Bishop Jean-Louis Plouffe of Sault Ste.-Marie, Ont., makes a point during his talk on the Eucharist.

When discussing the candidacy of new members of the Knights of Columbus, we often ask ourselves the question: "Must men be practical or practicing Catholics in order to become Knights of Columbus?" It seems to me that if we understood the importance of the Eucharist, we would stop asking ourselves that question. The charity, unity and fraternity to which Knights of Columbus are called are ultimately rooted in our union with Christ in the Eucharist. In our lives, nothing should stop us from receiving Communion, from approaching the eucharistic table.

We sometimes have a tendency to forget that only Jesus can truly satisfy our deepest longings, and that we are not the only ones who are hungry for him. Our world is hungry, even though it does not always know it. This is why the Church is counting on the witness of the Knights. The connection between the Eucharist and the Church is not only an intellectual one. It has real bearing on how we live up to the spirit of Father Michael J. McGivney.

One of my former teachers, Father Jean-Marie Tillard, a Canadian Dominican who died a few years ago, was internationally renowned in the areas of theology and ecumenism. In 1962 he published a work on the relationship between the Eucharist and the Church. The Eucharist, Father Tillard explains, "belongs to the earthly Church" and "builds up the pilgrim Church." We often forget that we are on a journey that we pray ends with us seeing God face to face.

Most of us, it is safe to presume, would like to be in paradise now. For the present, we belong to a Church, present in time, which strives to be a bridge between heaven and earth. This Church has limits because it is made up of men, women and children who are deeply rooted in time, in this earthly life. We know we must be men and women of our times, even in the Church. This has been true in every age, since the beginning of the Church in apostolic times. It is still true today.

A good example can be found in Nicolas Cabasilas, a lay mystic and all-around learned man who lived in the 14th century. He is known as the father of "interior monasticism," because he lived like a monk while remaining in the world.

Cabasilas is an example of the important role that lay people have played in the Church for many centuries and, consequently, in the promotion of the Eucharist which is at the heart of this pilgrim Church. Even in the 14th century, Cabasilas reflected deeply on the Eucharist and advanced the Church's eucharistic vision by leaving us such phrases as, "He is the one who feeds and is himself the food; it is he who provides the bread of life and who is himself what he provides… They have joy, not because he shares his benefits with them, but because he is in the benefits."

I would like to give a more contemporary example that seems to be particularly important for us Knights if we want to be seen as men of our times, men of our pilgrim Church and witnesses for young people. In Toronto there is Bay Street, which is the equivalent of New York's Wall Street. It is a well-known fact that for business people "time is money." However, I know of a Knights of Columbus council whose members take the time at midday, leave their jobs, attend Mass together and hold business meetings. In a world that is becoming more and more secularized, it is good to see this kind of witness to our faith on Bay Street.

First, the Eucharist too has its foundation in the Apostles because it was entrusted by Jesus to them and has been handed down to us by them and their successors.

Second, with the help of the Spirit dwelling in her, the Church keeps and hands on the teaching she has heard from the Apostles.

Finally, the Church is apostolic in the sense that she "continues to be taught, sanctified and guided by the Apostles until Christ's return, through their successors in pastoral office: the college of bishops assisted by priests, in union with the Successor of Peter, the Church's supreme pastor." As the Second Vatican Council teaches, "the faithful join in the offering of the Eucharist by virtue of their royal priesthood"; however, it is the ordained priest who, "acting in the person of Christ, brings about the eucharistic sacrifice and offers it to God in the name of all the people."

What does this mean in concrete terms? In a sense, it is because of the Apostles that we know of the Eucharist. It is how they continued to remember Jesus during their meetings. They have left us this faith in the books of the New Testament. When we celebrate the Eucharist we celebrate the faith of the Apostles. Not all churches can claim this heritage.

The Eucharist is a gift that when properly understood commands fidelity to the Church, to the pope, to the bishops and to their immediate collaborators, the priests. Without priests, the Eucharist would not be possible. Like the Eucharist, the priesthood is a gift to the Church.

As Knights, we come to realize how important is our responsibility to the Eucharist and to our solidarity with priests. If we Knights and families constantly are seen at the Eucharist primarily as men and women of prayer, people will wonder who we are. In so doing, we will witness to our faith in a discreet way, or sometimes in a more evident fashion by participating actively in parish life.

Your solidarity with priests permits them to remember that they are the ones who act in the person of Christ and that their entire lives are to be united with him and totally centered on him. Some priests may at times experience particular material or spiritual needs that prevent them from concentrating on their ministry. It is especially at times like these that the assistance of the Knights can help them to refocus on what is truly important.

Priests today are in need of loyal collaborators who will not denounce them for petty things but seek, instead, ways to enhance their ministry. As individuals and in your councils, Knights have an important responsibility to assure that the priests' days remain eucharistic. At the most basic level this means that you Knights, by building up the community through your charitable projects, afford the priest the time he needs to remain in communion with Christ.

A priest of my diocese, serving in a French parish, told me recently that one of his parishioners, an English-speaking man who is a paraplegic, frequently attended Mass but never received Communion since he was a member of the United Church of Canada and respected our beliefs about the Eucharist. This man loved the pastor, loved the parish and, above all, loved the Eucharist.

One day before his death from cancer, this man asked to be received in full communion with the Church in order to benefit from the grace of receiving the Body of Christ. The priest told me that he had never seen anyone, even among Catholics, who was so hungry for the Bread of Life. For this man, the Eucharist was essential food for his faith journey. At his funeral, his friends from the United Church of Canada and from the parish grew closer together.

This is the extraordinary power of the Eucharist. No prayer service, no ecumenical gathering, no common Bible study can ever replace the Eucharist.

One final story: In the 1800s an immigrant family spent almost all of its money for boat tickets to the United States. To save the little money they had left, they remained in their cabin and ate hard bread and water, rather than go to the ship's dining room with its more expensive food. When they docked in New York, they learned that the price of their tickets had included meals.

Many Catholics voyage through life in a similar way. They starve "spiritually" rather than eat the Bread of Life, free at every Lord's Supper.

Bishop Jean-Louis Plouffe of Sault Ste.-Marie, Ont., is a member of North Bay Council 1007.