Beautiful Eucharist: Nourishment for Divine Life
If you didn’t receive your free copy of Matthew Kelly’s Beautiful Eucharist and wish to join the parish-wide reading of the book, see Kathy or Judy in the parish office. There may still be a few extra copies.
In his “Your Most Urgent Need” chapter of our Beautiful Eucharist book, Fulton Sheen describes how all life lives through communion with some other form of life. Whether plants, animals, or humans, all need communion and nourishment from others. For humans, it’s plain to see that our bodies require communion and nourishment. But Sheen goes on to ask rhetorically about our souls: “Do not our souls demand food? And since our souls are spiritual, do they not require some spiritual food?” This sets up a most beautiful paragraph of his:
The Eucharist is the greatest of all the sacraments because it contains in a substantial way the person of Christ, who is the author of life. If life is or if life is ever to live, it must nourish itself. If divine life is to love, it too needs nourishment. That is the Eucharist.
How have you come to realize Eucharist as nourishment for your divine life?
Share your thoughts and see how others are responding by joining the conversation in the "Comments" section below.
May this Lent be a season of grace for you and your loved ones,
Bob
Comments
Holly DionnePosted on 3/02/24
I, like Cathy and Jim, have had a real (but probably "less mature") reverence for the Eucharist since a young age. In recent years, I have acted as a eucharistic distributor and lay leader. What has emerged is a nascent perception of Sheen's concept of "spiritual food." When I am offering communion to others, I am a humble servant "feeding" them, and this is a source of happiness and grace for them and me. It really struck me as a distributor on Christmas Eve: the great majority of those who stood in long lines to receive our Lord had faces that shone with joy!
Jim MartinPosted on 2/28/24
Similar to Cathy, my memories of the Eucharist during my early 20's was knowing it was Jesus in the Eucharist and then, when mass was over, a separate life took over for me; until the next mass. It is different now in that I reflect more on his sacrifice for our sins (as he asked to remember) and participation in this sacrament is a contentment and a time of anticipation for serving him in the days ahead.
Cathy KenderPosted on 2/25/24
It has been a gradual increase over the years that I have come to the realization that the Eucharist is nourishment for my divine life. In my youth, I knew I was receiving Jesus and was reverent, but began to truly desire our Lord’s presence in my forties. I found myself preparing for my reception of Him more thoughtfully, making room for Him to change me, asking for graces.
What we do in our ordinary day with care and love, lifts up our communities ever so little, but never the less , it does! Our strength becomes greater with each Eucharist we receive.