Dear Parishioners,
 
For the month of August we have been reading from chapter six of St. John’s Gospel. It is one of the main proof texts for the Catholic Church’s teaching on the Eucharist, the Mass, and the Real Presence. If anyone ever doubts the Real Presence, direct them to read John 6. But it also seemed appropriate to speak this weekend not only about the Real Presence, but about what the Eucharist actually does.
There are many effects of receiving the Eucharist worthily (i.e. in a state of grace). Before diving into these effects remember back a couple of weeks I wrote on formed and unformed faith. In that column I mentioned that the reception of the Eucharist does not restore one to a state of grace, which infuses charity, and enables these effects to take place. So, first and foremost, to have these effects one must be in a state of grace. Provided that is the case what are the effects?
St. Thomas Aquinas considers the Eucharist in a similar manner to natural food; sacramental food does in the spiritual realm what natural food does in the physical. The Eucharist: (1) Sustains the life of grace and a new share in it. (2) It enables us to advance to heaven and holiness (through infusion of virtue) which contributes to our spiritual growth and maturity. (3) It regains and recovers lost strength which was lost when one sinned in the past. (4) Finally the Eucharist delights the soul thereby provoking acts of charity and love.
Today we will focus on the notion that Eucharist received worthily diminishes one’s desire to sin and wipes away venial sins. When a person has his or her sins forgiven in confession he or she is in a state of grace, but the bad habits and weakness to sin again remain. In this the Eucharist strengthens a person to move forward. It is analogous to a sick person in after surgery in the hospital who is now in rehab. Communion with the flesh of the risen Christ, preserves, increases, and renews the life of grace received at Baptism. This growth in Christian life needs the nourishment of Eucharistic Communion, the bread for our pilgrimage until the moment of death.
The body of Christ we receive in Holy Communion is “given up for us,” and the blood we drink “shed for the many for the forgiveness of sins.” For this reason the Eucharist cannot unite us to Christ without at the same time cleansing us from the remaining bad habits of past sins and preserving us from future sins. As St. Ambrose writes: “For as often as we eat this bread and drink the cup, we proclaim the death of the Lord.” If we proclaim the Lord's death, we proclaim the forgiveness of sins.
Finally, as bodily nourishment restores lost strength, so the Eucharist strengthens our charity, which tends to be weakened in daily life; and this living charity wipes away venial sins. By giving himself to us Christ revives our love and enables us to break our disordered attachments to creatures and root ourselves in him. By the same charity that it enkindles in us, the Eucharist preserves us from future mortal sins. The more we share the life of Christ and progress in his friendship, the more difficult it is to break away from him by mortal sin.
 
In Christ,
Fr. Barrow