what do we choose

John 6:44-51

A word from St. Augustine

"There is not one who does not love something, but the question is, what to love. The psalms do not tell us not to love, but to choose the object of our love. But how can we choose unless we are first chosen? We cannot love unless someone has loved us first. Listen to the Apostle John:We love him, because he first loved us. The source of man's love for God can only be found in the fact that God loved him first. He has given himself as the object of our love, and he has also given us its source. What this source is we may learn from the apostle Paul who tells us: the love of God has been poured into our hearts. This love is not something we generate ourselves; it comes to us through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."

At the mass we invoke that same Holy Spirit to come upon the gifts we bring, the bread and the wine. There by the power of God's spirit the bread and wine by the words of consecration are transformed and the object and source of love is made present, Christ himself.

The words of St. John are fulfilled again: He first loved us. Love desires to be close to the object of its love. Love always wants to close the gap, shorten the distance, to be as close as possible.

In the Eucharist, Jesus comes not just near to us, but he comes to be within us.

The same Christ that cured the sick, made the lepers whole; the same Christ that taught on the mountain and walked on the water; the same Christ who bore the cross and was crucified; the same Christ that has wounds in his hands and feet and side; the same Christ that was taken from the cross and laid in the tomb; the same Christ that is risen and fully alive and ascended into heaven; the same Christ now comes from the altar and is laid to rest in the palm of our hands, begging to enter our heart.

The same Christ who showed us the Father's love, comes to show us again each time we gather to remember and make present his sacrifice, his victory, his presence among us. Each time we say "Amen" to the words "The body of Christ" that new and vibrant love comes personally to make his dwelling within us.

"There is not one who does not love something, but the question is, what to love."

In the Eucharist, the bread of life, God chooses us again. What do we choose?