In the miracle of the Word becoming flesh we can understand the transformation that takes place in us when we receive the Eucharist. Just as the body of Jesus has human life because of the Father, so are we filled with divine life when we eat the Body of Christ.
Do we equate life simply with plodding along, staying alive, avoiding death? Or do we see earthly existence as a prelude to the life with God that never ends—the real presence of ultimate communion in heaven?
To receive the gift of eternal life now means to receive the gift of the real food of his Body now. It is only once we surrender our deficient modes of reasoning that the truth, beauty, and goodness of the Bread of Life become transparent to us. The real presence of everlasting life in Christ’s flesh perfects the very way that we perceive of all reality. But that transformation happens only as we feed on his flesh. It takes place to the extent that we allow the sacramental life of the Church to take the place of all our skepticism and cynicism, and to bring us to life.
