The Eucharist provides an intimate relationship, resulting in union with God. Behold, I am with you always. Jesus said: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him”(Jn 6:56).

In Baptism we entered into a unique relationship with God, we became his  adopted sons and daughters, sharing his divine life. Coming into the awareness of this mystery, St. Theresa exclaimed: “Greater is the grace of the Holy Eucharist than the grace of the Incarnation. In the Incarnation the Lord bestowed Divinity only on His soul and his sacred manhood, in the Holy Eucharist he bestowed his divinity upon all men.”

But this  life is  not something stagnant. By it's very nature it seeks the fullest expression. That is why Jesus said: "I have come that you may have life to the fullest." What is this fullness of life with God? The divine intimacy of love--the ultimate bond which reaches its apex in the beatific union with God forever in glory. The “Behold I am with you always” is then responded to by us: “Behold, I am now with you, in you and for you forever. It is finished.” The purpose of my creation will then be completed. As a creature I will be one with the All in All, the Creator, in a love relationship that is perfect. In this union, pre-figured by the Eucharistic union, words will no longer be needed--heart will speak to the heart in mutual love beyond expression and limitation. “Now we see indistinctly, as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face” (1 Cor 13:12)

We can say with Blessed Damien of Molokai, speaking of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and the promise of Jesus to remain with us through it: “I find my consolation in my one companion who never abandons me.” (To be continued)