Greetings, dear friends who have journeyed with me on this spiritual blog. Let me share with you a great secret, which can change your life and may even save the world. Yet, if you read the Church Fathers, or go through the documents of the Councils of the Catholic Church, you'll find that this has been the central belief of the Church for twenty centuries. What I am talking about is Holy Communion, also called the Holy Eucharist. It is a reality beyond normal human comprehension, something which we can understand to an extent, but beyond that , it is something which goes beyond the capacity of our minds. However, there is a way to understand this secret better - a simple word, which needs to be experienced to be understood properly .. LOVE, but not just any love, but more accurately, agape love (or
Caritas in Latin -
Deus Caritas Est was the first encyclical of our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI). Agape love is the highest form of love. Agape involves total self giving to the other. The Eucharist is really an expression of the incomparable love which God has for us. The Bible is a beautiful book which tells us about this love, yet this love was not revealed in its fulness for so many thousands of years in the Old Testament, but only revealed in a person - the person of Jesus Christ. It is our privilege, that despite the hard times we live in, we have recourse to this great gift.
Recently I visited the United States, and while there, my brother drove our family (parents and myself) to Washington DC. During our time there, at one point, the roads were cordoned off by cops and suddenly there drove past us, a formation of sleek black cars with dark tinted windows. Everyone watched with bated breath to see if they could spot the President of the United States or another top official of the country. Come to think of it, we as a society (at least most of us) have accepted democracy and elected these leaders into office. Somehow a lot of people saw in Barack Obama a potential leader who could take the country forward. Whether you prefer democracy or monarchy, meeting the head of State is a unique experience which you will remember a long time, especially if your enthusiasm was returned by the kindness of the personality you met. But why am I talking about this? Because every human being, even if they have not experienced what I'm describing, can surely imagine such a meeting in their mind. But more importantly, because there is a King who is far greater than the President of the U.S or the Prime Minister of India. This King has dominion from one end of the Universe to the other. His rule has extended through all known time and continues on to eternity. It is the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for mankind on Calvary and who waits for people like you and me in the Blessed Sacrament, in a vessel called the monstrance (picture at right) or in a place called the Tabernacle. The best part is, we have the privilege of meeting this king and He is never too busy to meet us. For every pinch of love we show Him, He pours out back into us an infinitely more overflowing portion of His limitless love, plus grace to face our crosses, and strength to withstand the trials of life.
How can it be you may ask, that the King of Kings can be present to us in a simple piece of bread? This is where we begin to enter into the infinitely great but simple secret. It seems surprisingly unlikely, but it is questions like this on our faith that have great truths behind them. The key to unfolding this mysterious reality is the love of God. To explain this, we must delve into the deepest kind of love which we can experience in a human context. When two people, a man and a woman are in love, the test of their love is when their relationship is tested by hardships. Many times young people marry and experience a strong bonding in their youth, where the physical attraction and also the complementary psychology of man and woman favours strong bonding during their time together. But as the initial excitement of their relationship wears off, and the passion of their first love wanes, their fidelity is put to the test. So even in this most beautiful form of human love, both partners are fallible humans and need to make a strong effort to remain faithful, but hats off to the couples who have stood by each other for many years, like my parents. Now applying this human love to a divine perspective, we can try to relate to the immense love of God has for us. When we see the Eucharistic Lord before us in what looks like a piece of bread to our human eyes, what we must meditate on is the humility of God. Because the unique thing about God's love is His absolute desire to meet us exactly where we are. God does not show His true power and majesty by taking an awesome form, though He is perfectly capable of doing incredible things. He takes a form like what Jesus took on the cross - humble and meek, speaking few words, but by His very actions, by His passion and suffering on the cross, He shows us how much He loves us. So the Lord we meet in the Blessed Sacrament is one who meets us in silence. Can we listen to Him speaking in the silence of our hearts? You may be a Catholic or a non-Catholic, but it does not matter who you are. What matters is your desire, your thirst. This is the fountain where God quenches the thirst deep within us - a thirst for love, a thirst to know that through our struggles in life, we are not alone. We are in the arms of a great, big, wonderful God.
Many young people have shared with me how certain activities in the Church, they think of as boring. But our human incomprehension is not to be taken as God's limitation. Perhaps one of the most misunderstood aspects is the Holy Mass. But let me now give a very simple explanation of what the essence of the Mass is. The Mass has two parts - the Word and the Eucharist. The Word is about the Bible - God's message to us. But the Eucharist is about actually meeting the Lord Jesus in a very intimate way. The Mass is about fellowship. Recall the Last Supper. Jesus with the twelve, and Jesus breaks the bread and gives thanks to the Father and says take this and eat, this is my body. And likewise with the wine. Forget the Theological context, which is really very deep. First take a slice of what the Last Supper really was. It was really a most intimate fellowship meal. Now lets return to the Eucharist. Here, God meets us where we are in a more intimate way - in a fellowship meal. Imagine someone as great as God coming to your own house and what's more eating with you, or better still, Jesus has a house in your city and invites you to supper, where you are an esteemed guest at His banquet! This is the reality behind all the prayers during the Mass. This great meeting between God and us is what this was meant to be. We ought to be at a loss of words at this point. But a loss of words not because we are ignorant during the Mass, but because we are in the presence of such a great reality that no words are sufficient to explain it. The very experience of it is so great that living it as the Church has done through the centuries should be our mission.
And even if you are not a Catholic or have not otherwise have received Holy Communion, God is present to you with the same love, mercy, compassion and grace. He longs to be with you, even though He is God. He does not come in power, but in humility. Can you spend a moment to meditate on His awesome presence and His infinite love? No human experience in this life even comes close to the this. As has been said by Church through the centuries, the Mass is indeed the highest form of worship.
