By: Edalat Hope from Virtue Books
In 2019, the Catholic world was shaken to its core.
A study found that the majority of Catholics believed that the Eucharist was just a symbol. Despite there being errors in the research, the warning bells were loud enough. And the Church took notice.
Since then, we’ve seen something beautiful flourish. Last year, the National Eucharistic Congress was held in the United States. Eucharistic processions happened around the world. And here in Sydney, our Archbishop is leading a procession expected to draw over 20,000 people.
This is amazing progress. But even still…
We’re still missing something.
The early Church had such a rich and beautiful belief about the Eucharist. It was deeper, more transformative, and more profound than what many people hold to. Yet today, much of it has been forgotten by us.
A true ‘Eucharistic Revival’ must revive this truth. And that is what we want to do today.
The Eucharist Is Love Himself
To understand Jesus in the Eucharist, you have to understand who God really is.
Scripture gives us two big claims;
- “God is Triune.”
- “God is Love.”
These two claims baffle many Christians. Personally, it took me years to understand what it meant. But once I did, the Eucharist made a lot more sense.
Here’s what I realised; if you think about love, what do you need for it to exist?
Well, obviously you need a lover. But this lover needs someone to also adore, ‘the beloved’. And then both of them can love each other deeply.
God is like this.
- The Father is the Lover.
- The Son is the Beloved.
- The Holy Spirit is the Love between them.
Yet, they all fully possess the same nature.
This Eucharist that you are receiving isn’t just Jesus. It’s Love Himself. And when you receive it worthily, you are swept up into this divine exchange of love.
A Mystery Lost in Translation
But for us English speakers we run into a problem.
Our language is inadequate. We say we ‘love’ chocolate, our friends, and God, we are all using the same word. To the Greek New Testament writers, that would have been unthinkable.
The Gospel writers use a very specific type of love when talking about God:
Agape.
Agape is not just love. But it is a total, sacrificial, self-emptying love. The kind of love that doesn’t hold anything back.
This is the love God is.
You see this love most clearly on the cross. And we can also see that in the Eucharist.
“This is my body, given for you.” (Luke 22:19)
“My blood, which is poured out for you.” (Luke 22:20)
The Eucharist is more than simply a ritual. It’s Jesus pouring himself out specifically for you.
You Are What You Eat
Many Catholics just stop at level one:
“Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist.”
Whilst that’s true, for the early Church there was more to it than just that. It was about transformation. It was about becoming like God. A process they called theosis.
When you receive the host, you’re not just receiving Christ. Christ is receiving you. You are giving yourselves to each other.
This is the self-sacrificial love that I was talking about before. And the more we partake in this love, the more we become like the God who is Love itself. We become like cleaned mirrors that clearly reflect the likeness of God. (Gen 1:26)
This is the very point of the Eucharist… and even the Incarnation. The great St Athanasius went as far as to say that “God became man so that Man might become like God.”
The Eucharist is something that consumes you with God’s love. And there is no one who knew any of this better than St Ignatius of Antioch.
The Man Who Became the Eucharist
St Ignatius of Antioch was one of the most famous and earliest Christians. As a bishop, he couldn’t stand when people said that the Eucharist was just symbolic.
“They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins… They who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes” (Letter to the Smyrnaeans 6:2–7:1).
This is what many faithful Catholics agree with and even use in apologetics.
However, St Ignatius of Antioch’s love for the Eucharist doesn’t end there. In the year 107 AD, he was arrested for his faith and sent to Rome to be massacred.
Honestly, what the Romans did to St Ignatius should send shivers down your spine. But he wasn’t paralysed by fear. He knew that he would eventually be torn to pieces by hungry lions and… looked forward to it.
It wasn’t because he hated life. But because Christ had offered himself, and this was Ignatius’ opportunity to love him in return. This was a masterclass in theosis.
He became like the Eucharist.
“Suffer me to be the food of wild beasts, which are the means of my making my way to God. God’s wheat I am, and by the teeth of wild beasts I am to be ground that I may prove Christ’s pure bread.” (St. Ignatius, Epistle to the Romans 4.1)
This is what the Eucharist received well does to you. It fills you with a love so deep that not even death can overcome it. St Ignatius’ love is beautiful and an example to us all, but you’re probably thinking…
What about us now?
There aren’t too many lions in the US or Australia. And martyrdom isn’t that common anymore. But that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook.
The Eucharist still calls you to the same love. To become a living sacrifice, even in your everyday life.
“Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.” (Romans 12:1)
There are millions of ways to live this out. But here are just a few ideas to get you started
- Work with diligence
- Choose to forgive and offer your resentment to God
- Pray with your whole heart
- Offer your Sundays to God
- Practice a consecration to St Joseph or Mary (or even both!)
- Give some of your time, money, and talents to charity and the Church
- Discern whether religious life (eg. being a nun or priest) is worthwhile for you
- Be honest with people about your failings
- Go to Confession and offer your sins to God
In short, give everything to God and hold nothing back. You were made to be a total self-gift.
This Corpus Christi, when you march down in the procession, be proud. Be proud that our Eucharistic Lord gives himself wholly to you. But also be proud that God allows you to offer yourself to him.
And in the end, you can truly be called a “good and faithful servant”. (Matt 25:23)
References and Further Study
Augustine. “On the Trinity”. Augustine: On the Trinity: On the Trinity Books 8-15. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2008
Ignatius of Antioch. “The Epistles of St Ignatius of Antioch”. The Epistles of St Clement of Rome and St Ignatius of Antioch. New Jersey, Paulist Press International, 1946
“Wasting Your Life”. Fulton Sheen: Family Retreat, hosted by Ven. Fulton Sheen.
“Something’s Missing from the Eucharistic Revival” Youtube, uploaded by Breaking In The Habit, 17 Jan. 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHBSVJPPyrs
Smith, G.A, “Just one-third of U.S. Catholics agree with their church that Eucharist is body, blood of Christ.” 5 Aug. 2019, https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/08/05/transubstantiation-eucharist-u-s-catholics/
McKeown, J., “New study suggests more than two-thirds of Catholics believe the Eucharist is truly Jesus.” https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/258013/new-study-suggests-more-than-two-thirds-of-catholics-believe-the-eucharist-is-truly-jesus
About Our Guest Blogger
Edalat Hope is a Catholic blog writer for ‘Virtue Books and Gifts’, an apostolate dedicated to deepening the love of God across Australia and beyond. His aim is to help make accessible the classic spiritual works and practices that have formed saints for generations. https://www.virtuebooks.com.au
