Just before Mass the other day, I was sitting in the pew reading The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis when something struck me:

Behold, Noah, that just man, laboured for a hundred years in building the ark, that he might be saved with the few; and I, how shall I be able in one hour to prepare myself to receive the Builder of the world with reverence?

Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ IV.i.iv

Do we actually appreciate what the Eucharist is? Really? When I look at the stats, it’s painfully obvious that the vast majority of Catholics don’t believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, but for us that do, do we truly appreciate what it is?

It looks just like bread, after all. By all appearances, it’s nothing special, yet it is. It’s the body and blood not of a mere man, but of God Himself. Think about it, really think about it: God Himself. That same God who was “in the beginning” (cf. Genesis 1:1, John 1:1). How crazy is that?

How could I be worthy to receive that? Think about how you might merit a winning lottery ticket—let’s say, the highest-winning lottery ticket of all time—in the span of ten minutes. What could you do to earn that money? Not much, to be quite honest. So it is with the Eucharist—more so! It’s so great a gift, yet it is given freely. So long as I am in a state of grace, I am welcome at the table of the Lord. Considering Who it is I’m receiving, I don’t think I appreciate that as I ought to. I don’t expect many of us do.

So pay a visit to the Blessed Sacrament. Take in Thomas’s words, thinking about what an incredible gift us Catholics are given—how great is God’s grace that He would give us the Eucharist—but don’t just think about it. After all, to be present with someone means more than to say you know they’re in the room. Rather, as the Psalmist says:

O taste and see that the Lord is good!
    Happy is the man who takes refuge in him!

Psalm 34:8