Jesus Christ in the Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life. He is the source of our life, both spiritual and natural, from which we draw all of our strength, all of our being, who we are. He is the summit of our life. He is not only the example of what we are meant to be as human persons, but He is also the goal to which we strive in the Christian life. But more than source and summit, Jesus Christ — especially in the Eucharist — is a model for us of service to both God and our neighbour.
Jesus in the Eucharist is a model of service to God. In the Epistle to the Philippians St Paul writes that Jesus did not deem equality with God something to be grasped at; rather, He emptied Himself and took the form of a slave. Imagine: Jesus Christ before the Incarnation never knew hunger, thirst, the normal, everyday indignities of human life, those things we all of us do about which we do not like to speak. The Eternal Λόγος, the Word of God, did not have to take flesh and come among us; instead he did, and knew those things; not to mention the suffering of His Passion and Death. Jesus Christ gave an eternal “Yes” to the divine plan of the Father, because His Will was always to serve God. This was His service to God, and we see that in the Eucharist. Because, what is the Eucharist? It is Jesus Christ, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity; it was His coming among us in the flesh that made the Eucharist possible. And so, He is a model of service to God.
But He is also a model of service to our neighbour. In St John’s Gospel, we read, mandatum novum do vobis, a new commandment I give unto you: that you love one another. But this is not love as in a greeting card. This is not love as in a pop song. This is sacrificial love. This is true love, the love that is the gift of self. And so Jesus takes that service that He gives to the Father in the pouring-out of Himself in the Incarnation, His coming among us in the flesh, and He deepens it. He turns to men, women, boys and girls, like ourselves, and He says, “I call you My friends.” God calls us His friends! And He turns that true love into a sacrifice for us on the Cross. Continuing His “Yes” to the Father, this “Yes” to the divine plan, He says, “Not My Will, but Thy Will be done,” and He gives the ultimate service to His neighbour. He lays down His life for His friends.
And so, in the Eucharist, we have a model of service. Jesus Christ, the Eternal God, makes Himself a prisoner in a Tabernacle in Splott. He takes this gift of Himself which He makes to the Father, this love of neighbour which He shows on the Cross, and He perfects it even more, because He gives Himself to us, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, every time we come up and receive Holy Communion. And this, my brothers and sisters, is a perfect example for us. Do we see the Eucharist as only source and summit, as something between us and the Lord? Or do we see the Eucharist as a model of service to God and our neighbour? He gives us the grace to do so every time we worthily receive Him. Let us ask Him for more grace to do so ourselves.
By Br. David Lewis M.