St. Mary Parish, Manchester at 210 West Main Street, Manchester, MI 48158 US - The Pledge of Eternal Life

The banquet is an image which is frequently to be found in Sacred Scripture. It is used to announce the coming of the Messiah, full of good things and blessings. In a special way the banquet is a prefiguring of the Holy Eucharist, wherein Christ gives himself to us as food.

Saint John speaks to us of this meal, recalling those final words of Jesus in the synagogue of Capharnaum: I am the living bread which came down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. And then he adds: He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed… This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever (John 6:51-58).

As food for the soul, Holy Communion increases the supernatural life of the recipient. At the same time and as a consequence, Holy Communion builds up our defences against what is not from God, whatever is in opposition to Christ.

It helps us combat our inclination to evil while strengthening us against sin. It enkindles our charity and inspires contrition for our falls. It also erases the effects of venial sins we have confessed, and preserves us from mortal sin.

In addition, the Holy Eucharist is a pledge of eternal life and a foretaste of Heaven. A pledge is what is given as a guarantee for the fulfilment of a promise (cf W. Morris, ed., The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Boston, 1969, p. 1006). In Holy Communion we have an ‘advance’ on the life to come and an enormous help towards achieving it – that is, if we remain faithful to the Lord.

In an ancient Antiphon used in Eucharistic devotion, we pray: O most holy banquet at which we receive Christ… the soul is filled with grace and we are given a pledge of future glory. The image of the banquet is often used in Sacred Scripture to describe the great joy and happiness to be found in union with God. The Lord himself announces that He will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom (Matt 26:29). He makes reference to a new wine (cf Is 25:6), because now there shall be no need for ordinary food and drink. Now we are to have Christ for all time in a vibrant union, without limit.

We have in Holy Communion the foretaste and guarantee of this definitive union, and it becomes manifest to all the members of the Mystical Body of Christ, beyond the limits of distance or temporal life itself, because space and time cannot contain the Glorious Christ here present (C. Lubich, The Eucharist).

What happiness to be able to be with Christ and enter in some way into Heaven while still here on earth! Build up a gigantic faith in the Holy Eucharist. Be filled with wonder before this ineffable reality. We have God with us; we can receive him every day and, if we want to, we can speak intimately with him, just as we talk with a friend, as we talk with a brother, as we talk with a father, as we talk with Love itself (J. Escrivá, The Forge, 268).