Faith Infused Into Us By The Holy Spirit

This weekend we celebrate the Solemnity of Corpus Christi where we celebrate the fact that the Eucharist is the true Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
              When Jesus' physical Body ascended into Heaven, He did not abandon us. He left us His Body and Blood in the Eucharist as His sacramental presence. 
              Sacramental presence means that the bread and the wine used at Mass still appear to be bread and wine and yet they have substantially changed into the Body and Blood of Christ. Just as eyes of mere flesh and blood could not reveal to the people of Jesus' day that Jesus was divine, so also eyes of mere flesh and blood cannot recognize the difference between the Sacramental Body of Christ and an ordinary piece of unleavened bread. Growth in our awareness and understanding of Jesus' Real Presence in the Eucharist requires faith infused into us by the Holy Spirit.
However, we can cultivate more faith by practicing it more. For example, a practiced electrician can see meaning in a maze of wires. A practiced mechanic can look under the hood of a car and be aware of how things work. A practiced Catholic develops the ability to recognize Jesus' sacramental presence by seeing with their hearts beyond what appears to their eyes to be mere bread and wine. As we practice our faith, we begin to see more and more that the Eucharist is the source and summit of our lives as Catholics. It is that which connects our Church in Heaven, Earth and Purgatory. We begin to realize that God has never left us, when we recognize Jesus' presence in the Eucharist.
 
               God bless,
               Fr. Scott