VERBUM DOMINI

Becoming What We Receive

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We’ve all heard the saying, “You are what you eat.” Too much junk food equals bad health and a lot of extra weight. Healthy food equals good health and weight control. On the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Our Lord we can apply this same saying to us spiritually: if we receive Christ often and with love in Holy Communion, we will become like Christ. But what do we do with the great gift of the Eucharist that we receive?

It’s fitting on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi to reflect upon what we believe, namely, that the Eucharist is truly the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ comes to us under the appearance of bread and wine to be our spiritual food. One aspect of the Eucharist that does not get much attention, however, is that Christ also wants us to feed others.

What do I mean? If we look at this Sunday’s Gospel, we see that the people were obviously hungry. St. Luke tells us that there were five thousand men, not counting women and children. The apostles were overwhelmed. They knew the people were hungry, but they also knew that there was not enough food. So what did they do? In faith, they offered the little that they had to the Lord; and Jesus multiplied it. He used what the Apostles offered him and he multiplied it to feed the people.

At every Mass there is an offering of the gifts. What do you do at this point during the Mass? Do you simply observe the people who bring up the bread and wine, or do you offer yourself to the Lord along with the bread and wine? As the priest offers the bread and the wine to the Father, what do you do? Do you simply observe, or do you offer yourself to the Father and pray that he also change you into Christ?

The Eucharist is more than just about receiving Jesus Christ. As the priest offers the Mass, we are called to offer ourselves. As we receive Holy Communion, we are meant to become what we receive. We are transformed by receiving Jesus in Holy Communion. And then, just as Jesus fed the hungry crowds, we are meant to be Christ to others. We are meant to feed a spiritually hungry world with the love of Christ that we receive in Holy Communion.

Your thoughts might be similar to the Apostles: Lord, how can I feed the people? But, like the Apostles, all we need to do is offer Jesus the little that we have and he will multiply it, as long as we offer it to him with a willingness to allow him to change us. When we offer ourselves to Christ, he changes us. We become what we receive and he uses us to feed a spiritually hungry world.

Father Michael Najim is Spiritual Director of Our Lady of Providence Seminary, Providence, as well as Catholic Chaplain at LaSalle Academy, Providence.