On the Greatness of the Divine Eucharist

Think about one gift, the preciousness of which becomes visible when three things come together in you: the awareness of the greatness of the gift, the love for the One who gives it to you, and the awareness of the benefit it brings. It is these three wonderful things that reveal the gift given in the Sacrament of the Divine Eucharist. Think about the greatness of this gift.

God, having created the world, has given us a great deal. First, He gave us ourselves, bringing us out of nothingness, so that we might exist created in His image and likeness. He has given us His innumerable creations, both heavenly and earthly—not only immaterial and spiritual, but also material—for us to care for. He created for us the heavens, the earth, and everything in them. And an even greater gift was the Incarnation, in which God the Word united with human nature in order to make man a god by grace.

Of all the possible gifts, only one remained, but the Lord granted it to man in the Divine Eucharist. In it He gives all people to partake of His most holy Body and precious Blood, so that the soul of each person may become deified, and in this is wealth and good for us. Here is what St. Theodore says about this Sacrament. St. John of Damascus: "This sacrament is called 'Reception' because through it we receive the Divinity Himself into ourselves;" Communion" because through it we come into communion with Christ and become partakers of both His flesh and His Divinity."

In short, this Sacrament is an image of the entire Economy in the flesh. It contains the Birth of the Lord, His life among people, His suffering and death, His descent into hell, the Resurrection, the Ascension, His sitting at the right hand of the Father, and the Second Coming. All this is remembered in the Divine Liturgies of Saints Basil the Great and John Chrysostom. They also speak of those blessed people who, uniting with Christ in the Divine Eucharist, will receive eternal blessings. Here is what Archbishop Nicholas Cabasilas of Thessalonica says about this: "Then these blessed ones will be united to each other and to Christ as the members of the body are united to the head and to each other. However, even now, partaking of the one Bread and the same Chalice, they come into this unity, as it is said in the Lord's Prayer: "That they may be one, even as We are one" (John 17:22)."

Thus, there is nothing left for us to ask of our Saviour, for, like the Apostle Philip, we could only say: "Lord, it is sufficient for us" (John 14:8). If we seek something better for our lives, He will say to us: "The sacrament which I have bestowed upon you is the fullness of all good things, and I have nothing greater than it. I have given you all the good things in this Bread and in this Wine." What an incomparable gift! What a blessing, unsurpassed in all ages, that even the many-eyed Cherubim and the six-winged Seraphim cannot comprehend!

So, beloved, shouldn't you, before participating in this good deed and gift of God, offer all of yourself as a sacrifice to Him to Whom you will offer thanksgiving at the Liturgy? Will you continue to be ungrateful, despite such great gifts received from God? What will the Angels say about such ingratitude? What will the saints say about it in heaven, who have come to know the great love of God? Be ashamed, then, of the ingratitude, which you show during the celebration of the Sacrament called Thanksgiving (Eucharist). And it is so called not only because the Lord, when He gave it to us, offered thanks to the Father, as it is written: "He took bread, and having blessed, broke it, and took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them" (Matt. 26:26-27), but also because it moves us to thank God for His many blessings and for the grace that He gives us in this Sacrament.

Consider, too, that the punishments will be commensurate with the gifts if we do not use them as we should. That is, the greater the blessings that come from God, the greater will be the punishments for you, if you leave God's gifts unfruitful in yourself. Promise the Lord that you will give Him all of yourself, as He also gives you everything. Give thanks to Him for this great and immeasurable gift, and ask Him to add to all His blessings one more thing, renewal of spirit and renewal of heart, so that you may properly understand His blessings and be able to give thanks for them accordingly.

Think, beloved, about the love that God shows you in the gift of Divine Communion. In this Sacrament His love reaches the limit of perfection, as the Evangelist John says: "Having loved His own which are in the world, He loved them to the end" (John 13:1). And just as the heat of the furnace is known by the flame bursting out of it, so the Lord's love for us is known by the Sacrament of the Divine Eucharist.

How, beloved, can you respond to God for such love? Our Lord desires one thing: to unite with your accursed soul, but you do not want to unite with Him — the all-surpassing Good? Does the Creator show such ardent love, and ashes such coldness? The Lord would be pleased to live you and make you His home, and you, ungrateful creature, slam the door in His face and do not want to let Him in? You, showing such ingratitude, become like those Jews who in the wilderness wanted Egyptian onions and garlic, that is, carnal pleasures. What else must God do to overcome your insensibility and inhumanity?

So, standing before the majesty of God, acknowledge your miserable condition. Dedicate yourself entirely to the Lord in this Sacrament, and let in your beloved Jesus, Who instituted this Sacrament out of His great love, so that you too may express your love for Him in it, so that it may be an intermediary between the loving God and you, whom He loves. What a heavenly and lovable unity!

Wake up, brother, watch and beware with all fear of any sin that defiles you. After communing of the Most Pure Mysteries, say to yourself: "Now I have become a house in which God Himself dwells. How can I then make myself a dwelling place of sin? I have been united with God, how can I make my members the members of a harlot? Shall I therefore take away the members of Christ, that I may make them the members of the harlot? Let it not be! (1 Corinthians 6:15).