The Year of the Eucharist has drawn to a close. In the initiation of this holy year, Pope John Paul II called on all of us to “live the Eucharist” in the world. He told us that if we want to establish peace and justice in the world, we have to rely on Jesus and not on ourselves. We must follow the Gospel of Life and not succumb to the culture of death.

Pope Benedict XVI said in a recent address that only communities that are “Eucharistic” can “transmit Christ to the world.” Experiencing Christ’s presence in the word, in the Gospel, is not enough to bring about the reign of God, for no matter how noble our thoughts and aspirations, human beings alone cannot bring about the reign of God, the world where peace and justice abide. We must rely on the Jesus given to us in the Eucharist to accomplish this.

Take Christ into the World

We receive Christ in the Eucharist in the Mass not simply to hold him close to us, but we are told to take Christ into the world, so that through us and our actions Jesus might act to bring about the peace and justice which is the reign of God in our world—not in its entirety, but insofar as is possible in our broken, imperfect world.

The movement of the Eucharist is beautiful in its simplicity. At the offertory we bring our gifts to the altar. These gifts of bread and wine represent gifts to God of ourselves: who we are and what we can be.

Be What We Eat

At the consecration Jesus says “see what I can do with the gifts you bring me, the gifts of yourselves…I will make them my own body and blood for the life of the world.” As the bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Christ, we “become,” as St. Augustine told us, “what we eat,” through our reception of communion. If we are open to the power of Christ living in us, then through us Jesus can bring about the kingdom of God, a kingdom of peace and justice.

In our service as youth ministers, we must convey to the young people with whom we work the sense of hope that the Eucharist offers contemporary society. In Jesus Christ we have faith and hope, that by allowing Jesus to live and act through us, by our welcoming him into our hearts through the reception of the Eucharist, we can have an impact and help to bring about a world of peace and justice.

Remind our young people frequently: “Be Christ to one another.” This is the true way to peace and justice.