After Mass one recent Sunday, a Baptist who sometimes sings with our parish choir said, “There are no denominations in Heaven.” I expect he’s correct. The Catholic friend who had invited him to sing with our choir pointed to the tabernacle and said, “Yes, but we have Jesus.”
We have Jesus—his body, blood, soul, and divinity—in the Eucharist (see CCC, 1374). Jesus all but beats us over the head with the message that he is the “bread of life” and how eating this bread and believing in him is a gateway to eternal life in his Bread of Life Discourse (John 6:22–59). We heard it the last two Sundays and we hear it again this Sunday. It’s that powerful and important a message!
I look forward to sharing eternity with people of all denominations. But I certainly appreciate—and can’t imagine living without—the grace and spiritual nourishment I receive for this life when I take our Lord Jesus Christ—his body, blood, soul, and divinity—into my body in Holy Communion.
We pray that you and the young people in your life may grow in appreciation of the great gift of the Eucharist.
Image credit: Catholic Diocese of Saginaw/CC BY-ND 2.0 via Flickr.com
