To Consume the Holy Eucharist is to be Consumed by Christ
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| Vicente Juan Masip (1507–1579) Salvador EucarÃstico |
To consume the Holy Eucharist is to be consumed by Christ.
It’s a line that sounds paradoxical at first, but in the Christian tradition it expresses one of the deepest truths of communion: the one who eats becomes the one who is eaten.
The Eucharist reverses the ordinary logic of eating. In daily life, the one who eats assimilates the food; the food becomes part of the eater. But in Holy Communion, the opposite occurs. We do not assimilate Christ into our life — Christ assimilates us into His. To consume the Eucharist is to be drawn into the life, love, and mission of the One who gives Himself as food.
This is why the Fathers speak so boldly: “You will not change me into yourself… but you will be changed into me.” The Eucharist is not merely nourishment; it is transformation. Christ does not become ours so much as we become His. His life overtakes ours, His charity reshapes our desires, His humility reorders our pride, His mission becomes the pattern of our days.
This theme is woven through Scripture. In John 6, Christ promises that the one who eats Him “will live because of Me” — as if His life becomes the animating principle of the believer. In Galatians 2:20, Paul declares, “It is no longer I who live,” a confession enacted sacramentally every time the Body and Blood are received. And in 1 Corinthians 10, the many become “one body,” consumed into Christ’s own mystical life.
The English Patrimony expresses this mystery with sacramental realism and spiritual clarity. The Post‑Communion Thanksgiving (of the Ordinariate Mass) speaks of being “very members incorporate in the mystical body of thy Son,” a phrase that refuses to reduce Communion to symbol or sentiment. It is real participation, real incorporation, real transformation — without the need to define the mechanics of the mystery.
To consume the Eucharist is to surrender to Christ’s consuming love. It is to let His fire purify, His grace strengthen, His life become ours. It is to be taken, blessed, broken, and given — just as He was. Communion is not only union; it is vocation. Christ feeds us so that Christ may live through us.
Review
1. The Paradox at the Heart of Communion
a. The Eucharist reverses the ordinary logic of eating. Ordinarily, the one who eats assimilates the food — the food becomes part of the eater. But in the Eucharist, the opposite happens:
- we do not assimilate Christ into ourselves.
- Christ assimilates us into Himself.
b. This is why the Fathers say things like:
- “We become what we receive.”
- “The bread of heaven changes the one who eats it.”
The Eucharist is not merely nutrition for our life; it is participation in Jesus' life.
2. Scriptural Roots: Christ’s Life Overtaking Ours. Three biblical currents feed this theme:
a. Gospel according to Saint John 6 — “He who eats me will live because of me.”
Not with me.
Not in imitation of me.
But because of me — His life becomes the animating principle of ours.
b. Galatians 2:20 — “It is no longer I who live…”.
Communion is the sacramental enactment of this verse.
Christ’s life overtakes the believer’s life.
c. 1 Corinthians 10 — “We who are many are one body.”
To be consumed by Christ is to be drawn into His Body — not metaphorically, but mystically and really.
3. Patristic Voice: The Eucharist as Divine Fire. The Fathers often describe the Eucharist as fire:
- fire consumes.
- fire purifies.
- fire transforms.
St. Cyril of Jerusalem / Catechetical Discourses: Mystagogic 4:22:9
“The bread of the Eucharist becomes united with your body, but it is Christ who transforms you.”
St. Augustine / Confessions
“You will not change me into yourself, as you do with bodily food; but you will be changed into me.”
4. Sacramental Realism. This is where the Ordinariate Patrimony shines. The Eucharist is:
- real participation
- real incorporation
- real transformation
But without the need to define how in metaphysical terms.
- we are fed.
- we are incorporated.
- we are assured.
To consume the Eucharist is to be drawn into Christ’s own life, His own Body, His own mission.
5. Spiritual Implications: What It Means to Be “Consumed." To be consumed by Christ means:
a. Christ becomes the interior mover of the soul.
- your desires begin to shift.
- your loves begin to reorder.
- your will begins to align.
b. Christ becomes the pattern of your life.
- communion is not only union; it is formation.
- you begin to act from Christ’s life rather than your own.
c. Christ becomes the end toward which you move.
- the Eucharist is eschatological — it draws you toward the Kingdom.
6. Liturgical Expression: The Rhythm of Being Taken, Blessed, Broken, Given. Christ’s own pattern in the Eucharist becomes ours:
- Taken — chosen
- Blessed — consecrated
- Broken — poured out
- Given — sent
To be consumed by Christ is to enter this rhythm.
7. A Meditative Summary
In the Eucharist, I do not take Christ into my life;Christ takes me into His.I do not consume Him;He consumes me —my sins, my fears, my self‑will —and gives me His life in return.
Recapitulating Augustine, Aquinas and Patrimonial Voices
Saint Augustine — Transformation Through Participation. Augustine is the clearest voice for the theme:
- he insists that the Eucharist changes the one who receives it.
- his famous line — “You will not change me into yourself… but you will be changed into me” — expresses the reversal of ordinary eating.
- for Augustine, Communion is incorporation into Christ’s Body, the Church.
- the emphasis is on mystical transformation: Christ consumes the believer into His life.
Saint Thomas Aquinas — Christ’s Life Perfects Ours. Aquinas shares Augustine’s realism but frames it with scholastic precision:
- the Eucharist unites the believer to Christ as the soul is united to the body.
- Christ’s grace perfects nature; the sacrament strengthens charity and conforms the believer to Christ.
- Aquinas emphasizes effect, not metaphor: the Eucharist truly infuses Christ’s life.
- yet he maintains the distinction between substance and effect — Christ does not “consume” us literally, but spiritually and morally.
English or Caroline Divines — Real Participation Without Metaphysical Definition. The English Patrimony, especially in its classical divines, holds a middle path:
- real participation in Christ is affirmed without defining the mode of presence.
- Lancelot Andrewes (1555–1626) speaks of “real, spiritual, and true” feeding on Christ.
- Richard Hooker (1554–1600) emphasizes that the Eucharist “knits us to Christ,” making us partakers of His life.
- the focus is on union, incorporation, and assurance.
- Divine Worship’s Post‑Communion Thanksgiving embodies this: we are “very members incorporate,” heirs of the Kingdom, strengthened to walk in the works prepared for us.
Synthesis
- Saint Augustine: Christ consumes us by transforming us into Himself.
- Saint Aquinas: Christ consumes us by perfecting our nature through infused grace.
- Ordinariate Patrimony: Christ consumes us by incorporating us into His mystical Body and sustaining us in holy fellowship.
All three converge on the same truth: the Eucharist is not merely something we receive — it is Someone who receives us.
A Prayer
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