Hi Ray,
The Catholic Church is THE Church of the Eucharist because the Eucharist brings the Passion directly into our personal lives—and the Passion is the heart of Christianity. So for you to become a Catholic, it is absolutely necessary for you to understand why it is so important.
First of all, Jesus could have redeemed us in any way He chose. He is God and He can do anything. It was the will of His Father and also His own desire that He take on a human nature and so demonstrate His love for us in a manner that we could understand in our present human situation. If He told us that His love for us is infinite (without limit), such a statement would remain and abstraction for us, since none of us has ever experienced anything that is infinite. But we do understand what it means to suffer.
Sacrifice for us is the most convincing expression of love we have. We know something of how much we love one another by how willing we are to put ourselves out for one another. With Jesus we have almighty God shedding His very blood for us. The Passion He endured took place here on earth in time; but it transcends time in that it has redeemed all those who lived before Good Friday and all those who were to come after. But besides transcending time, it also remains in time through the Eucharist which as St. Thomas Aquinas says, remains a perpetual memorial of His Passion, the fulfillment of ancient figures (the manna in the desert prefigured the Eucharist) and the greatest of His miracles. For those who were to experience the sorrow of His departure, it was destined to be a unique and abiding consolation. And for millions, it is.
Now HE could have left a different memorial. For example, He could have left us simply the bread as His body and blood. This would have worked. But instead, by a sign of the separation of His body and blood, He shows us that He died. A body that is separated from its blood is one that has died. So the Eucharist is the concrete sign of His sacrificial love for us that is present and tangible. I encourage you to spend time on a regular basis (like ten minutes a day) before that tabernacle in a Catholic Church, asking Him to help you appreciate in faith this great gift. I assure you, He will. Feel free to contact me privately by clicking on my name at the top.
Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.
