Fueled by HIM

There are some runners who won’t run on the Sabbath — think Eric Liddell in Chariots of Fire (about which I’ve blogged here) — a discipline I respect greatly. I, however, am not one of them. For me, although running is a workout, it is not work. It’s relaxing. It’s enjoyable. And it’s prayerful. Sunday is also the day when I’m most able to carve out a 2-3 hour block of free time, which is why it’s usually on Sundays that I take my long runs.

But there’s another reason, too: Sunday is the one day of the week that I am certain to make it to Mass. And so if I run on a Sunday afternoon, it will, perforce, be not long after having received the Eucharist on Sunday morning.

Runners know how important eating is to the body’s function. We all have our rituals: The carbo load the day before, the gels during, the hamburger after a long race. We also know how bad a run can be if we haven’t eaten properly. (Allow me to offer some advice gleaned from personal experience: Never run after eating donuts.)

So what better way to take on that big run than to be fueled by Christ Himself, the Real Presence — Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity — in the Holy Eucharist? Jesus fortifies us and nourishes us, physically and spiritually. It’s an awesome thought to consider on a Sunday run, that my body and my soul are powered by His grace, offered in abundance through the gift of this most blessed sacrament.

“I am the living bread

which came down from heaven;

if any one eats of this bread,

he will live for ever;

and the bread which I shall give

for the life of the world

is my flesh."

—John 6:51