Cardinal Tobin: In the Eucharist, our Redeemer gives Himself to us

The gift of the Eucharist and our Lord’s death are, in the deepest sense, one and the same mystery. The love that drove Him to die for us was the same love that made Him give us Himself as nourishment. It was not enough to give us gifts, words, and instructions; He gave us Himself as well (Romano Guardini, Meditations on the Christ).

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

On Sunday, June 7, our Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi). This feast day is observed differently across cultures, but what is common to all is a profound reverence for the Holy Eucharist, expressed in immense gratitude and great joy.

None of us deserves to receive Christ in the Eucharist. Holy Communion is always a completely unmerited gift we receive through God’s grace. Nothing we can do by our own initiative makes us worthy that the Lord should enter our hearts. All we can do is try to be ready, try to “stay awake” and be attentive, and try to be truly grateful when our Lord gives Himself to us in the great eucharistic mystery.

St. Augustine admonishes us to live as if we deserved Christ’s sacrificial gift to us. He challenges us to change our lives, as he did, and to see our lives as a progressive journey of hope in which we “seek the face of the Lord continually.”

Augustine knew from personal experience that conversion is a lifelong process. We struggle mightily to be worthy of the love of Christ and the great gifts that we receive from him every day.

All these gifts—life and love, freedom and happiness, truth and hope—come to us freely from the abundant generosity of our God. We do nothing to earn God’s grace. We receive it freely because, as the Church teaches, God’s very nature is to give generously, demanding nothing in return, simply because he loves us.

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