The Eucharist is the medicine of immortality because Jesus promised that, “if any one eats of this bread, he will live forever” (John 6:51). “My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink” (John 6:55). “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). As a medicine of immortality, the Eucharist grants us the eternal bliss of Heaven. It does not mean that we live endlessly on earth. Death is a transition from this life to a life that will never end. That is why we are never satisfied with the things on earth because we are meant to live in eternity. Only God satisfies us. He is the Supreme Good. St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote that the Eucharist is the antidote to death which means that it prevents us from dying because we live forever in Jesus Christ. In Baptism, we are incorporated in the very Body of Christ and He is the head. Therefore, Jesus who defeated death forever will also empower us to share His victory over death.
Pope Francis said that the Eucharist is not a reward for the perfect but medicine for the sick. Jesus repairs our brokenness, heals our woundedness and restores the life of God within us. The Eucharist is sustenance, food and spiritual nourishment for our journey. In the Eucharist, Christ is both physician and medicine. Christ gives himself as the medicine to strengthen and preserve our souls from death and prepare our bodies to share his physical resurrection. Hence, the Eucharist is the cure to both spiritual and physical death. When we receive the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist we say, “Amen” which means “So be it”, certainly, truly, an affirmation of our faith in Jesus. We are called to witness that love is stronger than death and that God’s mercy is more powerful than anything in the world.
