The Eucharist and the process of Forgiveness
by Father Richard McAlear
The decision to forgive is one
that is often arrived at after much struggle. The problem with
forgiveness is that there is something to forgive - hurt. Forgiving an
injury, pardoning a wrong, letting go of a hurt unjustly inflicted, are all
spiritual actions that can be wrung from the depth of the soul. The work
of forgiveness is not something to be taken lightly. It is never glib; it
must always come from the heart. To forgive too easily or too quickly can
be an escape from the real soul struggle that is the price of forgiving.
Facing the pain, confronting the situation with honesty and choosing the path
of forgiveness are real works that engage the heart and soul.
The struggle ultimately is
always a spiritual one and should be done in prayer. Christ Himself went
into prayer in His struggles, as we see in the Agony in the Garden. His
example is for our instruction and encouragement.
First, we see that the decisions
we make are always centered around the Father's Will. Secondly, we see
that making this choice can involve the agony of a spiritual battle within the
soul.
It is always necessary to bring
the struggle to prayer and in prayer, struggle with the Father's Will just as
Jesus did. Certainly there are other levels of emotions, memories and
feelings that are involved. These will be engaged as well. The most
basic level of struggle, however, like the decision itself, is spiritual.
Jesus is no stranger to the
human struggle. He led the way by his suffering and Cross. Jesus is
the man of suffering who experienced every level of hurt, injustice, betrayal,
abandonment and rejection. Although deeply wounded and profoundly hurt,
He won His victory through forgiveness and love. His heart was so
cushioned by love, understanding, and compassion that poison from the wounds
never festered so as to embitter Him or destroy Him.
Forgiveness returned love
wherever injury was received. This is the spiritual victory taught by
Jesus but often beyond our reach. Often we need to stretch ourselves with
a love that lies beyond our capacity. We find our strength in the Cross
and suffering of Jesus. When we unite to the Cross in our own suffering, we
also experience the victory of the Cross. Jesus suffered and died so that
sins might be forgiven. It is this victory of forgiveness that we want to
taste in our own lives. To unite to the Cross is to find healing in the
very act of mercy.
The perfect prayer that the Lord
has given us is the Eucharist. All of our spirituality flows from the
Eucharist and returns there as well. It is the highest form of union with
the Lord Jesus Christ.
We know that the Lord Jesus is
truly and fully present in the Eucharist. We know too that celebrating
the Mass is the memorial of Jesus' Passion. The Mass is the unbloody
sacrifice of
When the Eucharist is
appreciated as a sacrifice, and celebrated authentically, each person who
participates is invited to offer his or her life in, along with and through
Jesus. One's life involves all the struggles, hurts, needs, feelings and
emotions that make up one's life. It is not simply the virtues, gifts, and blessings that we offer but our
basic humanity in all its frailty. That is the part of us that is still
unfinished and has its share of shadows and dark corners. We offer
ourselves just as we are.
When we offer ourselves to the
Father in union with Jesus, we seek the pure surrender of faith that
characterized His self offering on the Cross. We offer this Eucharistic
sacrifice often because we need to grow, mature and deepen in that faith
surrender.
At the Offertory of the Mass,
bread and wine are offered to the Father. These gifts symbolize the life
of each one who is sharing in the sacrifice that is being offered. They
are not simply external symbols being lifted up in a devotional way. Each
person is being offered; to participate means to join in
personally by offering one's own heart on the altar.
The bread and wine, food and
drink, symbolize life itself. We even call bread "the Staff of
Life." Going more deeply into the symbolism, we recognize that these
common elements have rich meaning. The bread is made from many grains of
wheat, the wine from many grapes. To produce bread and wine, both wheat
and grapes must be crushed and broken. Life is like that. Each one
comes with a history of crushing and bruising experiences. Bread and wine
symbolize not simply life in the abstract, but life with all its bruising,
crushing and painful experiences. Every person offering the Eucharist has
a share in the pain of life with all its hurtful dimensions. It is these
experiences that produce the need to forgive so much, so deeply and so
often. Therefore, before we reach for forgiveness, we offer our lives to
the Father in union with the broken and suffering Jesus, the Crucified.
The Offertory of the Mass takes on a deeper meaning and becomes a healing
moment; there we surrender our brokenness, painful memories and
hurts. They are let go, being identified with the crushed grapes and broken wheat being offered on the
altar at the hands of the priest. As we offer our lives in faith, we
offer our need for healing and our desire to forgive.
At the Consecration, the bread
and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus, the Crucified One.
Since we already have identified with the bread and wine, we too are taken up,
consecrated and so become the Body of Christ. Each person is being claimed by
Jesus as His very own. What you do to this one, you do to me because we
are one, He is saying.
Being one with Him and being
united to Him is the healing grace. Our hurts and wounds have become His.
He takes our wounds and cleanses
the poison of resentment and anger. He imparts the Spirit, given "for the forgiveness of sin," and
pours out His redeeming blood shed for forgiveness and reconciliation.
Now the flow of forgiveness is no longer ours alone, it is His.
This is Jesus, forgiving,
reconciling, embracing all in unity. It is even Jesus excusing -
"they know not what they do" - with understanding and compassion.
In His heart He holds all His
people, the hurting and the ones who inflict the hurt. He understands,
more deeply than we ever will, why people hurt others. His love embraces
all in unity and in peace.
When we receive Communion, we
enter into that Heart of Charity where all are reconciled and united by love
and forgiveness. To be divided by anger or resentment is to negate the
meaning of Communion and render it void.
Taking Communion is to enter
intimately into Christ Jesus and become one with Him in a profound and sacred
union. As we stand in that holy place, we are linked with all who are
held in the Heart of Christ. This is the meaning of the phrase that we
are the Body of Christ as Church and community. In Him there are no
distinctions or barriers, no divisions and no disunity. His mercy
embraces all in equal measure of love.
The Eucharist invites us to deep
forgiveness in the secret places of the heart. It will never allow hidden
anger or unresolved resentment to divide the Body and tear at the seamless
garment of His love.
As Eucharist invites us to that
level of forgiveness and mercy, it also empowers us to achieve it. Sin is
forgiven in the Sacrifice of Calvary, the very sacrifice we celebrate.
The blood of Christ is poured out for pardon and reconciliation - the very
blood we take at Eucharist.
We are invited to place in the
chalice all unforgiveness, as well as all our unhealed hurts, unmet needs and
conflicts.
We cannot trust in our own
strength, which is insufficient. We dare not rely on our feeble human
efforts. All our hope is in Christ Jesus and the power of this perfect
gift.
One of the final actions of the
Mass is the thanksgiving after Communion. This is the time to rest in His
Heart and absorb the gentle yet profound power of His love. It is the
time to express gratitude and simply be thankful for saving grace.
We need to celebrate Eucharist
in a meaningful way, surrendering the need for healing, sincerely desiring a
forgiving heart and choosing the path of mercy. We can then conclude the
Eucharist with the final spoken prayers of gratitude and praise: "Thanks
be to God!" We have touched grace and been touched by Mercy.
The Eucharist is the gift of the
Father who reconciles all to Himself. It is the gift of Jesus who shares
His mercy and forgiveness. It is our gift to each other in granting
pardon and seeking unity as the fruit of mercy.
Freely received, mercy is freely
given.
Blessed are the
merciful, for mercy will be shown to them.
Reprinted with
permission from Emmanuel Magazine’s
March 2000 Issue,
Fr. McAlear, a
member of The Oblates of Mary Immaculate,
became involved in the Charismatic Renewal
in 1972 and the healing Ministry in 1976. He has directed his order’s vocation
and renewal programs. He is assigned to full-time teaching and healing
ministry.
Fr. McAlear is
a guest speaker at the Annual