Eat & Run

My four-year-old daughter has a bad habit of leaving the table as soon as she finishes her meals. My wife says it's typical toddler behavior. I say it's plain rude. I tell my daughter Brianna if we go to a friend's house for supper and leave right after we eat without even saying thank you, our friends most likely won't invite us back to their house again.

When I attend Sunday Mass, I can't help to compare Brianna's table manners with the folks who leave church right after they receive the Eucharist. The view from the back pew after Communion is disheartening. The massive exodus of people leaves a packed church looking like the scene of a well-attended weekday Mass. As I reflected on this sad reality, I wondered: “If we wouldn't do that as a guest on somebody's house, why do we do it as worshipers in God's house?”

I'm convinced the answer is a lack of spiritual awareness caused by a crisis of our Catholic identity. Christians are the only believers who follow the teachings of a leader who claimed to be God made man, willingly suffered a cruel death at the hands of his creatures and then rose from the dead to prove it. Catholicism confesses that God, in the Person of Jesus Christ, is truly present Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in a tiny wafer of unleavened bread, also known as the Blessed Sacrament.

What a concept.

I don't think people leave church right after Communion because they want to beat the parking lot rush, catch the beginning of the Panthers' game, or even avoid the “brief announcements” before the final blessing. They do that because they forget the little white host is not something, but Somebody. That Somebody is the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. Our belief in the True Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is what makes us Catholics different from any other Christian denomination, and unfortunately it also separates us from them.

The word “Eucharist” comes from the Greek word “εὐχαριστία” (eucharistia), which means “thanksgiving.” The moment we receive Holy Communion is the best time to enjoy real intimacy with Jesus Christ in the same manner we enjoy a stimulating conversation with a loved one or a good friend after a meal. The last words the priest says before he distributes Communion are, “This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Happy are those who are called to his supper.” The good news is no matter how many times we've left church prematurely before, the Lord always calls us to his supper. Maybe next time we receive Him, we'll do well to head back to our pew, close our eyes, and just say “Lord, thank you.”