We Become What We Eat

One of the most profound ideas in Cardinal Burke's book is found in St. Augustine's Confessions. Cardinal Burke is quoting the Pope Emeritus in Sacramentum Caritatis. Cardinal Burke paraphrases Augustine. "Earthly food is assimilated into our very being; it becomes part of us. The Body of Christ, the Heavenly Food of our earthly pilgrimage, on the contrary, transforms us into the Food we consume, that is, Christ Whom we receive in Holy Communion."

The more one places one's self in the position of adoring and being with Christ in Adoration, the more one realizes that it is Christ Who is taking us into Himself. If we give ourselves totally, body and soul, to Christ in the Eucharist, we are offering up ourselves, as Cardinal Burke reminds us by referring to the Pope Emeritus, who is referring to St. Paul in Romans 12:1. We present Christ with "our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God."

As we offer up ourselves, we become one with Christ, and in doing so, we join with the Church as well, the Mystical Body of Christ. Instead of normal food becoming us, we become Christ, when we partake in Holy Communion.

This section of the book is truly beautiful and one can meditate on such paragraphs.