will have a hard time trusting them again. How do we know Jesus was telling the truth? Don't we only have to look at his record? Did he have a reputation for telling lies? No, he did not. He even gave up his own life because he held to the truth.

When Jesus said we must eat His Body and drink His Blood, he knew this would be hard to believe. That's why He tried so hard to exlplain it to them - even though He knew they would never really understand it in this world. That's because it is a mystery. Life in this world is not the only life we will experience. Some people think it doesn't matter what we believe, as long as we are decent human beings, God will take care of us in the next life. I choose to believe Jesus. He said it is the life of Christ within us, that prepares us for eternal joy in heaven.

One of the problems is that we can't prove that Jesus is in Holy Communion because mysteries cannot be understood. Many saints have died because they believed Jesus is truly with us in the form of bread and wine. There have been saints who have lived on the Eucharist alone for many years. I'm thinking of Theresa Neumann, who lived on her father's farm in Germany during WW 11, 1892-1962. She lived for forty years without eating or drinking, except Holy Communion. Many American servicemen visited her during the war and were inspired by her deep faith, humility and joy. She was not a fraud, as many doctors examined her, stayed in her room for long periods and witnessed that she neither ate nor drank anything, other than Holy Communion. (You can find more about her at -TheresaNeumann.com)

Worthy Holy Communions can benefit, not only ourselves, but others, too, just as unworthy Communions, those received when we are in serious sin, damages our soul. We are warned about bad feelings toward others in the Bible, that if we have anything against anyone, we must first go and make peace with them and then receive Holy Communion. Some people think there is no such thing as serious sin, and it doesn't matter if we receive Communion, even if we are living in sin. There is great harm done when this happens. Thank God for sorrow and confession. St. Paul says, "Whoever eats the bread unworthily sins against the body of Our Lord and drinks a judgment on himself."

When Jesus announced the hard saying of eating His body and drinking his blood, he knew it wasn't going to over very well with his listeners. He was right. Many of them argued with him, saying, "How do you expect us to eat your body and drink your blood?" They thought he had lost his mind. That day, many walked away from him and followed him no more. He looked sadly at his apostles and said, "Will you also go away from me?" Then Peter said those memorable words, "Lord, to whom shall we go?" The apostles stayed with him, even though few others did so.

It is interesting that Jesus didn't run after those who walked away. He didn't say, "Hey, you misunderstood me. I didn't mean it the way you took it." No, he let them go. What a sad day it was for him! If I had been there, I wonder if I, too, would have walked away? I hope not. We should never put anyone down because they don't believe like we do. We are not here to judge others. God left us His Holy Spirit to guide and direct us. If we sincerely pray, we will learn the mind of God.

All my love in Christ,
Sister Francelle