As we celebrate today the great gift that is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, we have to keep in mind the inherent tension of this gift. This gift is intended to feed us so that we can be Christ for others.
            We cannot deny that the reception of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ has an intensely personal dimension. In our parish community, I see two extremes with regard to the Eucharist. There are many in our parish who do not receive the Eucharist, or receive it only infrequently, because they have a tremendous sense that they are not worthy to receive this gift. Only if you are in serious sin, should you refrain from the Eucharist. But if you are in serious sin, then simply come to confession to remove that sin so that you can receive the Eucharist! As for minor sins, the Church teaches that the Eucharist itself wipes away our smallest sins, although we should still confess those sins so as to maintain a good conscience and our faithfulness to the way of Christ. A second extreme in our parish, and in most Catholic parishes (!), is that persons approach the Eucharist too casually – particularly young people. We should never receive the Eucharist without a private prayer in which we acknowledge what it is that we will receive, the real presence of the Risen Christ under the appearance of bread and wine, and what this gift requires of us.
            This gift requires that we be Christ for others. The Eucharist is not just personal. It has a public, communal dimension. We receive the Body and Blood of the Risen Christ in order to be Christ for others. We should incarnate in our lives the compassion of Christ, the mercy of Christ, the welcome that Christ gave to all who entered his life, and the concern Christ had for the poor and vulnerable of his day. This is how we receive the Eucharist ‘worthily.’ We sincerely desire that through our reception of the Eucharist, we become the real presence of Christ in our world.
            May all of us receive this great gift with joy and the commitment it requires!
 
 
                               Fr.  Mark Hallinan, S.J.