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About 7 years ago, a 21 y/o man named Donovan died in an accident.
He was an organ donor and several people were given a new lease on life when they received his organs.
One recipient was a man in his early 60’s named John who had been dealing with heart failure until he received Donovan’s strong and healthy heart after the tragic accident.
Apparently there are protocols that allow you to thank the donor’s family in writing but you cannot identify yourself. So John thanked Donovan’s family after he had recovered from the transplant. The family responded with a letter of their own along with two pictures of their son and brother so John would put a face with a name.
Move forward about 4 years; Each season, the cardinals hold a Transplant awareness day at the ballpark, hosted by the major research hospitals we are blessed to have in our city. During the registration before the game, wouldn’t you know it?! John and his family saw a group of people wearing bright green shirts and on the front was the same picture of the young man he had received in the mail a few years ago.
A joyful and tearful introduction was made, you might say it was a sort of reunion as well as John thanked Donovan’s family for the gift of life he enjoyed from their beloved’s heart. Perhaps most powerfully, Donovan’s family, one by one, put their head on John’s chest to listen to his heart, which had once beat in the chest of their son and brother.
From this happy meeting strangers became family and joy sprung out of tragedy!
It’s hard for me to think of a better natural example of the Eucharist on this feast of Corpus Christi, where we remember how blessed we are to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus.
Because of sin, the human race was enduring a complete failure within our bodies and souls. Without a new heart, we were destined to life of pain, misery, and condemnation.
But God who is so good never gave up on us. Time and time again he sent heavenly healers in the law and the prophets to address our spiritual condition.
Finally, in the fulness of time, he sent his Son to set us free from the heart condition of sin and death that threatened to destroy us. Jesus not only gave us his heart, he gives us his entire self whenever we receive the Body and Blood in the Eucharist. Because he is God, this gift doesn’t change Him into us, it changes us into him if we surrender our own will and give into his.
How grateful we should be to God for this amazing and undeserved Gift! How incredible that God cared enough about you and me to allow his Son to suffer in such ways to bring us back to life! No wonder the Father loves us so as he hears the heart of his Son beating within us!
But that gift comes with a responsibility on our part. Because it cost Jesus so dearly, we must never take the Eucharist for granted or forget the sacrifice it involved. To do so would be to dishonor the donor.
Imagine how hurtful it would be to Donovan’s family if, after his transplant, John lived an unhealthy lifestyle, ate horrible food, and never made an effort to think of or thank the one who gave him so much. Technically, it would be his right to make these sort of choices but it would NOT be the right thing to do.
The same is true with you and me and the Eucharist. We have been given an incredible gift. Let’s not forget it. At this point in time, around 70% of Catholics do not believe that the Eucharist is actually Jesus. Perhaps even more just don’t really think about it or find other things to do week in and week out rather than letting God love them as he gives us his entire self. Let’s not take Jesus for granted! Let’s make sure and show him the honor and gratitude he deserves every time we receive holy communion by being fully present and prepared. Let’s live a spiritually healthy life and honor the new heart we have received in Christ by avoiding sin, worshipping God and serving our neighbor. May God hear his Son’s heart beating strongly within us by the holy and healthy way we live. O sacrament most holy, O sacrament divine, all praise and all thanksgiving be every moment thine!
