Book Review: This Is My Body by Robert Barron

This Is My Body: A Call to Eucharistic Revival by Bishop Robert Barron

With a 2019 Pew Forum survey revealing that only one-third of American Catholics believe that Jesus is truly, really, and substantially present in the Eucharist, Bishop Barron and his fellow bishops decided to do something about it. A National Eucharistic Revival has been on-going since 2020 with conferences and pilgrimages. This book is part of the effort. It's short (a little over 100 pages) but has a lot densely packed in on the reality of the Eucharist.

The book covers three aspects of the Eucharist: as a sacred meal, as a sacrifice, and as a fundamental reality. The concept of union through eating a meal is ubiquitous in human culture. People develop a sense of comradeship and conviviality when they eat together. Sacred meals date back at least as far as the Exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt described in the second book of the Bible. The Passover meal is instituted as part of a sacred, miraculous event that leads the people to a greater intimacy with God. This meal is brought to its highest level at the Last Supper, when Christ instituted the Blessed Sacrament. He explicitly united it with His sacrifice on the cross. The long tradition (both within Judaism and outside of it) of offering animals or other things in sacrifice to the divine reaches its climax with Jesus. His death and resurrection are the events that restore completely the friendship with God that was lost in the Garden of Eden. Finally, Barron discusses the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, looking at the theological history including recent attempts to refine the descriptions offered.

This book is a great primer on Eucharistic theology, giving the reader a lot to think about and appreciate. Barron's arguments are clear and thorough. It's a great resource to deepen faith in the Eucharist.

Highly recommended.