A meal is always a symbol of
fellowship. We do not take our meals just for physical sustenance, but also
for fellowship. It is a time when we gather together as a people, where we
grow in love, in mutual understanding. And most of all, we grow in fellowship
with one another. Happiness in life is always portrayed in terms of a banquet,
in terms of fellowship between the bride, the Church, and our Lord Jesus
Christ, where all of us are gathered together as a community of faith, as a
community of sons and daughters of God, where there will be no more tears, no
more sorrow, and there will be joy and eternal happiness. It is when we live in
the house of the Lord that we will find perfect peace and perfect joy. And this
comes at the end of our lives. But how can we be sure that this promise is
real, that it is not just a pie in the sky? How could this be a reality in our lives?
Jesus is the one who comes to restore our lives, to make us wholesome again. It
is in anticipation when after death, we will be restored to fullness with God and in
God. But that is not all. We are told that Jesus, not just has come to restore
humanity by removing all illnesses and sicknesses. He has come to feed us with
the Bread of Life. When Jesus comes, He comes to give us all in plenty. And that
is what the Eucharist does. How could Jesus be given to everyone? Precisely,
it is an anticipation of the Last Supper when Jesus instituted the Eucharist, so
that all of us in our hunger, in our pain, in our desire to be healed, or to
be reconciled with Him, or to experience His love. The Church invites us today to
continue to receive the Eucharist, to be present for the Eucharistic celebration,
so that we can be nurtured by the preaching of the Word of God, and be
strengthen as we receive the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of our Lord. We
cannot do without the spiritual food that comes from Jesus, because it is
this communion with Him that will help us to live out a life of love and
service. So, having received the Eucharist, we are called to share. It is
in our sharing with the suffering, those who are poor, it is in our fellowship
with them, that we help each other to encounter the eschatological life, a
life that is meant to be lived in fullness when we die. So, my dear
brothers and sisters, we should continue to give hope to one another. And this
hope, we can receive as we participate, as we celebrate, particularly the
sacraments, whether of Reconciliation, the Sacrament of the Eucharist, so that we
can continue to be nurtured in our faith. And this is ultimately a
preparation, of course, for us. The ultimate coming, so that we can be in the
house of the Lord forever and ever. And this is where we know that the Lord
certainly, He will lead us there, so that at that place there will be no more
suffering and pain.
