To begin with, it might help if we look at our personal response to the Eucharistic celebration. What is our attitude? Is it still the same one we have been hearing all these years, that one goes to attend mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation so as to fulfil one’s obligation?
If the Eucharist is the source and summit of our life as Christians because it contains our entire spiritual good, Jesus Christ, why do we not attend mass out of love for the Lord? He comes to us at Mass as a Father through His Son in the power of the Holy Spirit. He makes Himself tangibly present to us in the assembly, the ordained ministers, and the proclaimed Word of God. He is also present most especially and immediately in the Eucharist, which has a perfect and infinite value before His eyes. He graciously comes to us, not only to be with us, but also to raise us up to Heaven, to the Heavenly liturgy, where we worship in union with all the angels and saints, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the eternal offering of Jesus Christ to the Father on our behalf. Thus we enter the heavenly sanctuary while still on earth, and worship God in the full manner that He laid out for us!
Did he not say, ‘do this in memory of me’? All that we are and do should flow from our participation in the Eucharist and lead back to it. It is absolutely central to our identity and faith as Catholics. It enables us to engage in our mission. Without a proper reverence, love, adoration and devotion to the Eucharist and the liturgy, we are lost.
Why do we not avail ourselves to the Eucharist daily? Here in our country, we are truly spoilt for choice. One can consider going to mass in the morning, at lunch time or in the evening. Sometimes there are also masses in the night. Not to avail ourselves to the Eucharistic banquet is to look at the Offering and turn away for food that will not last. It is tantamount to the person who prefers junk food to what will nourish the soul and sustain the spirit for eternal life.
Having been to places like Kenya, I can well understand the fervour with which the Eucharist is celebrated for at least three hours each time. Our brethren do not have the Eucharist like us. There are not enough priests to reach out to them. So many of our Kenyan brothers and sisters in Christ walk for miles on end to celebrate the Eucharist. Here we are still moaning and groaning about the air conditioning and about this and that.
Have we lost our focus? Yes, and worse, we could have stopped loving Him who first loved us, Jesus our Lord.









