You don’t have to be at a family reunion long before you see that different members remember the exact same things differently. It was that way too in the family of the Apostles.

For St. Paul, his friends and co-workers and converts (and also for Saints Matthew, Mark, and Luke), there was a strong note of proclaiming his death until he comes. There was a strong tendency to place the fulfillment in the future, in the second coming of Christ. Expectation was stressed. Hope was stressed. This was the way they remembered it.

For St. John, his friends and co-workers and converts, there was a strong note of the here-and-now effect of that death. There was a strong tendency to place the fulfillment in the past, not just in the death and resurrection of Jesus, but even in his very coming in the Incarnation. In faith and in the sacraments, the present experience of eternal life was stressed. The foretaste of eternal life was stressed. This was the way they remembered it.

The beauty for us is that the Eucharist contains within itself both these perspectives. They complete and balance one another.

Because it is what it is, the Eucharist makes us live in expectation of his coming, and it impels us to look constantly ahead, to feel as pilgrims in this world. Because it is what it is, the Eucharist allows us to taste, already now, the first fruits of eternal life. It is an open window through which the future world erupts into the present, through which eternity enters into time, through which we begin our return to God.

The Eucharist reminds us of where we are going, the final destination of glory that awaits us, by allowing us to taste even now something of that future glory. Two strong members. Two strong memories. One happy legacy.

No se necesita estar mucho tiempo en una reunion familiar para ver que los diversos miembros recuerdan exactamente las mismas cosas, en forma diferente. Tambien fue asÌ en la familia de los Apostoles.

Para San Pablo, sus amigos y colaboradores y conversos (y tambien para los Santos Mateo, Marcos y Lucas), se hacia un fuerte enfasis en proclamar su muerte hasta que vuelva. Habla una fuerte tendencia a colocar la realizaciun plena en el futuro, en la segunda venida de Cristo. Se acentuaba la expectativa. Se acentuaba la esperanza. Esta era la forma como lo recordaban.

Para San Juan, sus amigos y colaboradores y conversos, habla un nota fuerte del efecto del aqui y ahora de esa muerte. HabÌa una fuerte tendencia en colocar la realizaciun plena en el pasado, no sÛlo en la muerte y resurreccion de Jesus, sino hasta en su misma venida en la Encarnacion. Se acentuaba el pregustar la vida eterna. AsÌ es como lo recordaban ellos.

Lo hermoso para nosotros es que la EucaristÌa contiene en si misma ambas perspectivas. Ellas se complementan y balancean mutuamente.

Por ser lo que es. La EucaristÌa nos hace vivir en expectativa de lo que viene, y nos impulsa a mirar constantemente adelante, a sentirnos como peregrinos en este mundo. Por ser lo que es, la EucaristÌa nos permite gustar, ya ahora, los primeros frutos de la vida eterna. Es una ventana abierta a traves de la cual el mundo futuro irrumpe en el presente, a traves de la cual la eternidad entra en el tiempo, a traves de la cual comenzamos nuestro regreso hacia Dios.

La EucaristÌa nos recuerda hacia donde vamos, el destino final de la gloria que nos espera, al dejarnos gustar aun ahora algo de esa futura gloria. Dos miembros fuertes. Dos recuerdos fuertes. Un feliz legado.