Transcript
The Eucharist is—Powerful, Glorious, Divine, Amazing, Personal.
We are people of the Eucharist.
For many years, I have spent endless hours wondering what God's vision for the church was at the beginning and what God's vision for the church is today. I've explored Catholic history. And I've studied the roots of Christianity. I've also wondered what the essential differences are between Catholics today and the first Christians. For the first Christians, Christianity was a lifestyle. They shared a common life. Living in community, they often worked together, prayed together, and studied the scriptures together. They allowed the Holy Spirit to guide them in all they did. Then, at the pinnacle of their common life, they celebrated the Eucharist together. This is what many writers would have you believe. But was it actually like that? If you read Acts and just these verses, 2:43-47, you could be led to believe it. But the rest of Acts demonstrates that everything was not so idyllic among the first Christians. The first deacons were chosen because the Gentile widows were not being cared for by the Jewish members of the community. That's in Acts 6:1. There was conflict over how to treat the Gentiles. That's in Acts 15:1-21. Paul had to take Peter to task because he refused to eat with the Gentile converts. That's in Galatians 2:11-14. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul severely criticizes the community for selfishness, with the rich eating with their friends and the poor in their midst going hungry. The first Christians were not perfect.
But there was a real rigor among them for truth. It may not have been true of every member. But as a community, they were rigorously seeking the best way to live the Christian life. Are you and I rigorously seeking the best way to live the Christian life? Today, amid the busyness and complexities of modern life, the great majority of Catholics are challenged merely to make it to mass on Sunday. In modern society, a great separation has taken place between the various aspects of our lives. Many people believe that they need to leave the values and principles of their faith outside certain activities in the same way you leave a coat in a waiting room. The modern world tries to separate faith from reason, the professional from the personal, the means from the ends. This [separation-list?] approach destroys unity of life and creates the modern madness of feeling torn into, which we experience because our very nature tells us that we cannot divorce faith from reason or the personal from the professional or the means from the end. Living the gospel is difficult. It always has been, and it always will be. This is what today's Catholics have in common with the first Christians and with Christians of every place and time. There has never been a time when the church was the perfect society Jesus calls for us to be. There have been moments when certain individuals and communities have celebrated Christ's vision in awe-inspiring ways, but sustaining these moments is the real challenge. Think of how easy it is for you to turn your back on the best version of yourself. Consider how difficult it is for you to choose the best version of yourself in different situations each day. Now multiply that by 1.2 billion, and you will have some sense of how difficult it is for the church to be the best version of herself for even a single moment. Every time you engage in self-destructive behavior, the church becomes a lesser version of herself. And every time you bravely choose to become a better version of yourself, the church becomes a better version of herself. I don't know what the essential differences are between the first Christians and Catholics today. I do know that the ways of man will not get us from where we are today to where we are called to be. I also know that in every place and in every time since the Last Supper, Jesus has been present to guide you, me, and the whole church through the Eucharist. I am certain that the church needs less and less of your ideas and my ideas and more and more guidance from Jesus Himself. It is Jesus who will renew the world as we know it today.
Will it happen with a blinding flash of light? I suspect not. The renewal that the church and the world so desperately need at this moment in history will happen in this way. You and I will abandon the illusion of control and surrender our hearts to Jesus. We will allow Jesus to guide our words, thoughts, and actions one moment at a time. In this way, Jesus will slowly bring renewal to our lives, our marriages, our families, our businesses, and our schools, our parishes, our nations, our church, and to all of humanity. Whatever the successes of the early church, they were the fruit of their faithfulness to Jesus Christ under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Whatever the failures of the early Church, they were the result of rejecting Jesus and ignoring the Holy Spirit. The same is true for you and me today. Trust, surrender, believe, receive. Living the gospel is difficult. It always has been and it always will be. Are you willing to help the spiritually starving? Become a member of the International Society of The Eucharist today. Click the button below and join now. We'll send you a free copy of 33 Days to Eucharistic Glory, a copy of the children's version, a copy of the limited-edition journal, which includes an amazing Holy Week retreat. Have a great day and remember, be bold, be Catholic. We are people of the Eucharist.
Jesus, I believe that you are truly present
In the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist.
Every day, I long
For more of you. I love you above all things.
And I desire to receive you into my soul.
Since I cannot receive you sacramentally at this moment
I invite you to come and dwell in my heart.
May this spiritual communion
Increase my desire
For the Eucharist.
You are the healer of my soul.
Take the blindness from my eyes
The deafness from my ears
The darkness from my mind
And the hardness from my heart.
Fill me with the grace, wisdom
And courage
To do your will in all things.
My Lord and my God.
Draw me close to you.
Nearer than ever before.
Amen.
Consecrate America to the Eucharist.
Bye-bye.
Have a great day.
Have a great day.
Have a great day. Come on.
Have a great day.
Hey, Isabel. One simple way to be mindful of God's presence in the world is to know where the nearest tabernacle is. So while we've got a couple of minutes, I thought we might work on your geography a little.
Sounds good, Dad. You're always coming up with something.
Hey, Isabel, if I was at a latitude of 38.89 and longitude of negative 104.74, where would the nearest tabernacle be?
Holy Apostles, Colorado Springs, Colorado.