One of the fundamental problems of human existence is that we do not see clearly.

We live in this material, time-bound, horizontal realm as if there were nothing more to reality than that which we can see, hear, taste, smell, and touch. We live in the midst of the multi-hued mystery of the universe as if existence were monochrome.

Our vision is obscured. We are like the blind man in Mark 8 who, at first only partially healed, looked up and said to Jesus,

‘I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.’ (Mark 8:24)

Jesus, came in part to solve the problem of human myopia.

One of the instruments Jesus left to open our eyes and restore our vision was the meal of bread and wine that has been celebrated among Christians throughout the world for all the centuries since Jesus physically departed from this material realm.

Jesus demonstrated the point of eucharist near the end of the Gospel of Luke. Following his resurrection, Jesus joined Cleopas and another unnamed disciple, as they walked along the road to Emmaus. The two disciples welcomed their traveling companion but failed to recognize him, until

When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened… (Luke 24:30,31)

The purpose of Eucharist/ Holy Communion/ Lord’s Supper/Mass is to wake us up (have our eyes “opened”) to the most important realities of life.

Eucharist challenges us to recognize that there are many forces at work in life and many choices we make that put us to sleep.

It is easy to become so preoccupied with the concerns and cares of daily life that we lose sight of the true wonder and mystery of existence. We fly on auto-pilot, going about the routines of life with only a tiny portion of our being engaged.

We are like Cleopas and the unnamed disciple in Luke walking along the road in company with the power of light and life in the miracle of Christ’s risen presence, but all we perceive is a stranger. We have fallen asleep at the wheel and the outcome is, at best, a shallow engagement with life and, at worst, utter chaos, confusion, and pain.

We come to eucharist because we know we need to be constantly awakened out of unconsciousness.

Jesus said, “Keep awake…” (Luke 24:42). Paul wrote, “you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep.” (Romans 13:11). Eucharist is an alarm clock awakening us to the realities of life, to the truth of our deeper nature, and to the wonder and mystery of all existence.

Eucharist invites us to see that there is more to life than we can see, hear, taste, smell, and touch. There is a vast realm of often unacknowledged being that permeates all of life.

Jesus left us bread and wine to serve as portals opening into this fuller dimension of reality. Eucharist is that point where we consciously open to the intersection of the vertical with the horizontal. We step aside for a moment from our obsession with the surface of life and discover the fullness of being that is the true meaning and purpose of human existence.

Every eucharist challenges us to open our eyes and see more clearly the subtle hues of the full mystery of being human.