The Unactualized Potential
Unravelling the meaning of the Eucharist
Every seed has the potential to grow into something beyond itself if it receives adequate nutrition. Likewise, we too have the capacity to transcend our weaknesses and become who we are meant to be — another Christ!
How? By consuming Him.
Transformation is not self-generated; it is nurtured by union with the Eucharistic Lord. On the feast of Corpus Christi, we celebrate this ineffable gift: the Body and Blood of Christ.
In this post we will see how the Eucharist is the fulfilment of God’s covenantal promises and how we ought to respond to God’s this precious gift.
Eucharist and the Covenant
Though humans were created in the image and likeness of God, because of sin we went away from God. However, God did not abandon us. God entered into a covenantal relationship and continually calls us back to communion.
This covenantal history begins with Noah, when God promises not only him but also his descendants and all living creatures that the earth will not again be destroyed by flood (Gen 9:8–17). This covenant becomes eternal when God calls Abraham and promises descendants, land and blessings for all nations (Gen 12:1–3).
At Sinai, God offers the covenant to Israel as a people who by accepting the conditions would become the treasured possession of God and a kingdom of priests (Exod 19:5–6). Though they kept failing God remained faithful. Later, God promised David an everlasting kingdom (2 Sam 7:12–16).
Yet none of these covenants fully resolves the human tendency to remain outwardly religious while remaining inwardly unchanged. They offered lip service and not leb (Hebrew word for heart) service.
So, God promised a new covenant in which the law will be written on the heart (Jer 31:31–34), and a new heart and a new spirit will be given (Ezek 36:26–27).
The Hebrew idea of the heart as the centre of thought, desire, and will helps us see that God is not seeking external compliance alone, but interior transformation.
How did God fulfil this promise?
Jesus established the New Covenant through the Eucharist. In Catholic sacramental theology, this institution is understood as the sacramental establishment of the New Covenant.
At the Last Supper, Jesus declares, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood” (Lk 22:20). In Him, the covenant reaches its fullness, because He Himself becomes both priest and sacrifice, gift and giver.
Jesus not only teaches the law; he embodies it. He knows the Father intimately and shares His life with us through the gift of the Spirit. In the Eucharist, he gives us His body and blood as food and drink so that His life may dwell in us and shape our hearts from within. In this sense, the Eucharist is not simply an external rite but a covenantal communion that unites us to Christ and to one another.
The blood sprinkled at Sinai on the altar and on the people signified covenantal union, purification, and life (Exod 24:6–8, Heb 9:11–14). In Christ’s self-offering, these meanings are brought to completion. His blood establishes the new covenant once for all, reconciling us to God and drawing us into communion.
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Then why do we fail to be like Him?
One reason is that we often receive the Eucharist too passively.
Although the covenantal relationship was based on God’s unconditional love it required a conscious human acceptance. But the Israelites were content with the blood of the sacrificial animal being sprinkled on them while their hearts continued to remain far from God.
Sometimes, aren’t we satisfied with the externals?
At the Last Supper, Jesus invited his disciples to take, eat, and drink. It calls for a personal active participation, not a passive reception.
Sometimes, we limit ourselves to the physical reality of the Eucharistic species (the body and blood) without realising its deeper meaning.
The biblical language of body and blood points to the whole person (Jn 6:53–56); to receive Christ is to receive his life, his values, and his way of being.
Aren’t we reducing the Eucharist to a mere ritual without allowing it to form our choices?
Eucharist and Mission
Jesus offered Himself for the whole humanity. Therefore, the Eucharist is not for my personal sanctification alone but for a greater communitarian involvement.
Eucharistic processions and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament are meaningful devotions but the real challenge is to be Christlike in everyday life.
We have to move from ritualistic reception to active engagement with the Eucharist.
We are not called to be tabernacles that store Jesus but a monstrance that carries Jesus to where He is most needed — the poor, the neglected and the forgotten.
The Eucharist should impel the soul to cultivate a social love that prioritises common good over individual gain (Mysterium Fidei).
I need to dirty my hands and legs like Jesus and go where no one dares to go.
Conclusion
The Eucharist is the divine energy that can transform the world if we allow God to actualize the potential within us. The cup that Jesus offers is a cup of self-emptying love, suffering, and life-giving mission. To receive that cup is to accept the call to become more fully Christ-like; not in name only, but in action, compassion, and self-giving love (Phil 2:5–11; Jn 10:10).
Let us receive Christ with a sincere desire to serve God and our neighbours.
You can read an article about the biblical foundation for Jesus’ Eucharistic presence here.
