A teacher taught her students that science proves everything. Calling on one of her students, she asked,
“Tom, do you see the tree outside?” “Yes.”
“Go outside and look up and see if you can see the sky.”
“Yes, I saw the sky.”
“Did you see God?”
“No.”
She said, “We can’t see God because he isn’t there. He doesn’t exist.”
Then a classmate asked Tom, “Tom, do you see the tree outside?”
“Yes.”
“Tom, do you see the grass outside?”
“Yessssss!”
“Did you see the sky?”
“Yessssss.”
“Tom, do you see the teacher?”
“Yes.”
“Do you see her brain?”
“No.”
“Then according to what she just taught today, she must not have one!”
At the Last Supper, Jesus gave us his very Body and Blood, sacramentally, that is, under the appearance of bread and wine, which had become him. Him as spiritual food.
It has been the constant teaching of the Church that, at Mass, the Sacrifice of the Cross is made present sacramentally: the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
The food of the Body and Blood of Christ is a food that, as you eat this week after week, you are being transformed, little by little into Jesus, the living Christ.
Because it is so important, the Church says:
-- you need this each week (obligation);
-- you are to fast for one hour;
-- you should dress properly, modestly;
-- you should prepare yourself, your soul;
-- you should arrive on time and not leave early;
-- you should receive reverently;
-- you should bow as the person in front of you receives; all which is to help you understand what you have received.
St. Augustine wrote, “You will not change Me into yourself as you would food of your flesh; but you will be changed into Me.” The change which occurs is inward [soul] but it should have an outward effect, it can be seen in the goodness of your every day thinking, speaking and acting.
The only thing that will stop this growth, the only diet that really works, is sin, the dying of the soul.
The effect from receiving the Eucharist should be seen in how you act. It matters what you say about one another — how you talk to one another — how you act toward one another.
There are many concerns that surround us. When we gather at Mass, it is because we believe that the healing touch of God can, in some blessed way, smooth out the roughness of our lives.
God is with you, ready to transform any bitterness into betterness.