Acclaimed Catholic author with Columbia ties offers Eucharistic solution to common Christmas woes

Los Angeles

As Christmas approaches, people feel compelled to shop for various friends and family members, frantically spending much of December looking for the “right gift” for each person.

After that and the preparation for and participation in various holiday parties, many will greet Dec. 25’s arrival as a relief, promptly kicking the Christmas tree to the curb the following morning, even though the real Christmas Season will have just begun.

“Consequently, we need to slow down and take time for ourselves,” emphasized Tom Nash, acclaimed author of the new book What DID Jesus Do? The Biblical Roots of the Catholic Church. “Embrace your finitude, or it will embrace you and those whom you love — and painfully so.”

Now, he said, is the time to become more childlike.

“We need to renew our wonder — or experience it the first time — for the One Who became a child, so that we ‘may have life, and have it abundantly’ (John 10:10), and so that we can help give that life to others,” Mr. Nash stated.

“On that very first Christmas, Jesus clues us in on the special way He’ll provide that life through the place He’s born: Bethlehem, which means ‘house of bread,’” he said.

He noted that Jesus goes on to proclaim that He is the Bread of Life, astonishingly adding that “He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day,” (John 6:51, 54).

“Jesus provides this living bread at every Catholic Mass in the Holy Eucharist, in which the faithful profoundly remember Christ’s one atoning Sacrifice of Calvary,” the author stated.

Mr. Nash is a Research Associate at Ave Maria Radio, a Contributing Apologist for Catholic Answers and a Contributing Blogger for the National Catholic Register. He is also the author of The Biblical Roots of the Mass.

He holds a master’s degree in theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri.

He has served the Church professionally for more than 30 years, including as a theology advisor for the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN).

Mr. Nash emphasized that Jesus’ teaching on the Eucharist is startling and challenging, especially for people hearing it for the first time or for those who haven’t heard it in a while.

“But that’s what Jesus comes to do,” he said, “to bring us all together by becoming redemptive New Covenant Passover food on our behalf!” (1 Corinthians 10:16-17)

And while receiving the Eucharist is normally reserved for Catholics, anyone can powerfully encounter Jesus by simply visiting a nearby Catholic church — and spiritually commune with Him in intimacy.

“It’s true that God is omnipresent and thus everywhere,” said Mr. Nash. “But similar to how God manifested Himself most intimately in the tabernacle of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem, He now makes Himself present anew at every Mass under the appearances of bread and wine, as Jesus says at the Last Supper. And He remains with us in that special way in His Eucharistic Presence — in every Catholic church’s tabernacle (Matthew 26:26-28; 28:18-20).

“As always, Jesus’ words about the Eucharist are a ‘hard saying’ (John 6:60),” Mr. Nash acknowledged, “but the price is worth paying, because Jesus is ‘the way, and the truth and the life’ (John 14:6). Indeed, the real reason for the Christmas Season is becoming childlike to encounter — or encounter anew — Jesus Christ, especially in His Eucharistic Presence, and thereby radically entrusting our entire lives to Him (Mathew 18:1-4).”

“You won’t be disappointed,” concludes Nash. “Because you’ll receive the Greatest Gift that keeps on giving, now and forever.”