Do you want a cookie? How about the Eucharist?

A couple of days ago I went to the Edge group at my parish. Since I am away at school, this was the first time I was able to attend an Edge Night. This night they just just had a small Christmas Party. We watched a movie and then they were allowed to play games. The thing that I chuckled about was how they reacted when they were told that they can decorate Christmas cookies. They reacted the way I expected. 

Many of them rushed over to the table and picked out their two cookies that they could decorate. They preceded to open up the icing and dumped tons of icing on their cookies as if they thought that there could never be enough sugar.  Once they were satisfied with the amount of icing on their cookies, they took sugar sprinkles and did everything but sprinkle them on their cookies - it was actually more like pouring them on top of their already overloaded cookies. I loved seeing the excitement and passion in their eyes as they decorated their cookies just as they wanted. They made it their own. When they ate them they no longer were generic sugar cookies that were all alike, but ones that were individual. 

I began reflecting on how they were so excited to decorate their own cookies and how they flocked to the table to do it. My question became, why don’t we as Christians become so excited and impassioned with love when we have the opportunity to receive Jesus Christ in the Eucharist? Why are we not flocking to Mass every Sunday, or heaven forbid on weekdays as well? 

Unfortunately I do not know the answer why many of us have a hard time becoming passionate when it involves the Lord of the Universe, who became man in order to save us. What better gift is there? How can one express his love in a better way? Is there a story that is better or more powerful than the Son of God becoming man? There is no better gift, no better way to express love and no other story that competes. We need to reevaluate our priorities. If Christ is not first we must change our lives so that he is. There are many different ways that someone can live their life, but their is only one way that will lead to utter joy and eternal life. A life of joy is not found in the money that one has or the people that one surrounds himself with, but with uniting one’s suffering with Christ’s. 

If we only realized the power that the Mass holds and most importantly the power of the Eucharist, most especially when we humbly receive him, we would no longer go to Mass out of obligation, but out of necessity. Many approach Mass as something to do once a week to get out of the way, instead of the thing that is needed most out of the week in order for them to find the ultimate meanings in their lives. I don’t want to sound like I don’t struggle with these same feelings. At times I don’t want to go to Mass, so I do it out of obligation to God. As I develop a relationship with God, I know longer approach Mass as something that should be done. I see Mass an intimate time between God and myself, where he is speaking to me and helping me to love and grow closer to him through Jesus Christ. 

The Eucharist is the source and summit of our Faith, without the Eucharist the Church cannot exist. Everything that the Church professes to believe has its roots in the Eucharist. How can we ever approach it as just another thing to put on our “To Do Lists” for Sunday? We must challenge ourselves to see the Eucharist as a complete gift to us, and see it as something that we need to receive every week because without it we are incomplete. When Mass is approached as a “To Do,” how can we ever expect it to effect our faith lives. Our faith is meaningless apart from the Church and apart from the Mass. Our spirituality can only grow when united with the rest of the Church, most particularly when we are present at the Mass.

Next Sunday I challenge you to get to Mass at least 10 mins before Mass starts and prepare your heart for the amazing transformation that is going to happen during the Mass. I am not just talking about the bread and wine turing into the Body and Blood, but the transformation that you will experience when you receive our saving Lord, Jesus Christ. I pray and hope that you will come to Mass with a renewed passion, where you realize that it is you who needs Jesus and not Jesus who needs you. Embrace his love and receive him with a sense of humility instead of pride. Humble yourself and God’s grace with be able to work in your life. 

Pray daily, read Scripture often, love always.