The Eucharist: Mystical and Very Earthy

 Bernadette Roberts

As mystical as it is, the Eucharist is actually very earthy -- Christ's humanity, body and soul melding into your own and infiltrating every cell of our body. Thus what is ultimately revealed is not only Christ's wholly transcendent Godhead, but the true nature of his physical body as well -- all matter, in fact -- for I eventually saw how these two could never be separated. 

Without consciously realizing it, reception of the Eucharist automatically focused my mind inward, to God within and my immediate Oneness with him. One of the first things I became aware of however, was that for some time after communion there was a "difference," or that some difference had been made. But as the day got underway, this difference imperceptibly wore off or faded away. Initially it was impossible to put my finger on this subtle change or explain it in any way. But through sheer repetition of the experience, I one day discovered its true nature. The difference was as simple as silence.

(continued tomorrow)

Studies in Formative Spirituality, Volume VIII, Number Three,
Spiritual Formation and the Life of Prayer, Journal of Ongoing Formation, November 1987,
The Eucharist