The Real PresenceNovember 23, 2020

The Real Presence

As a child I remember hearing about the real presence—Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. I remember running home from that second grade lesson to tell mom about the body and blood of Christ in the host that I would receive that May. I brought it up again at family dinners and again at CHRISTMAS at my grandma’s house, pretty sure that it was important news for the family. After all this was the reason for Christmas. It was apparent to me,however, even at seven, that my excitement was not shared by family. They all seemed non-plussed by this amazing truth of faith.
Over the years, and they are many, my own excitement has grown by uncovering why this gift was so exciting, a mystery that my seven year old self treasured.
The Real Presence is an invitation to live closer to God, to be carried into a presence that is all love and peace and which calls us to LOVE each other in ever new ways. As Catholics this is the ‘good news.’ It is the news that I discovered at seven — that God is really present in our world, that God can use every human being as a channel of God’s love and power in the world. It calls us to recognize the gift of God’s presence in our lives, our hearts and the beauty around us. It is the excitement of seven years olds, seventy year olds and all of us surrounded by the gift of God’s presence manifested in many ways love touches our lives.
And so we pray in gratitude for the REAL PRESENCE during this season of Thanksgiving.

Loving God, thank you for blessing us so liberally with your love. May we be used as channels of your divine love, as expressions of the Heart of our God. May we live in ways that model that love and bring your divine presence closer to our world. Amen.

Sister Mary Ellen Brinovec