At the last meeting of U.S. bishops in November, the central issue discussed was the Eucharist. As a priest, it is the center of my life, and I hope it is the center of yours as well. In this special time of year, I encourage all of us to look at the gift of the Eucharist as the centerpiece of our celebration of Christmas and God’s incarnation in the person of Jesus.
As a longtime parish priest, I’ve seen many people who don’t go to Mass on Christmas as they are too busy or focused on other things. I know others who put Mass on their “to do” list, which is fine, but it is easy to get caught up in everything else going on and miss the Eucharist’s true meaning and unmatched importance.
Whether we don’t attend Mass regularly or attend but take it for granted, the Eucharist is our chance to meet Jesus face-to-face. Just as Jesus was born of the flesh in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago, he is born again in our hearts, minds and bodies every time we receive the Eucharist. His gift of himself to us is not a sign or a symbol. It is Jesus inviting us to enter into his relationship with the Father and the Holy Spirit. As we receive him, we become more like him.
If we truly realized this, wouldn’t we make every effort to receive the Eucharist at least weekly, to prepare as best we can, and to receive every time with awe-filled awareness of what is taking place within us? That is why it saddens me when other events and activities around Christmas seem to overwhelm the spirit of the Eucharist – of God himself – in our lives.
The dinners. The gifts. The decorations. The travel. They are all important and good, but they cannot be as important or as good as the Eucharist. It should be – it must be – central to our very celebration of Christmas and indeed our entire spiritual journey.
It takes an effort to get there. Talk with your children and grandchildren about the Eucharist. Share examples of special liturgies in your life when you received the Eucharist, like your experiences growing up and attending Mass on Christmas Eve, or maybe the special feeling of staying up late to attend Midnight Mass. Couples can consider how they, too, renew their love for the Eucharist in the coming year and how to make it a priority for themselves and their family. Those who are single can look with fresh eyes at how the Eucharist brings the whole family of God together in faith and joy.
For me, this is central to how we live our faith. Whether it be for Christmas itself or the new year to come, I suggest now is a time to renew our hearts and our commitments to making sure that we accept this gift of Jesus within us together as God’s family and as much as possible.
When I was pastor at Blessed Sacrament, my last parish assignment before coming to Catholic Charities, I remember celebrating the last Mass of the school year and deciding to encourage the students to go to church over the summer. My basic theme was that vacation from school should not be vacation from God.
In preparation for my homily, I went to the previous Sunday’s collection and exchanged a check I had written for $168 for 168 one-dollar bills. I brought that wad of bills with me, and I began by finding out whose birthday was closest to that day. The winner was Mercy, a little second grader, and I gave her those 168 dollar bills. She was ecstatic!
Then I asked, “Mercy, can you give me one dollar back?” She actually offered me several, a reminder of the generous hearts of children, but I said I only needed one. I turned to the rest of the children (about 500 in the school) and asked, “What do you think this might mean?”
It took a few moments, but then a boy in I think fifth or sixth grade at the time raised his hand and said, “I think it’s that there are 168 hours in a week, and God asks for one back.” I told him he was exactly right. I borrowed the money back from Mercy, held up the thick wad of bills in one hand and the single bill in the other, and said, “That’s what God wants back.”
If you’re not going to church regularly, please think about that. God asks for just one hour back out of our entire week. It is our small gift back to God, who has given us everything.
I also think of a trip I took to the Holy Land three years ago with my family and good friends. One friend told me recently he has not missed Mass one day since that trip. Not just Sundays, but every single day. The Eucharist really came alive for him in the beautiful places of Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Jerusalem, the very places Jesus gave us the gift of himself on the cross, in the Resurrection, and in the Eucharist.
May the Eucharist come vibrantly alive for us as well this Christmas, and may we make it the heart of our faith journey and a bigger part of who we are. The Lord is truly present in the Eucharist, and he will be even more present and fill your life with a greater sense of peace when you receive this gift weekly.
In Keeping Christmas, published in 1905, Henry van Dyke wrote: “But there is a better thing than the observance of Christmas day, and that is, keeping Christmas… Are you willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world – stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death – and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem 1,900 years ago is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love? Then you can keep Christmas.”
We can keep Christmas by receiving that Eternal Love into our bodies and souls every time we attend Mass. Thus, Christmas can come weekly or even daily for those who are willing to open their hearts and souls to Jesus and let him be born again in them every time we receive the gift.
(Msgr. Enzler, the president and CEO of Catholic Charities of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, writes the Faith in Action column for the archdiocese’s Catholic Standard and Spanish-language El Pregonero newspapers and websites.)
