In the last supper, Christ had taken bread and converted it to his own body and wine into his blood, then gave them to the apostles. It should have been automatic that the apostles would have stood by Christ in his time of “need”, but to our amazement, when the soldiers were arresting him, (Matt. 26:47-54), the apostles fled leaving him with his captors (Mark 14:50, 51). Even Simon Peter, who was to be the foundation stone of the church denied having any knowledge of the man “they” called Christ (Lk. 22:54-62). The episodes of receiving Christ and betraying him minutes after have not therefore started yesterday.
It is not surprising therefore to see today people receiving the body and blood of Christ daily, yet living an unchanged life. The expectations are that each time one receives the Eucharist, he/she should experience a change in one or more aspects of his/her life. Now the question remains. Isn’t the Eucharist the body and blood of Christ (actually Christ himself) who was raising the dead to life, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, etc? Why then doesn’t it seem to have effects on the Christians today? The answer is simple.
At one moment, Jesus told the crowd that they were not following him for the message of the kingdom of God, but for the expectation of more loaves of bread like he had fed them earlier (John 6 : 26). I believe others followed him due to curiosity of seeing yet another miracle. This could be the reason as to why we continuously receive the body of Christ yet remain unchanged! Today different people go to the church with different intentions, most of which are not compatible to God’s word. Many want to show of their sleek cars, new clothing and beautiful hair styles, etc. Others take the Church as an insurance company. You will hear them talking about what will happen when they die. Others just want the emotional support which is acquired by the feeling of togetherness with other Christians. Yet others go to Church to look for a life partner, because all of us need God fearing persons to be our marriage partners. With all these intentions in mind, the people forget who they receive in the Holy Eucharist. Due to all these we make receiving the Eucharist a mere routine, like taking our daily meals.
We can not therefore blame Christ in the blessed Eucharist that he has not changed our lives or even not heard our prayers and petitions, when we go to the Church with clouded minds. We are the cause of the problem, and therefore we have the solution to it. Let us re-check our intentions of going to the Church so that we may see the Holy Eucharist transforming our lives. As we approach the Holy Week, let us think over about our relationship with God. He is ready to make us not only useful tools for his encounter with his people, but also to make us worthy sacraments through whom many will meet him.
