The Beautiful Gift of the Eucharist

The Eucharist had become a treasured gift to me over the last few years. There are three words I would use to describe my experience of the Eucharist: Sustenance. Nourishment. Peace. 

A few days ago, I was unable to go to daily Mass due to a traffic jam, and to my surprise, my heart hurt and I felt sad. I experienced this hunger deep in my bones as daily Mass and Eucharist have become the primary source of spiritual sustenance, nourishment and peace for me. 

Sometimes you don't realize how much of a gift it is until it goes missing and you feel the void.

Jesus Christ in the Eucharist is such a mystery to me. This bread and wine satiates and sustains us in an unexplainable, mysterious way. It fills our hungers. We come to depend on this food that nourishes us along the difficult journey of life. 

Receiving the Eucharist daily gives me a peace and a joy that I would otherwise not have. It helps me to see and feel the presence of God in my midst. It strengthens me to be a better follower of Christ. It helps me see my blindness and my need for mercy. It helps open my heart to the less fortunate and find solidarity with their suffering. I'm certain of these things. 

Consuming Christ's body and blood in the Eucharist transforms us day by day. How can we eat and drink of Him and not be changed from the inside, out? 

And adoring and sitting with the Eucharist is just as much of a gift. I can't tell you how many times I have found the deep peace of Christ and refreshment in Eucharistic Adoration or a chapel with the presence of the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle in the midst of heartache, tension, anxiety, and turmoil. Jesus is so present. It's so beautiful, amazing, and utterly mysterious.

How blessed we are to have this amazing gift of the Eucharist available to us on even a daily basis if we are open to receiving it. Let us give thanks for this beautiful gift of the Eucharist and the presence of Christ that we find in it.