So here we stand in the true presence of the Eucharistic Heart of our Faith – easy words to say, words which we often hear in lives as Catholics but seldom pause and
reflect on what they actually mean to us What is the Eucharistic Heart of Faith ? One quite helpful theologian of a religious order who will remain unnamed dodged the question somewhat by saying it’s the eucharist it heart of our faith – helpful indeed. But the quarant’ore gives us the time we need to ponder this. As doctors and medical professionals have been quick to notice, the heart is curious and wonderous thing. It is the first organ to develop in a foetus, and continues to beat for the rest of our lives. And yet we take so it for granted: it’s only when we pause in calm and silence that we notice the beat of our hearts in our chests, it’s only then that we’re attuned to its constancy.
The rhythm of In the hustle and bustle of 2020 one could easily live so surrounded by noise and entertainment that they would only notice their heartbeat when something went terribly wrong. Silence and reflection are needed to begin to appreciate this miracle within us. At times it seems our heart knows us better than ourselves – le Coeur a ses raison que la raison ne connait point – it knows before we do when we’re excited, afraid, apprehensive, anxious. We cannot hide our true feelings from it – as much as we might want to And so it is with Christ. By the Grace of baptism he is always within us, living, beating, in the innermost part of the heart, as the Psalmist puts it, knowing us better than we know ourselves. But we can let this spark of the divine be drowned out by the preoccupations of our lives, the background noise of our thoughts and distractions. It is only when we pause in silence of adoration that we begin to hear Christ’s heart beating with ours, that we begin to notice what has always been there, and then we begin to realise how often our relationship with Him can be a one way street, a 45 minute phone call in which we do all the talking then hang up suddenly because we have somewhere else to be. But still, he abides And so we don’t only need to have a beating heart of faith, but a eucharistic heart of faith – but again what does this mean. Eucharist is another one of those words that we tend to just define as eucharist. But what does it actually mean?
Most dictionaries would define the word as ‘thanksgiving’ or ‘to be thankful’, but this misses the point, and there is more at work here. Without delving far into the fascination of the eu prefix or the infinitive χαριστέω, the word eucharist more accurately means ‘to oblige’, ‘to return the favour’ and to return thanks with thanks, grace with grace, gratitude with gratitude. It is, at its core, a relationship of reciprocity And so our hearts must be eucharistic – they must be obliged as Christ has obliged us, they must be loving as Christ has loved us, they must return all that He has given us.
This eucharist, then, is the heart of our Catholic faith, and happens in the silence of our hearts. Cor ad cor loquitur, as the Cardinal’s motto goes, heart to speaks to heart – not in the words or images of everyday life, or in the way that we may expect or prefer, but in that silent, deep intimacy of true love, of true friendship, of gratitude. It is here in the presence of the Eucharistic heart of our faith enthroned that we can begin to notice the depth to which Christ lives in our hearts, not by talking or doing or thinking, but by listening. Cor ad cor loquitur, yes, but also cor audit cor – heart listens to heart, and to quote st francis de sales, none understand what passes save the sacred lovers who speak.
By Dr. Alexander McAuley