One weekend recently I happened to take part in both a Vigil Mass and a Sunday morning Mass. On Saturday evening the words of the Consecration struck me in a new way. It was almost as if the priest said, “Take this,” announcing a fast-approaching punch to the jaw! I was reminded of the hero of old Western movies, threatening the outlaw while landing the knockout blow. How different is the “Take this” that Jesus commands! He gives us His Body and Blood, not a threat! But still… I couldn’t completely drop the odd thought, the unlikely juxtaposition.
That Sunday morning I listened attentively, wondering if I’d hear it that way again: “Take this… Take this.” But now I was reminded of C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, where we hear that “Aslan is not a tame lion!” I sensed that “This” is not a tame gift. It’s not a certificate of attendance, not a trophy for participation. “This” is a serious and costly gift! To receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ is to give myself to Him. What’s more, it is to say I’m willing to take up my cross and follow Him.
But fortunately for me, for us all, our Lion is the One who has assured us that He is with us always, that our crosses are burdens He helps carry—and He carries the heavier part. He also refers to our cross as His “yoke,” and He says that in taking it up, we will find rest for our souls because it is “easy” and “light.” (Matt. 11:29-30) With that cross comes “abundant life.” (John 10:10) If I’m not experiencing that abundance, maybe I’m trying to carry a cross that is not actually His yoke for me!
The “Take this” of Jesus is the offer of the most precious gift in the universe: the very life of Christ, freely given, ours for the “taking.” Then, as we carry only the crosses He gives us, ours for the living.
