The Power in the Eucharist

The Eucharist is a powerful sacrament we can embrace in Christ

Jan 29, 2025

Next week, The Voice of St. Anthony Parish will air my interview with Father Randy L. Stice. He is the author of the book Eucharistic Amazement: Experience the Wonder of the Mass (Pauline 2025).

The book gives a view of the Eucharist we can often forget when we go to Mass or in my case celebrate Mass. The Eucharist is Christ’s full self-giving to us. When we enter the Communion line to approach the priest or Eucharistic minister, we are offering ourselves to Him.

If you can imagine, this is the fullness of the Trinity giving all they have for you to continue to the journey to eternal life. When we give all we have to receive the Eucharist we enter into a covenantal relationship with the Father and Holy Spirit through and with the Son. It is a powerful moment we can easily dismiss because we do it so often.

I thanked Father Stice for how well he captured that moment. I explained, however, that too often—mainly due to what we hear from current Catholic influencers—that it is completely reduced to worrying about whether we are in a state of grace in order to receive.

Focus on Christ

Obviously, being concerned about being in a state of grace is important but not so important that we miss the point about receiving in the first place. Being overly focused on our current disposition is like awaiting to see the pope visiting your area and missing his popemobile going by because you were too busy checking your bank account in your phone to see if you had enough money to go to lunch with friends afterwards. Both are important but the point of standing in line along the route of the popemobile was to see the pope. One cannot obscure your ability to appreciate the other.

When we receive the Eucharist, Father Stice explains in his book, we receive really something so powerful it is transformational. Christ and His Church call us to embrace and appreciate this true gift. Of course, because we receive so often, it can become routine for us and we miss what it truly is.

We need to deepen our appreciation for what we receive and trust that the Lord will guide us in receiving it and growing more closely to him through it.

When I am on vacation, I do not celebrate Mass but I attend local masses to where I am. This enables me to see how other priests celebrate Mass and how other Catholics experience it. I also do not receive the Eucharist. The reason is simple, I remain in my seat to enable others who may be embarrassed about remaining in their seat that they are not alone. I know from being a priest, some people are afraid of what others will think of them, if they see them remaining in their pews. I also know that no one really cares who does not go up for Communion or for that matter why.

Not receiving also honors God

I explain to my parishioners that those who do not feel ready to receive communion and refrain, also honor God. They are welcome to speak with me and discuss their reasons from refraining. I would also want to assist them in being ready to receive if that is possible.

The Eucharist in the Catholic Church is not as it is in other Christian churches, a symbol. It is rather the actual body and blood of Christ and in being so it has the power to draw us more intimately to Christ and empower us on the journey. So it is counter-productive to be more focused on whether or not we are following rules instead of focusing on what we are actually receiving.

Fr. Stice explains there is power in it through Christ. We can remember the Eucharist is part of what Christ does for us in the sacraments starting with Baptism which calls us to be prophets for the Gospel.

Too often we see Catholic influencers forget all that and list all the reasons one should not receive either by citing canon law or by listing mortal sins completely forgetting what it is we actually receive. The pope warns us against this.

Pope Francis calls to focus on hope and unity

He explains in his address To Bishops Presiding Over The Commissions For Communication And To National Directors Of Communication Offices, To Participants In The Meeting Organized By The Dicastery For Communication:

Let us ask ourselves: what do we do to sow hope in the midst of all the despair that surrounds and challenges us? What do we do to overcome the virus of division that undermines our communities? Is our communication inspired by prayer? Or do we limit ourselves to communicating about the Church by merely following the rules laid down by corporate marketing? We should ask ourselves all of these questions.

Especially here in the United States, the influencers focus more on the failures of the Church than the power of the Gospel. There is also a kind of sola scriptura form of thinking in which the texts of scripture and tradition hold such a weight that the humanity which they are supposed to foster is left out. Such a process leads people to focus on whether or not they are in God’s graces than what Our Lord is actually doing in their lives and inviting them to do for Him. This is a grave mistake.

It is time to cast aside the legalism of some influencers and embrace the truly powerful understanding of what our faith is teaching us as well as the powerful work of the spirit in our lives. This is the point of why the Lord invites us to commune with him.

In our prayer, we can ask the Lord to ensure we are receiving in a state of grace and we can stay close to the sacraments which are also powerful in their own rite. Trusting in the Lord, we can embrace His tremendous gift to us—Himself.

Fr. Robert J Carr is pastor of St. Anthony Parish in Allston, MA

The parish podcast is at CatholicAudioMedia.com

Catholic Audio Media Newsletter from St. Anthony Allston, MA

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