California is known for having happy cows. You may be familiar with the advertisement that includes some of these happy cows, milling about smartly in an idyllic green pasture, and interacting in perfect harmony with nature. They’re ruminating thoughtfully and discussing little of consequence (which is typical of most advertizing anyway). Of course what happy cows do in California is eat grass, and I’m fairly certain that’s what happy cows do everywhere.
As the cows eat the grass they slowly absorb the nutrients that the grass has absorbed from the soil. Essentially, the nutrients from a lower form of life, the plants in the field, are taken up by a higher form of life, the cows in this example. This process continues when we eat the cows. The nutrients from a lower form of life, the cows, is again taken up by a higher form of life, us. I realize that there might be some argument concerning the ranking of cows and humans, but I’m sticking with the analogy for now.
On Sunday morning recently, the homily talked a bit about nutrition and the idea that you are what you eat. At Mass something different is taking place. During the Celebration of the Eucharist we consume the body and soul of Jesus Christ, who is fully present in the form of the bread and wine. In effect a higher form of life, Jesus, is being absorbed into a lower form of life, us. He gave His life for us to save us from our sins, and He is the life giving nutrition that sustains us.
Archbishop Fulton Sheen, may he soon be beatified, made a similar comparison. His conclusion was that unlike natural digestion where the food transforms into us, with the Eucharist we are transformed into what we eat.
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