We Are People of the Eucharist

Towards a renewed love for Holy Communion

Reflections on the Eucharist

by Bishop David Motiuk, Eparchy of Edmonton

June 2023

Holy Communion:  Obligation or Source of Joy?

            The Sunday Eucharist is and will always be the centre of our Christian lives. Sharing in the Eucharist should always be the heart of Sunday for every Christian.

As Blessed Pope John Paul II reminds us, “It is a fundamental duty, to be fulfilled not just in order to observe a precept but as something felt as essential” (Apostolic Letter, At the Beginning of the New Millennium).

            The Sunday Eucharist, the day of the Risen Lord, has the power to shape and change our Christian lives for the better. God’s family, gathered around the table of the Word and the Bread of Life, transfigures us into the holy people God intends us to be. And we, in turn, can help God to transform the world around us into the Kingdom of God, heaven on earth.

            Let us renew our desire to draw ever nearer to the Divine Eucharist.

If we are frequent partakers of Holy Communion, let us not do so out of custom or habit, but rather with love, with sincerity and purity of heart.

If we attend Church only infrequently or have fallen away completely, let us without hesitation return to our Lord, who has set before us a royal table, a banquet where angels themselves serve, and the King himself is our host.

            If we have stayed away from Church for awhile during the pandemic out of caution, let us find ways of returning once again to the Banquet Table where the Lord desires to comfort us and nourish us.

            If we are travelling this summer, let us not neglect to include among our travel plans attending a local church, taking in the sights and sounds of the local worshipping community as they gather around the Eucharistic Table.

            If you plan to stay home this summer, relaxing and enjoying what the summer has to offer, include first among your summer plans your weekly attendance at your home parish, making an extra effort to invite children and grandchildren to join you, then have them over to your home to continue the celebration.

            The Sunday Eucharist is truly the heart of every Christian and Christian family, something to be practiced not as an obligation but as a source of joy. The Lord truly desires to be part of our lives, helping us to grow in a loving relationship with God and with each others.

            We are people of the Eucharist.

            Wishing you a blessed and enjoyable summer! See you in September.