My friends in Christ. As we all know, God is the source and destiny of our being, and therefore we know that God alone is to be adored. Take a couple of minutes out of your day and think about it for a minute. Our God, Who brought all things into existence and sustains them, became man in the Person of Jesus Christ two thousand years ago. This is why we can adore Jesus, because it is really the adoration of God in human form!
The Jewish people waited for the coming of the Messiah throughout the Old Testament, for thousands of years. We had prophecies about the coming of Christ throughout the Old Testament. We knew where the Messiah was to be born, how He would live, what He would teach, how He would die etc. After all those years of waiting, finally the time had arrived. The Archangel Gabriel appeared to a young virgin named Mary and asked her if she was willing to be the Mother of the Messiah. In other words, "will you give God a body?" After learning that she would remain a virgin (she had consecrated herself to God in the temple) she gave God a resounding "Yes." Never had that word brought so much grace to us as at that moment. This "Yes" changes the course of human history. Due to Mary giving her consent, Mary gives us the Holy Eucharist.
Let's take a peak behind the scene. How can we say that Mary is the origin of the Eucharist? Because Mary said "Yes" to God with her free will, was (past tense) the origin of the Incarnation (God becoming man). And since the Eucharist is the Incarnation (God with us) on earth today, then Mary is the origin of the Eucharist. Think of all the bad things happening in the world today because of sin and bad choices with our free will abortions, wars, murders, rebellion etc. look at what beauty comes about by saying "Yes" to God, by submitting to God's will. You and I have a free choice in doing good or evil. Mary used her free will to submit to God's will and therefore gave the world a Redeemer and made the Eucharist possible.
Mary carried Jesus in her womb for nine months. That's why the Church calls Mary the first tabernacle (a place where God dwells). Ask yourself, "Whom was Mary carrying in her womb?" Jesus, the Son of God, the 2nd Person of the Blessed Trinity! It's such an awesome event! Our God wanted to take His flesh and blood from the flesh and blood of Mary! As human beings we are made up of matter (our body and blood) and Spirit (our soul that will live forever). Jesus had all of this. But He was also a Divine Person. So Mary carried the Body, Blood, Soul AND Divinity of Christ within her. So we can say that Mary received the first Holy Communion! Imagine the Creator of the Universe becoming a speechless infant! (The word "infant" means "speechless one"). Mary took care of Him in all the same ways loving mothers take care of their own children. She was always thinking of Jesus.
Most of all of you saw the movie "The Passion." We remember the bitter passion and death Jesus went through to redeem us from our sins and open Heaven to us again. He loves us that much! Its called "agape" love or sacrificial love. Well, since Christ rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven, how can He be on earth? Because Jesus loves us so much that He desired to be among us in our daily lives. He gave us a way. Our minds, no matter how smart we think we are, must have humility to believe to accept what is so contrary to our senses. So Jesus, before He died, made sure that He would remain on earth and that's why He instituted two sacraments on Holy Thursday night. The Holy Eucharist and the Priesthood. Jesus wanted to make sure that the night before He died He would confer the power that He alone as God possessed on these men. He would ordain them as priests and bishops, conferring on them the power to do what He had done by changing bread and wine into His own flesh and blood and then conferring the power on the apostles to continue ordaining bishops and priests till the end of time!
So thanks to the priesthood we have the Holy Eucharist. Thanks to the Eucharist, Jesus is in our midst, to be there when we need help. Thanks to Mary's "Yes" all this takes place. The Eucharist is the same Jesus that was born in Bethlehem, that taught the crowds that celebrated the Last Supper and went through His passion and death. In the Eucharist we only see what looks like bread and tastes like wine. So unless Mary had given God flesh and blood, He could not have said, "This is my Body," and "This is my Blood." So there is no Christ on earth except for Mary. In the Holy Eucharist we have the whole Christ, true God and true Man. It's the risen Christ Who is on earth in the Blessed Sacrament. So just our souls are created by God, the human soul of Jesus had to be created by God. Our bodies come from our parents; Christ's body came from Mary in a unique way because Christ, unlike us, did not have a human father.
From the Eucharist we receive help (grace) to be more like Mary and the saints. Our Lady is a great model for us on what it means to love God and our neighbor. Let's imitate her in following her Son. Jesus was not only adored on earth but was also asked for every kind of help and grace is help from God. Whenever they asked Jesus for something they needed provided they believed, He granted their request. The Gospels are filled with miracles. Jesus Christ is also on earth in the Holy Eucharist to give us help (grace). There's a condition. Our faith. God takes care of all of us and makes sure we have the things we need, not so many things we WANT. Jesus is in the Eucharist not only to help us with our material needs, but also to give us food for our souls. Let's face facts; we need help (divine grace) to reach Heaven. We have to admit our sins and selfishness. Where do we get this help? We get it from Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. The Saints (no, not the football team) and thousands of others knew the importance of the Holy Eucharist. Like Mary we have to practice self-less love. We can become more like Mary and grow in charity by visiting Jesus in the Sacrament of His love.
It is mainly from the holy sacrifice of the Mass, Holy Communion and adoration of Jesus in the Eucharist that we grow in our love for God and our neighbor. Jesus wants us to love our neighbor as ourselves. That is not easy! We have to love the way Christ loved us and laid down His life. That kind of charity is almost impossible, so the Holy Eucharist helps us to have that kind of heroic love. Peer pressure won't matter to us if we love Jesus. In this year dedicated by the Holy Father to the Holy Eucharist, ask our Blessed Mother, Our Lady of the Eucharist, to bring us closer to Jesus by helping us to visit her Son more in the Holy Eucharist Who loves us so much that He can't wait for us to come and visit Him!