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"Truly I say to you, unless you eat of the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." Jn. 6:53

Eucharistic Reflections by Fred Schaeffer, OFS

Introduction

Our Lord invites us to receive Him in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. We have this opportunity at every Catholic Mass, but we must be prepared to receive Him. St. Paul urges us to examine our conscience, "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the Body and Blood of our Lord." (1 Cor. 11:27-28)

We are not prepared to receive the Eucharist, if we are in a state of mortal sin. Mortal sin is a deliberate action, so if we are honest with ourselves, we know when we are in an unworthy state. It usually suffices to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation within a reasonable time before or after receiving the Eucharist, but the Church strongly encourages to receive absolution of mortal sins prior to receiving the Body and Blood of Our Lord.

Jesus Christ is sacramentally present under each of the species. One does not have to receive from the cup, and in fact, the cup isn't offered at all Masses, but receiving under both species, is considered a more complete act of receiving the Eucharist. Also, the size of the Body (species of bread) in not important. Sick people in hospitals often cannot receive the entire host, and so the Lord is just as much present in a tiny sliver of a consecrated host, as in the whole consecrated host. That should also be kept in mind when the Body/Blood of Christ are accidentally dropped. The priest and deacon, or an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist must be certain every last sliver of the Sacred Species is retrieved.

Receiving Jesus frequently leads a person to greater charity and love. Also, we tend to be more careful not to succumb to serious sin when we receive Him more frequently, so this is an action that brings much Grace and strengthens us along the way. The Eucharist commits us to the poor. As St. John Chrysostom wrote, "You have tasted the Blood of the Lord, yet you do not recognize your brother, you dishonor this table when you do not judge worthy of sharing your food someone judged worthy to take part in this meal...God freed you from all your sins and invited you here, but you have not become more merciful." See CCC† 1397.

Receiving the Blessed Sacrament with your Franciscan brothers and sisters is an act that promotes unity, particularly in a fraternity or fraternal setting, as it is among all people. We are to bring the good News of Jesus Christ to our neighbors and, indeed, to all around us, even strangers, and this can only be strengthened through frequent reception of Jesus in Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. It makes us whole. It brings Peace and Joy in carrying out God's wishes. And for Franciscans, It makes us more dedicated sons and daughters of St. Francis of Assisi.

† Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Ed., © Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

The Eucharist... Glory to Come

"In an ancient prayer, the Church acclaims the mystery of the Eucharist: "O sacred banquet in which Christ is received as food, the memory of his Passion is renewed, the soul is filled with grace and a pledge of the life to come is given to us." If the Eucharist is the memorial of the Passover of the Lord Jesus, if by our communion at the altar we are filled "with every heavenly blessing and grace," then the Eucharist is also an anticipation of the heavenly glory.†CCC1402"

Particularly, in the Season of Advent, we prepare for His coming, where God the Father made possible the arrival of His Son, Jesus, to be born on earth. His birth was necessary so Jesus could obey the Father, and make this beautiful sacrifice - giving his life on a Cross to redeem us sinners here on earth. What better example of one man giving his life for another - that is the ultimate form of charity and love.

Continuing from the Catechism: "At the Last Supper the Lord himself directed his disciples' attention toward the fulfillment of the Passover in the kingdom of God: "I tell you I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." Whenever the Church celebrates the Eucharist she remembers this promise and turns her gaze "to him who is to come." In her prayer she calls for his coming: "Marana tha!" "Come, Lord Jesus!"... "May your grace come and this world pass away!†"

Advent is a time of preparation. "Oh Come, Oh Come Immanuel." As we read in Is.7:14, "Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel." (1st Reading, 4th Sunday of Advent), and in Mt.1:23, "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means "God is with us." And, in para 1406† Jesus said: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; . . . he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and . . . abides in me, and I in him" (Jn 6:51, 54, 56). So Advent and the Birth of the Lord are very much a part of the Passion and therefore the Eucharist, because all these are related. Keeping all this in mind, it is dreadful that for so many people, the feast of Christmas has been put second place to a materialistic and often, Godless, celebration of a seasonal feast. All the ornaments, trees, music, and banality, doesn't change the fact that Jesus came on earth to save us from ourselves, from acts opposed to His goodness and love.

Let us, people who continue to love God, individuals who truly believe in the necessity of the Ten Commandments, and in His love and Grace, let us pray during Advent, as well as in all Seasons,  for those sisters and brothers who have lost their way. Let us hope that they will find their way back to the Sacraments so that they can again partake of His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, and get strengthened for the challenges that lie ahead. Life is too complicated to go it alone - we need Him, we need the Father and the Holy Spirit. And we also need the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Saints who have undertaken this earthly trial before us. Pray for their intercession and help, so your prayers will be answered perhaps faster. The Eucharist is the gateway to Heaven, the "Pledge of the Glory to Come.†"

† Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition © 1997 (English Translation) United States Catholic Conference - Libreria Editrice Vaticana. See para 1402, 1403, 1406, and the subchapter title.

And then there is this:

Further proof of the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist

“St Justin Martyr (100 AD-165 AD) is one of the earliest witnesses and defenders of the belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

“Born roughly 60-70 years after the death and resurrection of Christ, he is one of the closest writers to the apostles that we have, along with people such as Ignatius of Antioch, who was said to have been a disciple of the apostle John.

“Justin wrote two famous apologetic tracts defending Christianity from the claims made against it. The First Apology was addressed to Emperor Titus and Justin covers a wide range of topics. He defends Christianity against the charge of atheism (something Christians were accused of because of their refusal to sacrifice to the ancient gods), arguing the reasonableness of believing in the resurrection of Christ and how he fulfilled the words of the prophets in the Old Testament.

“Towards the end, Justin begins describing the form of Christian worship. Listen to this: “And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together in one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we said before, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgiving, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each . . . (§67)”

“What we have here, as early as the second century, is the same basic structure to the liturgy as we have today. It is in raw and early form, but more than recognizable: reading the Scripture, homily, prayer, Eucharist, and then holy communion.

“What’s even more striking is what he says about the Eucharist: “For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Savior, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh (§66).”

“This echoes St Ignatius of Antioch’s Epistle to Smyrnaeans, in which he rebukes those who 'confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ' (§7).

From St Ignatius of Antioch’s Epistle to Smyrnaeans:

“I have no taste for corruptible food nor for the pleasures of this life. I desire the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of David; and for drink I desire his blood, which is love incorruptible” (Letter to the Romans 7:3 [A.D. 110]).

“Take note of those who hold heterodox opinions on the grace of Jesus Christ which has come to us, and see how contrary their opinions are to the mind of God. --- They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins and which that Father, in his goodness, raised up again. They who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes” (Letter to the Smyrnaeans 6:2–7:1 [A.D. 110]). 
“What St Justin Martyr reveals to us here is that belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist is old – very old. From the earliest Christian writers, we see that this belief was the understanding of the apostles and it was what they handed on and it is what the Church continues to pass on today."

Above quoted mainly from the Archdiocese of Melbourne, Australia