February 28, 2011 – Catechism 748-752

Since we have been talking about the Eucharist I guess, I had this thought when I was reading these paragraphs.  “I am the Bread of Life.”  Bread is nourishment for our Holy Lives, nourishment for our journey on our way to return to Christ in Heaven.  When you really need something to nourish you, what do you go for.  Do you grab junk food, small bites, or do you nourish yourself with something that is substantial.  I see junk food as being the things this world tells us will give us pleasure.  Sex, money, etc are all instantly pleasing but cannot sustain us.  We cannot live on junk food (although there probably is some diet out there that says differently and is selling books right now).  But we can also get small portions of things that are good for us.  Eat a carrot, have a salad every once in a while, in other words eat like I do.  I don’t eat a lot of junk food, but I don’t really eat healthy food.  I think this symbolizes a lot of Christian denominations.  They cannot be really fed something substantial and nourishing because they don’t have the Eucharist.  They have many Truths that can be followed and believed and lead them in the right direction, but that is like me eating my one helping of veggies every week.  It is not what Christ had in mind.  752 talks about how the Eucharist is such a substantial part of the Church.  Christ gives Himself to the Church in a Real way so that His Grace can guide it.  The Eucharist is such an important part of the Catholic Church it is seen as the source and summit of our faith.   When we think about the Catholic Church being in decline we can place the blame on the loss in belief of the Real Presence in the Eucharist.  When you lose faith in what the source and summit of your faith is, it’s hard not to fall away from the Church altogether.