What should our response be to Jesus' promise to be with us and his presence in the Eucharist? First of all, Faith. When Jesus first shared the revelation that he is the Bread come down from heaven and that he would give us his Body to eat and his Blood to drink, many disciples took exception to his words. In response, Jesus asked the question at the heart of their difficulty. “Does this shake your faith?” It did. As a result many disciples no longer walked with Jesus. Then he turned to Peter and the others and asked: “Are you going to leave too?” Peter answered: “"Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God" (John 5:69).

Our faith can be no different. While we can not fathom the mystery, we acknowledge it on the words of Jesus, because of who Jesus is. “His presence in the Eucharist does not depend on our faith: it is not that He is ‘present’ because we choose to believe it, but we believe because He is truly present.”

In the words of John Paul II in his Apostolic Letter “For the year of the Eucharist”: “Faith demands that we approach the Eucharist fully aware that we are approaching Christ himself. It is precisely his presence which gives the other aspects of the Eucharist —— as meal, as memorial of the Paschal Mystery, as eschatological anticipation —— a significance which goes far beyond mere symbolism. The Eucharist is a mystery of presence, the perfect fulfillment of Jesus' promise to remain with us until the end of the world.”

This faith is a gift from God that is exercised by us as an expression of our commitment and acceptance of Jesus as True God and True Man.  The very words of Thomas after seeing the resurrected Jesus express our faith succinctly and clearly: “My Lord and My God!” (To be continued)