Those of us who pray the Office of Readings enjoyed St. Thomas today. Here is a quote (my translation from the Italian):
“The only begotten Son of God, willing that we become participants in his divine nature, assumed our nature and became man to make of us, as men, gods.
“All that he assumed, he did so for our salvation. He offered, in fact, his body to God the Father as a victim on the altar of the cross for our reconciliation. He shed his blood making of it for us both price of redemption and a cleansing of us, so that we may be purified of all our sins and redeemed from humble servitude….
“O immense and wonderful banquet, that gives salvation and unending joy to all the gathered! What is capable of being more precious to you?…. you are given Christ, true God, in food. What is more sublime than this sacrament?…
“The Eucharist is the memorial of his passion, the fulfillment of the figures of the Old Testament, the greatest of all the works done by Christ, the admirable document of his immense love for men.” — Thomas Aquinas, Opusc. 57, the feast of the Body of the Lord, lect. 104
St. Thomas here reminds us that the Body and Blood of our Lord, when received worthily and when we have open hearts to receive him, makes us like him. The theological word here is theosis which means divinization, becoming like God himself. It speaks of our need and desire to be oriented to the true good in life, to God alone. It speaks of the tremendous gift of the Incarnation. Not only did it redeem us from our sin, but it brought our very nature, our human nature, back to God. We are made in the image and likeness of God, and when that image was so badly marred that the likeness was gone, Jesus removed the muck and dung that hid our divine image. He made it possible for us to become as God is; he set us back on the road to God.
The Eucharist is the sacrament where we celebrate all of this, especially Jesus’ self-sacrifice (kenosis) that filled us with divine life and made us sons and daughters of the Father (theosis).
Let us always be well disposed in mind, body, and soul when we receive this sacrament of love.
