Whose image and whose inscription do I bear? Do I give God all that is God's? If I'm being honest, I've never asked myself these questions, but maybe should.
The Catechism beautifully says: "The human body shares in the dignity of "the image of God": it is a human body precisely because it is animated by a spiritual soul, and it is the whole human person that is intended to become, in the body of Christ, a temple of the Spirit: Man, though made of body and soul, is a unity."
We may wonder how we come to share in this image of God. Baptism seals the Christian with the indelible spiritual mark (character) of belonging to Christ. But, it is through the Eucharist that we receive the gift of Sanctifying grace and our mortal and corruptible natures are transformed by being joined to the source of eternal life Himself. As our Blessed Lord said, "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him". The pilgrim journey in this life is to become fully ordered to Christ in every aspect of our lives.
This is why coming to Mass at least every Sunday and every holy day of obligation is of extreme importance to the spiritual life.
It is at Mass that Jesus mediates on our behalf with the Father. It is at the Mass the Jesus offers His Body and Blood for our salvation. It is at the Mass that Jesus feeds us his Body and Blood to give us sanctifying grace and to transform us into His image. It is at the Mass that we give our entire selves, along with the bread and the wine on the altar, to be offered up by Jesus Christ and transformed into His Mystical Body.
But, giving of our entire selves is the key, isn't it? No holds barred. Leaving nothing on the field, as some would say. Or, as Jesus put it in our reading today, giving God all that is God's. It is easy to put all of our good qualities on the altar; our love, our desire for holiness, our faith (as weak as it may be). But, God wants our entire self, warts and all. Did someone in the Church hurt us? Do we feel scandalized by decisions we think are being made in the Church? Do we have emotional scars from divorce or some other family strife? Are we in the dark abyss of grief, depression, or despair? Let's put our hurts and our pains on the altar. Would we rather be home getting ready for the football game? Or would we rather be at some sporting event for our kids? Let's put those desires on the altar. Are our thoughts consumed with achievements at work or pursuit of worldly or material goods? Let's put those dreams on the altar. Do we find ourselves in addictions or some other destructive behavioral pattern. Do we suffer from cancer or some other terminal disease or debilitating condition. Let's put it on the altar.
Jesus truly takes imperfect bread and imperfect wine transforms it into what? He transforms it into His perfect Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Anything we truly surrender to the Lord and offer to Him on the altar along with the bread and the wine will also be transformed into the image of God. The more of ourselves we offer in the Mass, the more room we will have to receive Sanctifying grace through the Eucharist. The more sanctifying grace we receive, the more ordered to Christ we become, the more the Holy Spirit can dwell within us, and the more in union we can be with the Holy Trinity. Union with the Holy Trinity is the essence of heaven.
Whose image and whose inscription do we bear? Do we give God all that is God's? Let's find out as we offer ourselves , our entire selves, in this Liturgy of the Eucharist.
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