Week 1 of God’s Love: The Eucharist.

I cannot even pretend to know how to dive into this topic. How can I wrap my brain around something so holy and beautiful, something beyond my simple human understanding? Instead of attempting to explain this incredibly mystery, I want to talk a little bit about my experience with the Eucharist and how it has helped me understand and open my heart up to God’s love.

As with most children that grow up in the Catholic Church, I received my first communion in second grade and have been receiving communion every week at Mass since that day. But it wasn’t until a retreat my freshman year of high school that I began to understand Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist. I had never been to Adoration before Destination Jesus in 2008, and I honestly didn’t know what it was. Everyone around me started kneeling as a priest walked in with what looked like a golden sun surrounding the Host. I had to ask a youth ministry leader to explain what was going on. The interesting part, though, is that I knew that the room felt different when the priest walked in. There was a sudden and indescribable peace that settled over the crowd of high school students. That, my friends, was Jesus.

Throughout my next few years at Destination Jesus, I continued to experience the Eucharist in a deeper way, and I was more emotionally affected each year of the retreat. That retreat kickstarted my love of Jesus in the Eucharist, and I am grateful that someone took the time to explain it to me with love instead of questioning why I didn’t understand it. The Eucharist is a mystery of our faith, and it’s incredibly difficult to wrap your brain around. It’s importance, magnificence, and complexity should encourage us to help others understand it in the most non-preachy way possible.

Alright, off my soapbox!

When I went to college, I immediately got involved in campus ministry, which was a very weak program at IU my freshman year in terms of events offered and the strength of the community. But the one aspect of the program I really liked was their emphasis on offering Adoration at their events. During my sophomore year, I attended daily Mass for the first time, and I was really drawn to it throughout that school year. I felt so at peace with the hectic world when I went to Mass, and that is a feeling that has continued to occupy my heart every time I go to Mass. Sophomore year was a tough year emotionally for a lot of reasons, but my life changed dramatically second semester because that is when I began my weight loss journey. My confidence was at a low point, and I felt like a fool for having to commit to a weight loss program as a sophomore in college. I wanted to eat pizza and have cookies delivered to my door like other college students, but I knew I needed to make a change. I started to rely on Jesus more and more during this time, and I found Him most easily when I went to Mass, during Adoration, or when I would pray in front of the tabernacle. That is when I felt an irreversible change taking place in my heart.

As I got more heavily involved in ministry during my junior and senior years at IU, the Eucharist took center stage in my faith, and there wasn’t a fiber of my being that denied that Jesus was physically present in the Host. I was surrounded by people who were devoted to Mass and Adoration, and I loved hearing them talk about how the Eucharist has affected their lives. When I receive Holy Communion now, I can’t help but smile. I feel like Jesus is smiling at me when that happens, and joy overflows in my heart. I’m very grateful to live close to a perpetual Adoration chapel, and I’ve found myself drawn to it more frequently in the past year. As with the very first time I saw a priest carrying the monstrance into the gym at Destination Jesus, I have trouble explaining how I feel when I’m in the presence of the Eucharist. But there is a shift in the mood of any space when Jesus is physically present. And when He is right in front of me, I can’t help but fall in love with Him and allow His grace to saturate every part of my life.

If you’re looking for some resources on Jesus in the Eucharist, your first stop should be John 6 (especially verses 22-71). Read it. Highlight it. Read it again. And again. Read it until the page is so worn that you have to find another Bible. This is when Jesus explains to his apostles that He is the bread from heaven, that His flesh is what will bring us eternal life. My favorite line of this passage is verse 51: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” WOAH. Let that sink in. It’s beautiful and mind-blowing all at the same time.

Also check out My Eucharistic Day by St. Peter Julian Eymard if you want some tips (and beautiful words) on how to make the most of time in Adoration and how to adore Jesus in the Tabernacle throughout the day even if you can’t make it to church. Shout out to my friend, Danielle, who recommended that book to me! It’s about $6 on Amazon and it’s more than worth the money. If you’ve read any other books that have impacted your relationship with Jesus in the Eucharist, please comment below--I’d love to hear about those books!

I could go on for hours about the beauty of the Eucharist and how loved I feel when I think about Jesus offering Himself to us in this way. My relationship with Jesus is growing deeper as I ask more questions and seek Him in all that I do. But I know that my relationship wouldn’t be where it is without seeking Him first and foremost in the Eucharist at Mass and in Adoration. How is Christ calling you to grow closer to Him? How can you offer more of your heart to Him? He gave us the gift of His body and blood--how will you receive those gifts?