APRIL 24, 2026 FATHER HENK VAN MEIJEL
Jesus gets right to the core of our faith. To the Eucharist. This is the great
mystery in the Church, of course. The Eucharist, it’s the centre, the
highlight, of our Mass, which we celebrate every day. And it is a dogma,
it’s a mystery, and it sets us apart from other Christian faith traditions.
That when we celebrate the Eucharist, this is: the bread becomes the
body of Christ, and the wine becomes the blood of Christ.
Transubstantiation. A lot has been written about it over history.
We have Thomas Aquinas, who wrote a lot about it, in the 12th century,
and in the Council of Trent, 1551, it became a dogma: the
transubstantiation.
But it’s a mystery.
We can write whole books about it. Like I said, Thomas Aquinas wrote a
lot about it, but it’s still a mystery.
We accept it, or we do not. And if we accept, just like in Jesus’ time,
right after this passage, there were a lot of people who said, “We cannot
accept this. I’m out of here.” And his words, if he would be there today,
that also would be very challenging.
But of course, we are 2,000 years later, and we know that those words
are true. And we have all kinds of Eucharistic miracles.
But we know that those words are true.
And also, because of that, because we do eat the body and blood of
Christ, it has called so many to the faith.
And today, we have at the start of the Mass, we have this reflection
about someone discerning the vocation to the consecrated life as a
virgin, and someone who’s also drawn by the Eucharist.
And to pray, and to live that life, live a pure life, just for Christ.
To accept Christ as their bride. We all receive this call in many different
ways.
Of course, the body of saints – same thing.
We accept that body and blood of Christ.
The real life — the real life is found in the Eucharist, and nowhere else.
It sets us apart from most people in the world.
We don’t have to be afraid of it to be Christians, to profess our faith.
Although some people might talk about us in negative ways, but this is
the centre of our faith and we don’t have to be afraid of it.
Amen.
