Receiving the Gift of the Eucharist

It may be easy to receive, but to receive well is harder. As a new convert to the Catholic Church, I am still struck and surprised to find that standing in line to receive the Eucharist doesn’t involve much standing in place, but a prompt passage from pew to altar and offered host. It is the greatest moment of the Mass, surpassed only by receiving, this walking up the aisle to meet the impossible gift. I wish to slow this flowing forward and feel more deeply the current that moves us with such gentle power. I long to be held a little longer in the golden river of grace. I do my best to collect myself at each step. I try to remember what is taking place here, within the transparent spheres of ceiling and sky, and within my own heart. What is being given and how to receive. How to receive well.

In his book, Fire & Light, Fr. Jacques Philippe writes:

“To be Christian is not above all about fulfilling a task, a list of things to do. It is about welcoming, through faith, the immense gift offered freely to us … all the richness of the Father’s merciful love.”

To receive is to allow our hearts to be broken into, as to plant a fruitful garden the soil must be turned up and over, loosened and prepared to receive the seed.

It is astonishing that the Creator requests that we call him Father, and how tenderly he offers himself in the form of bread and wine. He binds the infinity of His being within a tiny circle, like a seed, that can be placed on the tongue and digested. The bread of life, the bread of salvation, handed to beggars, transforming us into sons and daughters. What kind of gift is this? This unfathomable morsel I take into myself? It might be easy to receive, but to receive well is all the harder. My life must now be given over, poured out like water; emptied to receive the Body of Christ.