My Life is a Miracle

28 My Life Is a Miracle Saint Francis of Assisi, another one mad for love of Christ, especially in the Eucharist. The story I’m telling you isn’t a fairy tale or a myth. I believe that Jesus was born in Bethlehem more than two thousand years ago. That he is the Son of God. That he died on a cross. That he was raised again on the third day. That he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God, his Father. And that, as he asked, the Church perpetuates his saving sac- rifice in each Mass, in the same words he spoke on the eve of his Passion. At that moment, the bread truly becomes Living Bread, the Body of Christ, and the wine truly becomes the Blood of Christ. Don’t ask me how; I’m no theologian. But I know it. It’s not an illusion. More than 1.4 billion Catholics throughout the world share that belief. It sus- tains them. By eating this Bread and drinking this Cup, in this Eucharistic Communion, we unite ourselves to Christ who comes to dwell more closely within us. And when we pray before a monstrance where the Host is enshrined, or before the locked tabernacle that contains the Hosts in reserve, we are in the presence of Christ.