The Body of Christ
Seeing the Eucharist through a truthful understanding
Many years ago, I heard a Jewish storyteller relate the tale of the rabbinical student who failed out of rabbi school. The story went that on the first day of class, the rabbi picked this student to read the first paragraph of a passage in the Torah.
The student read the first two words aloud: “God spoke!”
He stopped and he began to laugh in joy. The rabbi just looked at him and he composed himself and started again. Again, he only read the words: “God spoke!” and again started to laugh with joy and he stood and danced with joy as well.
The rabbi stared him down again and he began a third time. He said those words: “God Spoke!” he became so filled with excitement and joy that he stood, laughed, danced and danced down to the river next to the rabbinical school where he jumped into the water, dancing and laughing and splashing. The was the first and last day, the man was a student at the school.
The story is about the student’s excitement over these powerful words in the Torah that many Christians and Jews may read casually and continue the reading. Of course, without that attitude no one would pass rabbinical school or the seminary. However, the message is clear. Since the time of Abraham, we realize that we have contact and union with God.
God with us
However, for us as Catholics the story becomes even more relevant. The Gospels remind us that from the time the Angel Gabriel encountered Mary, we learn that Jesus’ name means God with us. So, from his birth, he is in fact among us, first as the incarnate word of God and then through the Holy Spirit.
Today, we also recognize his presence in the Eucharist from the day he declared it at the last supper.
However, the fact is this truth is key. No one has had the contact with God so near and relevant as we do. So much so that we have the opportunity to allow God to be a part of us and vice versa through the receiving of the Eucharist. However, like the Rabbi and the other rabbinical students, we can become more complacent with understanding that we are receiving the Body of Christ in an intimate exchange of His giving His all to us and calling us to give our all to Him.
The Eucharist is not a reward
In some circles, the Eucharist gets reduced to whether or not one may receive. That whole message of making sure you are in a state of grace is important and even Paul reminds us of this, but it also overshadows the truth for some.
The focus on whether we are in a state of mortal sin becomes more important than understanding what we are receiving so that the focus is not on receiving the Body of Christ but on understanding whether we can. This leads us to miscommunicate this profound truth.
The Eucharist is not a reward for being good and not being bad, it is Christ reaching out to us in order that we may be saved. If we lose a sense of this and get lost in rules of who should and should not receive, we lose a sense of what the Eucharist really is. We also lead people to falsely restrict themselves from receiving when they most need it.
That is disappointing. When you hear the words: “Body of Christ” and receive the Eucharist think to that rabbinical student and understand he truly understood the significance of those who words. Let us always humbly remember the significance of what we receive at communion and celebrate that gift.
Fr. Robert J Carr is pastor of St. Anthony Parish in Allston, MA
The parish podcast is at CatholicAudioMedia.com
He is the author of several books including: Christ in Your Humanity