This is where the Eucharist comes in. The life of Christ, as told in the Gospels, is not only to be imitated. Living out his life requires more. We sometimes forget that Christ is fully alive in the Eucharist as he exists in eternity and as he existed in time. Mysteriously contained within the Sacred Host is the Incarnation, the Nativity, the Presentation, his Death, his Resurrection, his Ascension and even his Second Coming.
When the Eucharistic Host is elevated by the priest during the Mass, our Heavenly Father looks down and sees, in one glance, all the sacrifices Jesus made from the moment he cried in the manger to his final words on the Cross. The sacrament of the Eucharist, therefore, projects this life-long sacrifice of love into the present moment through the Holy Sacrifice of the altar. But it doesn’t stop there.
As we feed on his body, blood, soul and divinity, the fire of the Holy Spirit reproduces the image of Christ within us. As Pope Leo XIII said, when we eat regular food, that food assimilates into us, becoming part of us; but with the Eucharist, the opposite happens! We become assimilated into Jesus and hence we become transformed into his likeness. From the image and likeness of Christ imprinted in our soul comes forth the virtue of self-denial; the virtue which weeds out selfishness little by little. With this, love of God and neighbor can prosper all the more.
Interestingly enough, the early Christians saw martyrdom as an imitation of the Eucharistic sacrifice. St. Ignatius of Antioch, disciple of the apostles St. John and St. Peter, just prior to his death in the Roman coliseum, said the following: "I am the wheat of God, and let me be ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of Christ." For him, martyrdom was the supreme act of self-denial whereby he became like his Eucharistic Lord.
It is important to keep in mind that it was in the day-to-day sacrifices of St. Ignatius- those little acts of kindness, service and love -that prepared him to face the lions in the coliseum. And we cannot forget where the source of his strength came from. It was the Eucharist, the “medicine of immortality,” as he put it, and "the Bread of God which is love incorruptible."
Self-denial, as practiced by our Lord, is the substance of every virtue and that which makes Christian love a living reality. And for Catholics who wish to advance in virtue, it is good to know there is a profound connection between the daily Sacrifice of the Altar and our practice of self-denial at home and abroad. And self-denial, sweetened by the body and blood of Christ, will prosper our love for God and neighbor. As with St. Ignatius of Antioch, it will even inspire a readiness to lay down our life for Jesus Christ if ever our number is called.
