The “missing experience” in the Eucharist

Message from Fr. Jose Koluthara, CMI

Lord Jesus, strengthen me in my personal attention to discern your real presence in the Eucharist.

My Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In today’s Gospel (Mt 22:1-14) we see one man coming to the wedding banquet improperly dressed. He might have thought he was correctly attired. But the host spotted an outsider right away and banished him. The feelings of the host behind that can be thus expressed. “You think you look like one of us, but your eyes are blind to see what you miss”. It is about this missing factor I would like to reflect on at the end of this year of the Eucharistic Congress.

Many of us look and talk like we belong to the inner circle of God, close enough to be invited to this memorial feast of his Son’s death and resurrection. We try to belong; sometimes, we even spruce up our souls and start out on a spiritual programme in search of God. But most of us get tired quickly, lose interest and give up the chase. Do you know why? Because we haven’t seen God; we haven’t experienced God.

An example from hunting will illustrate. When the first dog caught sight of a rabbit, it let out a howl and hurtled off barking. Other dogs got excited by the noise and joined the chase. There are few sights as exciting as a hound on the scent, flinging its body about with wild abandon. Leaping in the air, burrowing through briars, wiggling under barbed wire, scurrying through drain pipes. But most dogs tire of the chase and turn back after a while. Do you know why? Because they never actually saw the rabbit. They just got excited by the barking and enthusiasm of the first dog; they acted as if they had seen the rabbit and their enthusiasm would make up for their lack of sight. But it cannot. Either they see the rabbit or they don’t. And no amount of enthusiasm and effort can substitute.

It’s the same with humans in chase of God. We have to actually see God. Instead, we see the saints in search of God and think we can imitate them. But even if we become faithful as Moses or as poor as Francis or compassionate as Vincent de Paul, we finally quit trying, knowing we will never succeed. Because Moses saw God in the bush, Francis saw God in the leper, Vincent saw God in the poor. But all we see is other people seeing God. Second-hand sight does not cure blindness. We have to see God with our own eyes.