The Eucharist: Our Love and Our Life

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “the Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life. The other sacraments, and indeed all… ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented towards it (paragraph 1324).”

While many of us were already familiar with this description of the Eucharist as the “source and summit” of our Catholic faith, we have now experienced this truth for ourselves — on a deep and personal level. Because we have all gone through a season away from Mass due to the coronavirus, we have all felt the profound deprivation of life without the privilege of sacramental Communion. Perhaps we can now see that in this deprivation our all-loving God was offering us a precious, though painful gift, one that we are only beginning to unwrap — the profound realization that the Eucharist truly is
the source and summit of our life.

Yes, absence truly does make the heart grow fonder. Don’t our hearts now burn with new love and longing for this Sacrament of Love? Don’t we realize now, as never before, what a treasure we have in all the sacraments of the Church, in the fellowship of our parish family, in the simple acts of service we can offer to each other? We know now because we have experienced it for ourselves, that The Eucharist truly is Our Love and Our Life.

At St. Michael, we have embraced stewardship spirituality as a way of life for our parish ’ohana. Because the Eucharist is at the center of our faith, it is also at the center of our stewardship way of life. As we enter into this time of Renewal in the wake of such a challenging time, we can never be quite the same. We were all affected in some form or fashion by the pandemic. Let us put the hard-fought lessons we have learned to great use. And let us focus with new intensity on the Eucharist as our love and our life, offering our gratitude to the Giver of this priceless Gift with concrete commitments of Time, Talent, and Treasure.

Stewardship of Time * Manawa

“For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so
also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me (John 6: 55-57).
Just as our bodies need healthy physical nourishment to survive and thrive, so, too do our spiritual lives
require nourishment. We are called to use the gift of time above all to nourish our souls. So, we must
take an honest look at ourselves. Do we put our spiritual life first or do we focus more on the cares of
the world or escape from those cares? Do we use our time to obtain the lasting “food” of good spiritual
nourishment that Christ and the Church offer to us? When we commit time each day to seeking
spiritual food, our loving and generous Father will transform our lives. How will you commit to using
your time in the year ahead so that God can truly feed you?

CONSIDER THESE IDEAS TO HELP YOU GET STARTED:

• Consider attending one extra Mass each week or making a mid-week visit to Jesus in the Tabernacle.
• Prepare yourself for Sunday Mass by reflecting ahead of time as a family on the lectionary readings that will be proclaimed. Even five or ten minutes will change you!
• Commit to saying grace before meals and have every family member mention one way they were “fed” by God that day.
• Every night before bed, pray slowly and lovingly the prayer that Jesus himself taught us, the “Our Father.”

Stewardship of Talent * No’eau

“The Mass is ended, go in peace to love and serve the Lord.”

We have heard these words of dismissal at the end of Mass so many times, but have we truly taken them to heart? If the Eucharist is indeed our Love and our Life, then it must touch everything that we do when we leave the Church at the end of Mass. We have been filled up by Love itself, now, in gratitude, we must pour out our lives for others. We must serve Him who has loved us so well by serving others with the talents He has given us.

PRAY ABOUT THE FOLLOWING POSSIBILITIES:

• Get involved in a service ministry at our parish that stretches you to be more selfless.
• Pray for our ministries, our parish leaders and all parishioners, asking the Holy Spirit to guide our parish community.
• Commit to a daily extra act of service toward a family member as a concrete way to serve the Lord.
• If you remain homebound, we value and need your talents! Consider ways you can serve right from home —helping with phone calls or emails for a ministry or offering skills like sewing or baking for parish events. There are countless ways to serve God’s kingdom.

Stewardship of Treasure * Mea Makamae

“From the very beginning, Christians have brought, along with the bread and wine for the Eucharist, gifts to share with those in need. The custom of the collection, ever appropriate, is inspired by the example of Christ who became poor to make us rich” (CCC paragraph 1351).

For the true steward, money has a spiritual component. When used according to God’s will, our income becomes a sort of prayer — which demonstrates our love and gratitude to God, and our real trust in His plan for our lives. Our spending habits are also a reflection of who and what we truly love. God asks us to love Him above all else. Do we?

TRY CHALLENGING YOURSELF IN THE FOLLOWING WAYS THIS YEAR:

• Take a look at your current spending habits and assess what expenses are preventing you from offering your treasure more selflessly.
• Ask yourself if your family budget reflects what you most love in this life so that your spending is a reflection of that love.
• Commit to giving a percentage of your income to God through the parish offertory as an expression of your love for the God Who withholds nothing of Himself from us.