As a young priest in Watertown, I often celebrated the 6:30 a.m. Mass at the Motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Joseph. Part of the routine for the priest at the time of Holy Communion was to bring Holy Communion to the sisters in the infirmary unable to come to the chapel. Since we did not go to the same sisters every day, another sister accompanied the priest so that we knew where to go.

One day, I went into the room of this very elderly sister. I mean she was really old. As I approached her bed, I held up the host and said: “Sister, the Body of Christ.” She looked at the host with eyes of adoration and yelled out “Oh goodie, goodie, goodie.”

This was not the response that we would normally expect to hear, and please, don’t any of you use it! However, upon reflection, this response reflected her deep-seated belief in the Eucharist, the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ.

Today, we celebrate that great reality, that marvelous sacrament given to us by Jesus, the Eucharist, Holy Communion, the Body and Blood of Christ. Some, as did the listeners of Jesus, have a hard time understanding this reality of the Eucharist. How can Christ give us his Body and Blood? The answer is simple. He is God and can do what he wants and how he wants.

Consider the Scripture readings for this day. The journey of the Israelites in some way prefigured this Eucharist. God gave them bread to eat, a bread that mysteriously appeared each day as they journeyed.

Listen once again to Paul’s teaching in the second reading: the cup is a sharing in the blood of Christ; the bread is a participation in the body of Christ. Can it get any clearer?

Then, of course, there is the very unambiguous teaching of Jesus: “The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” And later: “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.”

What more do we need to understand?

Our belief is clear. The bread and wine consecrated by a priest become the Body and Blood of Jesus even though the external appearances do not change. Others claim that the bread and wine merely symbolize or represent the body and blood of Christ.

I am amused by the fact that some have no trouble believing that God loves them, even without any form of human proof, but cannot accept the reality of the Eucharist even though our teaching is found in Scripture.

The doctrine on the Eucharist is difficult to understand because our senses do not see a change in the bread and wine. However, just because we don’t understand, does that make it any less real? There are many things in life we do not understand, but does that make them any less true? One’s inability to understand does not weaken the truth of the Eucharist.

Read the stories of the saints, especially the modern-day saints like Edith Stein, Mother Theresa, St. André Bessette, Carlo Acutis. They were locked in on their devotion to the Eucharist, the real presence of Christ.

So, our good sister at the beginning of today’s reflection may have used the wrong words in speaking, but they were words of faith expressing the reality of what we receive.

As we celebrate this Eucharist and as we receive the Body and Blood of Christ may our faith be as strong and may our word Amen express clearly our belief in Jesus truly present as a gift to us in the Eucharist. In the Eucharist, there is a transformation. The bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Christ, and we are changed into Christ. Just as Christ is present in the Eucharist, may we make Christ present in all that we say and do.