I’m Lutheran and thus “catholic”, though not Catholic …. if you know what I mean! ….. but there are many of us Lutherans who, too, treasure the presence of Christ in his Eucharist, and rejoice that He meets us there week after week.
I was raised in the church and have always “known” the wondrous presence of Christ in our worship, but truly, as I grow older in the faith, it deepens and grows more important to me year by year.
Blessings are prayed for you and for all your readers, whom I count as sisters and brothers in Him.

(And in case you never saw it, I responded to a comment you left on my blog by writing this.)

Happy Easter!

I myself just entered the Church during this year’s Easter Vigil! So you’re in a way my big sis!

My journey to the Church was long and windy. I went to Catholic schools eight out of the 13, but never connected to the church during that time.

I became a evangelical Protestant Christian in my 20s and didn’t give a second thought to the Catholic Church. Unexpected circumstances brought me back two years ago and my love of the Church has grown stronger and stronger since.

It definitely was the Eucharist that sealed the deal for me. In all my years of schooling, I intellectually knew that Catholics believed that the Eucharist was the Real Presence of Jesus, but that truth didn’t sink into my soul until my recent re-examination of the church.

On the day of the Vigil, it seemed like everything was aimed at frustrating me and distracting me from what was going to take place that evening. In fact, I can say that I became downright crabby at one point.

I asked God for forgiveness (I definitely didn’t want to receive his Son in an unworthy fashion) and got my attitude together. However, I still found myself distracted during the service as my thoughts unfortunately tended to stray to my very Southern Baptist family who were present and their (dis)comfort with the service (they later told me,as expected, that they thought the Catholic mass is too “ceremonial”).

Later, an event happened that would normally provoke a sinful response in me, but as I preparing to respond, a thought occurred to me, “You can’t do that; you now have Me in you.” I had never felt so palpably changed since I had become a Christian years before.

It was then that I felt the gravity of the experience–and it’s all because of the Eucharist. When I had last-minute cold feet, it was the Eucharist that kept me. If nothing else, I believed that to be true and couldn’t imagine not partaking in it.

Now, it feels like the room has shifted in my understanding the Catholic faith, like I see the same things I’ve seen time and time again since I was a school girl, but now I see them freshly, more clearly, in a completely new light. It’s like I get it now!

Being on the inside is much more different (in a very positive way!) than I had ever imagined, and it’s all because of the Eucharist.

All the best to you!

In Greek, “eucharist,” meaning thanksgiving, encapsulates also the word for grace, “charis,” and the word for joy, “chara.”

So beats the heart of our faith in the eucharist.

All is grace,
Ann

Wanted to comment on your post about the Pope baptising Magdi Allam, a former Muslim.

The courage of these men is incredible. They have both put their lives in jeopardy for their Christian beliefs.

That is faith I can believe in!

Happy Anniversary! I, too, have been reading your blog through Lent and anxiously awaiting for the comments section to reopen.

I am a cradle Catholic, never fell away from the Church (though I realized at one point how utterly uncatechized I was), and I still struggle with the concept of Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist. There are days when I think “are you kidding me?” – but I can’t not believe. I know that the Eucharist nourishes me, just as you described.

I think it’s easy for me to sit on the fence with my faith because I was brought up in the Catholic church. That’s why I like reading your blog. You bring to light aspects of my faith that I take for granted, and your words make me stop and reconsider what a beautiful gift I have in a lifetime of Catholicism. Thank you!

Congratulations and happy anniversary to you and your family! The Eucharist: The source and summit to everything that is love, life, and Jesus Christ!

Easter Blessings!

Hugs!
Ebeth