This is a truth of faith about the Eucharist that we need to be more aware of. Every time Mass is celebrated or holy communion received or the Blessed Sacrament adored, we should realize that we are actually going through, the whole history of mankind, from our creation to our fall to our redemption and ultimately to our glorification with God our Father in heaven.

And that’s simply because in Christ who is truly present in the Eucharist, the whole of human existence is recapitulated. Not only is Christ as the Son of God the very pattern of our humanity, but he is also our Savior after we have sinned and messed up the original design that God has for us.

Being the Alpha and the Omega, Christ offers us the best and ultimate perspective in which everything in life has to be seen.

Nothing in our life, either good or bad, is outside Christ’s redemptive work. As the Catechism would put it, Christ is the sum and summary of our faith that reveals to us who we really are in our totality. “He is like to us in all things except sin,” (CCC 470), although he made himself all the way to be like sin without committing sin, if only to save us. (cfr 2 Cor 5,21)

“Christ enables us to live in him all that he himself lived, and he lives it in us. ‘By his Incarnation, he, the Son of God, has in a certain way united himself with each man.’ We are called only to become one with him, for he enables us as the members of his Body to share in what he lived for us in his flesh as our model,” says the Catechism. (521)

We should not miss this truth of faith, since it gives us a good, global picture of our life, its origin and destiny, its meaning, purpose and direction. From it we can draw endless considerations that at once are spiritual, supernatural, natural, moral and practical.

The Holy Eucharist is a recapitulation in Christ of everything that can happen in human history, including the worst of things as well as the best of things. It gives us a sense of confidence, whatever our situation or predicament may be, because in the end Christ would bring everything to our salvation.

How important it is therefore to make this truth part of our core beliefs, so that we don’t get confused or lost in the twists and turns of our life, and so that we can have the conviction that any situation we may be in, either good or bad, can always be related and resolved with Christ and his redemptive work!

This truth about Christ in the Eucharist banishes any servile fear we may have toward Christ, while fostering a filial kind of fear, full of veneration and confidence, which would help us avoid offending him.

In a way, with the Eucharist the general script of our life and the whole existence of all mankind is already written, its happy ending is already known, although the details and the drama would still be supplied by us as we relate ourselves to God’s plan. Just the same, there’s always the possibility that we again can mess up God’s beautiful plan for our redemption.

This truth about the Eucharist is most relevant especially in those good moments of our life when the temptation to pride and vanity can seem to be irresistible, or in those bad situations when the temptation to fall into despair and helplessness can be strong and powerful.

This truth about the Eucharist can instill in us the ever-growing virtue of humility that would help us to see things objectively, enabling us to discern the finer distinctions between good and evil, and to read the signs of the times as well as the very mind and will of God in any given moment.

This was what many saints did. In fact, all the saints were Eucharistic saints. They went to the Eucharist and developed a deep devotion to it, convinced that it was there where they could find Christ to whom they brought all their concerns, problems and questions.

It was there where they could feel reassured of final victory in spite of the many setbacks suffered in their earthly sojourn. It was through this Eucharistic devotion that they got always reminded to avoid simply relying on their own estimation of things, a common anomaly among us.

We should truly be Eucharistic souls so we can see everything in the proper perspective. (By Fr. Roy Cimagala)