Bishop's Message on the True Presence

"Unless we believe and see Jesus in the appearance of bread on the altar, we will not be able to see him in the distressing disguise of the poor.”

~ Saint Teresa of Calcutta

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
 
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful that we may become Corpus Christi, the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, who is the source and the summit of our faith.
 
Although a gift born in faith, the Eucharist is made visible and tangible as the sacrament of God’s presence in the world today. It is the sacrament of Love, that memorializes Jesus’ perfect love on the Cross. 

It continues to assure us of God’s love as Mercy. It is the sacrament of Unity to build the Church, the Body of Christ. St. Paul writes, “Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf” (1 Corinthians 10:17). He is our communion with God and one another.  

There is another aspect of the Eucharist that we must acknowledge and develop in ourselves, in our families, and in our communities. I take my direction for my remarks from chapter 15 of the Gospel of St. John. The entire chapter treats our relationship with the origin of God’s life in us using the metaphor of the vine and the branches. I encourage you to put yourself in front of this powerful and revealing illustration that explains how God remains in us.
 
Verse 16 of this important passage is vital for our self-understanding. Jesus speaks to us in strong and incomparable terms. First, he tells us that He has chosen us; we did not choose him. We are not the cause of our faith; He is.And He, who has chosen us has appointed us, commissioned us to do something for Him —to bear fruit. The fruit that Jesus wants us to bring to life is found in the next verse (17). 

“This is I command you: love one another” (John 15:17). There is too much hatred and division around us. Jesus wants us to bear His fruit: love, mercy, peace, and unity. 

Can we do that? Can we? The Eucharist is the beginning because it is the true presence of Jesus, who has already done it for us. The Eucharist is His strength flowing through our entire person.

Saint Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) told her sisters who worked in the slums “to seek out Jesus in the poor” that “Unless we believe and see Jesus in the appearance of bread on the altar, we will not be able to see him in the distressing disguise of the poor.” 

God’s grace, opening our eyes and hearts to a new faith in His presence in the Eucharist, will give us the strength and wisdom to accomplish our mission to bear fruit each day, in every circumstance and in every present moment.