Dear Parishioners,

We just completed our book study of Bishop Barron’s This is My Body at last Wednesday’s Faith Night. I want to thank all those who participated for these past five weeks. It was heavy going at times, but all persevered and it was well worth it. Bishop Barron packed a lot of good Eucharistic theology in the book. There were many beautiful nuggets and insights we were able to take away to grow in our love, appreciation and devotion of the Eucharist. If anyone is still interested in reading the book, there are a few copies still available. The study guides are also useful in breaking down the content into smaller sections using thoughtful questions. All the study guides can be found on our parish website by clicking “Faith Formation” in the top menu. In the spirit of the Eucharistic Revival I would like to offer this reflection on the Eucharist from the October 2023 Magnificat (Page 250-251) titled Source and Summit: Reflections for a Eucharistic Revival - One Loaf, One Chalice, One Union, by Father Gregory Pine, O.P.

“To folks who are unfamiliar with the goings-on of the kitchen, there’s something mysterious about making a meal. Mom comes home from the supermarket with a bag of ingredients, and then a delicious dinner appears on the table. As we are introduced to the ways of cooking and baking, the magic of the transformation takes on more significance. You can appreciate a tender chicken breast because you’ve dried out so many yourself. You can delight in the bite of pasta al dente because you know how easy it is to go too far. When we pay attention to the preparation, we can partake more perfectly of the product.

“When our Lord “mixes his ingredients” at the Last Supper, he reaches for bread and wine. As Saint Augustine meditates. upon the wisdom of this choice, he writes, “Our Lord Jesus Christ has pointed our minds to his body and blood in those things, which from being many are reduced to some one thing. For a unity is formed by many grains forming together; and another unity is effected by the clustering together of many grapes.” The very matter of the Eucharist reveals to us the very reality it conceals: Many grains make up one loaf; many grapes fill one chalice, many Christians become one in Christ. As the matter is made so too are the recipients redeemed.

“Let’s be clear: the most Holy Eucharist is no ordinary meal. It is at once a sacrament and a sacrifice. As a sacrament, it causes what it signifies. As a sacrifice it presents a pleasing offering. By paying attention to the preparation of the bread and the wine, we are drawn deeper into the logic of both sacrament and sacrifice.

“As a sacrament, the Eucharist brings about the unity of the Church. By kindling in us the grace of charity, the Eucharist draws us together in the spirit and makes us more perfectly members of the Mystical Body. In the ordinary course, when we eat something it becomes us. (You eat bread, and it becomes a skin cell or an energy burst.) In this extraordinary sacrament, we eat the body of Christ and, paradoxically, we become it, we become him.”