Given the countless number of surveys that have been done among Catholics in the past several decades, it seems worth making a few basic observations about the Eucharist, about what we believe as Catholics, since today is the Solemnity of Corpus Christi or the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. And so most basically, what is the Eucharist? Is it merely a symbol and image of Jesus, something that we celebrate so that we can call to mind what Jesus has done for us?

Or even more basic: is the Eucharist simply bread and simply wine? No. No, it’s not. And it’s not merely blessed bread and blessed wine. We as Catholics believe that the Eucharist sacramentally becomes the body, the blood, the soul, and the divinity of Jesus Christ. That bread and wine, back there on that table, which will be brought up during the offertory, which right now is ordinary bread and wine. We hold that when it is placed on this altar or any altar and a bishop or a priest calls down the Holy Spirit upon it during mass, it becomes radically transformed. What we call the accidents: the taste, the texture, the smell, the look, remain; and the substance or what I like to think of as the “is-ness” as in “what is this?” is changed into the resurrected body and blood of Jesus and given to us so that his grace and his power and his strength can be within us.

But it is important to realize, that all Christians, everywhere, without exception, held that to be true for at least the first thousand years of Christianity. And then only one person over the next four hundred years ever dared to reject it, before following him, a number of others, began to reject it. In other words, it is not as if in the early days of Christianity, let alone for the first thousand years, there were diverse opinions about the Eucharist, with some holding it was really the presence of Jesus and others holding that it was merely an image and a symbol.

No. Everyone believed, as we do today, that it truly was the real presence of Jesus. And they did so, as you and I do today, on Jesus’ authority. It is Jesus’ words which say, “This is my Body.” Not this is an image of my body. “This is my Blood.” Not this represents my blood. And say, for example, St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, perhaps most especially chapter eleven, we know that the early Christian took Jesus’ words very seriously, as we do today. They understood this to be true. So then at each and every mass which we come to celebrate here, it is not as if we simply recall the events of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Sacramentally, in a very real way, you and I are, right now, and at every mass, contemporaries of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and of his glorious resurrection. And while you and I may not fully understand how that happens, that’s anything but boring.

Now, having said all that, the questions that have been on my mind, what I have been praying and reflecting on are these: why does Jesus do this? Why does he give himself to us? What’s the purpose or the point of the Eucharist? What is supposed to happen in you and me as a result? Well the answers to these are simple, just not easy. The answer is simply this: the result of feeding on Jesus is that you and I are supposed to look like him. We are what we eat. Or at least we’re supposed to be as Catholics. This means much, much more than simply being nice or kind. Those don’t sum up Jesus’ life. Being conformed to Jesus means being obedient to the Father’s will. To strive to do everything that we do for him. “All that the Lord has commanded us we will do.” That’s what the Israelites say in response to God’s salvation. Those words are supposed to be ours too.

Not just on Saturdays from 5-6 or on Sundays from 9-9 or 11 a.m. Not just when it’s convenient. Not everywhere but the bedroom or the boardroom or when we’re on vacation. Everywhere. That’s supposed to be the goal in life as Christians, to be conformed to Jesus. Why else would we be here on a beautiful day like today? And we can embark on this goal, which we can trust must be for our good, with great confidence in the Lord because no one has given us more reasons to trust that he cares. No one has done for us what he has done for us. No one else has created us, no one else has poured out his life for us.

Now having said all that, it all comes down to this: or at least this is how I have been thinking about it this week. When we come forward to receive Jesus in the Eucharist, he becomes truly present in our bodies. But, is he truly present in our hearts? In other words, do you really love him? Do I really love him? Do I strive to do everything I do in memory of him? Is he always in my mind? Is everything done, in such a way, as to be pleasing to the Lord? In all honesty and more than just humility, I must readily admit that there are far more occasions than I would like to number when I love me and my will far more than him and his. So if the transformation that is supposed to happen in our lives is to come about, what’s necessary? If you and I are to be conformed to Jesus, what needs to happen?

Well, someone said three things need to happen: first, we need the sacraments, most especially the Eucharist. Second, we need to prayerfully ponder what is that’s present on this altar at every mass, and third, we need to put into practice what it is that we receive and that we ponder.

In other words, first, we have to be here on Sunday. Jesus did say, “without me you can do nothing.” Our Sunday obligation is a must. Second, we have to prayerfully reflect upon what it is we receive and third we put it into action into our lives.

For some of us, it’s that first thing that’s still the challenge. Getting here. Some of us, quite frankly, still aren’t convinced that mass and the Eucharist are more important than baseball, soccer, camping, dance, canoeing, whatever it might be.

For others of us, the third thing might be the real challenge. Putting into practice what it is we receive here. Perhaps most especially loving those we find difficult to love.

But for most of us I think, at least it is for me, the second thing that I think is the key. Our lives are filled with so much noise and so many distractions. There is little silence for many of us. Little time to prayerfully ponder all that God has done for us and to ask him what it is he’s asking us to do.

So perhaps we can celebrate this solemnity today in no better way than by resolving this week, this summer, for the rest of our lives, to make it a priority - no, the priority - to pray every day. Not just to say prayers but to be silent with the Lord. To contemplate all that he has done for us. And to listen to his voice so that we can know what it is that he’s asking us to do in return.

Sunday Mass begins at 11 a.m. with the sacrament of reconciliation at 10:15 a.m. Come pray with us at St. Michael Catholic Church, located at 1004 W. Gentry in Henryetta.