We all are familiar with the quote of the great convert, St Augustine: “Behold who you are, become what you receive.”
It is so proper that we would have this chapter 6 of St John’s gospel as we celebrate the Eucharistic renewal and go further or come back to our deep faith in the real presence of our Lord Jesus in the consecrated bread and wine, the real presence our Lord and Savior in the tabernacle, in the Blessed Sacrament in our adoration chapels. How many of us used to be assured of receiving the body and blood, soul and divinity of the Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity, our Savior, and Redeemer, but have let indifference gain ground little by little and lost sight of the truth, of the light that was guiding us. Today we can renew our faith and start anew. Jesus is the same, yesterday, today, and tomorrow and it’s never too late to do what we see as right and proper.
Believing is one thing. Now what does it lead us to? St Paul tells us in Ga 2:20:” It is not I living anymore, it is Christ living in me.”
How am I showing that Christ is really living in me? It should be in the way I deal with anyone, anything, any situation in my everyday life. It can be summarized in these few words: “Do as Jesus would do”. All the time then, we should be careful about watching our thoughts, our words, and our judgments about others. We should be careful about the way we dress, making sure we are not occasions of sin for other brothers and sisters around us especially when we are at church, when we come to be one with Christ is the sacrament of his body and blood, when we come to listen to his word in order to bring change in us and invite us to change our ways, so as to show that we are not living but Christ is truly living in us.
We also show that in the way we deal with others, especially those who are different. Jesus did find a way of dealing with everyone around him without condemning them. He would find a way to send everyone he would get in touch with a message inviting that person to go and wanting to come back, after thinking twice and making some adjustments. It should be the same with us. Think for example about the organizers of the Olympic games. Heaven did manifest its disapproving of what happened, by sending the rain that made the spectators miserable, and this power shortage that put everything in the dark while only the Sacred Heart Church was shining in the middle of the City of light. We too, should give them time to think and amend for what they did. We have the grace to receive the Lord in our hearts. They don’t have this favor to live in the light of the truth. Give them some time. Pray for them, saying the prayer of Jesus on the cross after living us his great sacrament:” Father, forgive them, they do not know what they do.”