Through the Gift Growing Into a Gift

 In Holy Mass we offer our gifts – bread and wine – which by the power of the Word of God become divine gifts – the Body and the Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. This is an unfathomable exchange of gifts where we see that God cannot be outdone in generosity. We bring a little bread and a little wine, and God returns it to us as divine Bread and Wine, the Body and Blood of His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. The Consecration is a divine act that is equal to the first miraculous act of Creation. One word is enough for a complete change, a transubstantiation.

Transubstantiation happens on an invisible but real level. Through it, God gives to His pilgrim people Bread and Wine for the long journey through life. The point is not only that transubstantiation happens, but also that each believer is called to become a new person. Divine transubstantiation changes the life of each individual into a gift, so that he may give himself, be given and receive gifts.

The greatness of the eucharistic sacrifice is also in the fact that it can seize us in such a way that we become a permanent gift to God and to others, the new bread, a restored heart in whom a new word can be born and radiate around. And this is the beginning of the implementation of that peace, to which we are called through the Eucharist. To have an eucharistic spirit means to be ready to give oneself for others. The opposite of this is the spirit of selfishness and pride that takes away from others, hurts and kills others, and this is the opposite of making peace. It means war, destruction, violence, killing. Christ does not want us only to be a gift for one another, but also that all that we possess and dispose of become a gift given to others. Whatever we give to others with eucharistic love becomes something new and beautiful, creates new relationships. Whatever we give, it makes eucharistic love grow.

Transubstantiation continues with each gift and with each giving, because the one who gives and the one who receives create a new and better world that can come about only through love. By giving and becoming a gift, we break the lethal chain of selfishness and pride, especially of godlessness, because the one who appropriates to himself something that does not belong to him, and behaves as a possessor – of his life, of the lives of others or of what he owns – makes of himself an idol, a false god. The act of giving breaks the effect of original sin which came into the world when the creature wanted to become God and Master. When the life of a person and all that he possesses becomes the new bread that is given with love, then the messianic times begin. These times can come only when giving happens, and not vice versa. Messianic times cannot begin before the transformation of the individual begins. The transformation of the individual must happen first, and only then can messianic times of justice and peace begin for all men.

At the root of each renewal is love, which came to life in Christ, and which became Bread and Wine. This same love transforms human beings and all that they possess into new bread, the bread of fellowship and the bread for fellowship. St Matthew wrote:

When the Son of man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and He will place the sheep at His right hand, but the goats at the left. Then the King will say to those at His right hand, “Come, O blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed Me, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? And when did we see You a stranger and welcome You, or naked and clothe You? And when did we see You sick or in prison and visit You?” And the King will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” (Matt 25:31-40)

Our Lady says:

“Dear children! No, you do not know how to love and you do not know how to listen with love to the words I am giving you. Be aware, my beloved, that I am your Mother and that I have come to earth to teach you to listen out of love and to pray out of love, and not under compulsion because you are carrying a cross. By means of the Cross, God is glorified in every person. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (29 November 1984)

Jesus Himself spoke about this fundamental sign of recognition: being a gift and recognising in each person the possibility of the divine exchange of gifts. In this way, each person becomes a meeting point and a place of divine exchange, and this is the full meaning of transubstantiation.

(Barbarić, Slavko. 2018. Celebrate Mass with the heart)