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Saying Thanksgiving after Communion and after Mass
Homily
Sunday, August 13, 2006, 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle B
St. Joseph Parish, Detroit

“Whoever will eat this bread, will live forever” (Jn 6). Indeed, everything is given to us by communion with the bread which is not bread, but the transubstantiated body, blood, soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ.

All summer, I have proposed to you and to all a continuous meditation on the Holy Eucharist, the source and summit of all things Catholic and Christian. Our Gospel passage today, from John 6, powerfully stresses the real presence, and the most exalted effects of communion with the Eucharist.

Yet there is a mystery here. We all receive communion so often, and yet slow is our progress in the spiritual life. If God comes inside of us, body and soul, why aren’t we perfect in the spiritual life? The answer is simple. God, for his part, gives everything. We, for our part, are the ones that limit the effect of his visitation by posing obstacles to his grace. Obstacles such as sin, superficiality, negligence, lack of fervor, and the like.

Today, therefore, I wish to propose to you one very powerful means to make the effects of communion with the Eucharist take root show their full power. That simple and powerful means is thanksgiving after communion and after Mass.

We “see, in certain places, almost the entire body of the faithful leave the church immediately after the end of the Mass during which they have received holy communion. Moreover, this custom is becoming general,” where Catholics “who had received Communion remained in the chapel for about ten minutes after Mass, acquiring the habit of making a thanksgiving.”[1]

And so it is that we are falling into the same failure of the ten lepers. Remember, after Jesus healed ten, only one came back to give thanks, and Jesus’ praise for the one man’s gratitude will be proclaimed until the end of time.

What is it that we have to be thankful for? The Eucharist is a sacrifice, indeed a sacrifice of Thanksgiving – the very word Eucharist is ancient Greek for “Thanksgiving” – and is one with the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. (Indeed, one of the finalities of religious sacrifice is, in fact, thanksgiving!) The bread and wine cease to be bread and wine, but only hold the appearances of these, when in fact they become Jesus Christ in the flesh. St. Augustine (354-450) wrote in a sermon, “The Bread which you see on the altar, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the Body of Christ. That chalice, or rather, what is in that chalice, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the Blood of Christ.”[2] For indeed, it is God himself who comes into our lives, and gives us a pledge of eternal life, purification from sins, and the most perfect renewal possible for our spiritual lives.

St. John Chrysostom stressed, in the year 370, the importance of thanksgiving, saying, “The best guard for preserving of a benefit is remembrance of that benefit, and perpetual thanksgiving. For this reason, too, the awesome mysteries, so filled with our great salvation, which are celebrated at each synaxis (assembly of the faithful), are called Eucharist, because they are the memorial of many benefits, and they exhibit the summit of God’s providence, and in every respect, they prepare us to give thanks.”[3] So by giving thanks, we even become like the Eucharist we receive.

Jesus himself even gave thanks when he instituted the Eucharist. St. Irenaeus reports, “Giving counsel to His disciples to offer to God the first-fruits from among his creatures, not as if he needed them, but so that they themselves might be neither unfruitful nor ungrateful, He took from among creation that which is bread, and gave thanks, saying, ‘This is my body.’”[4]

We too give thanks to the Father through the Eucharist, by uniting ourselves, our sufferings, our joys, all of our possessions and the whole world, to the Eucharist by prayer.

And so if the Eucharist, whose name is thanksgiving; the Eucharist, whish was established while the Lord gave thanks; the Eucharist, which is the supreme gift of God containing many other gifts such as eternal life; if the Eucharist is all this, let us take St. John Chrysostom’s advice, and preserve this priceless benefit by expressing our thanks to the Holy Trinity.

Now, some may be wondering, “How can I give a good thanksgiving?” There are two moments to offer thanksgiving, one is in the silence after communion, the other is in the time after Mass. Be wise, and use both.

After communion, say prayers to God, ask him for the things your soul needs, thank him for visiting your body and soul, thank him for sharing his life of grace with you, thank him for the good things he has given you, thank him for the crosses of your life, thank him for the human and divine love you have experienced in your life, thank him for everything you can think of. Thank him for the lights and inspirations he offered you, as a banquet, all through that day’s Mass.

Then, after Mass, take time and recollect yourselves in prayer. Some have obligations and must go; but if there is no hurry, spend time to thank God for the huge number of benefits you received in Mass. Take a minute, take a half hour; take what you need, and thank him. Avoid habitually rushing off and failing to say thanks. Avoid rushing off to attend to social matters and visit with one another, we have all week for that. Stay, pray, and give thanks in your mind and soul.

Then that infinite flood of graces with which God desires to fill your soul will have fewer and fewer obstacles. Each communion will accelerate your growth towards God. Each communion will enable you to be more open to grace, both now and the next time you receive communion. Detaining yourself to give thanksgiving after Mass is an excellent prelude to a superb prayer life, and to a greater longing for the Eucharist and for Eucharistic adoration. Let us adore, and give thanks, Amen.