Rekindling Eucharistic amazement 

By Sister John Paul Maher, OP

When you stop to think about it, Jesus is amazing. He does not ask of us anything He has not done first. He asks us to remain with Him, to choose to be with Him. And yet, He has chosen to be with us first.

In 2003, John Paul II gave the faithful an encyclical letter, expressing his desire to “rekindle” a “Eucharistic Amazement” for the third millennium. (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, no. 6) Like a best friend, Jesus invites us to stay with Him, to abide. (John 15.4) This is astonishing. Jesus is expressing a desire to simply be in our presence.

God made us wired for presence. In good times and in bad, we rely on the presence of others to help us through. God made it part of His plan for our salvation to be present to us. Jesus took on our human nature to walk with us and teach us. Then, He gives a total gift of self to us in the Eucharist until the end of time. What unrelenting love!

Even so, it can be hard to believe in unrelenting love. God knows this. He knows each of our stories. He loves us. He is humble. He waits. When we are ready to “come and see,” He is ready to be encountered. When we come into His Eucharistic Presence, we can rest. We can speak to God as a friend. He speaks to us as a friend in the Gospels. When we open the Scriptures, we can often recognize the Word of God guiding us and offering a response to our prayer.

We all need grace to keep an ongoing friendship with God. Like any relationship, it takes two, and perseverance. When it gets challenging, we can ask for grace and strength. God will give it. We should not be discouraged by failure or afraid. We recall Pope Francis’ words: “When we receive the Eucharist, Jesus knows we are sinners and make many mistakes, but he does not give up joining his life to ours.” (Angelus on the Solemnity of Corpus Christ, 2021)

God comes to us through the sacraments. He restores our union with him by embracing us in mercy through Confession. There is nothing like the lightness of heart that comes after a good Confession. By going to Mass and Confession regularly, we receive grace to avoid sin and grow our friendship with God. 

As St. John Paul writes, when we receive Jesus, He enters into friendship with us. “We can say that not only each of us receives Christ, but also that Christ receives each of us.” (EE, no.22) It is a wonder to think of God receiving us! If we cannot receive Him physically in the Eucharist, we can unite ourselves to Him spiritually.

Spiritual communion is one way to unite ourselves to Jesus, especially if we cannot atttend Mass. Making a spiritual communion daily can “cultivate in our hearts a constant desire for the sacrament of the Eucharist.” (EE, no. 34)   

Some people may not experience a desire for the Eucharist. This is understandable. Many people have not encountered Jesus personally in the Blessed Sacrament. Some lack the gift of faith or have not heard the truth about Jesus’ Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Eucharist proclaimed by others. Let us pray that people will know the love of God as the answer to their heart’s desire.   

We can grow our love for the Eucharist by spending time with Him, spiritual reading, and meditating on the institution of the Eucharist in the Gospels. Another recommendation is to read John Paul II’s apostolic letter on the Eucharist called Stay with Us, Lord, (Mane Nobiscum Domine, 2004), based on the disciples’ recognizing Jesus in the breaking of the bread. (cf. Lk 24:29)  

Mary, as the “Woman of the Eucharist,” intercedes for us so the joy of the Eucharist may be experienced in our lives. “The Eucharist has been given to us so that our life, like that of Mary, may become completely a Magnificat!” (EE, no. 58) Mary’s Magnificat is a personal hymn of joyful praise for the Lord’s faithfulness.  Let us ask Mary to pray for us that our joy may be complete. (cf. Jn 15:7-11) Let us be disciples who bear witness to Jesus by rekindling an amazement for the gift of the Eucharist.

Sister John Paul Maher, OP, is the principal at Worthington St. Michael School and a member of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist.