The sacrament of the Eucharist is thanksgiving because we show our gratitude to God for His total and extravagant love for us. For God so loved the world so that He gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16). The celebration of the Holy Eucharist is to make present the perfect sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross which is pleasing to God. God does not rejoice in the suffering and death of His Son but did not spare His Son from death. This is to manifest His boundless, infinite and mysterious love for us. Through the radical obedience of Jesus, the unconditional love of God is revealed. The Eucharist is the foretaste of the heavenly banquet because we are fed with the best food, the Body and Blood of Christ. My flesh is real food, my Blood is real drink (John 6:55). We are fed by the self giving love of Jesus so that we become what we receive. We become another Christ in the world. In the Eucharist, we are also nourished by His Word. He is the Wisdom of the Father, the Intelligence of God so that we are empowered to make the vision, choices, attitudes, virtues and values of Jesus our own. In the Holy Eucharist, we receive the Real Presence of Christ, His body, soul and divinity. This is such a huge and enormous gift and privilege but great responsibility. Eucharist is thanksgiving because we can never repay what God has given us. It is pure gift and grace. Yet God continues to provide us everything we need in our journey towards His Kingdom. Jesus died for us and He gave the Holy Spirit to us. We have the sacraments, the Sacred Scriptures, the teachings of the Church and the communion of saints. We received so much and in return we are called to give all.
Happy Thanksgiving!
