Finding our Way to the Summit

Kristina Talbot shares how her travels to the mountains and climbing summits with her family rekindled her heart towards the Eucharist.

A lot of front-loading goes into preparing kids for a big trip. A few weeks ago, our family made our first trip out West. There were months of planning and coordinating and much discussion about how different the terrain is from ours. In the weeks leading up to the big adventure, while at the beach with my Florida sea level-dwelling kids, I pointed to the cloud-filled horizon and said, “When we get to Colorado, those clouds are going to be mountains.”

Marveling at the mountains

The marvel in my children upon arrival was somewhat underwhelming, but when we traveled into the mountains, it was a different story. They couldn’t believe how high we were and took in all the views as we navigated the mountain roads. I must admit, we struggled with the altitude on our hikes at the beginning of the week — but by week’s end, we were ready for the 700-foot ascent Rocky Mountain National Park offers to view three lakes. The sights were breathtaking, and we capped the day with a shorter hike to a summit of 12,304 feet, our highest point on foot as a family.

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Standing on the summit of a mountain gives an expansive view of the world around you. In our town, the highest point on foot is about 60 feet above water on a local bridge. Looking out over the mountaintops and standing upon a true summit put a new perspective on our faith.

Another marvel: the source and summit

Returning home, I witnessed another marvel. I was able to tune in via livestream to the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis where over 50,000 Catholics gathered to seek a different type of summit than what we found in Colorado. The Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith.

In his encyclical letter on the Eucharist, Saint John Paul II said,

The Second Vatican Council rightly proclaimed that the Eucharistic sacrifice is “the source and summit of the Christian life.” “For the most holy Eucharist contains the Church's entire spiritual wealth: Christ himself, our passover and living bread. Through his own flesh, now made living and life-giving by the Holy Spirit, he offers life to men.” Consequently, the gaze of the Church is constantly turned to her Lord, present in the Sacrament of the Altar, in which she discovers the full manifestation of his boundless love.” (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 2003)

I must admit that at the sight of the beautiful Eucharistic process with the massive monstrance at the Congress, I had a serious episode of FOMO. It felt as though I was missing an opportunity for an outpouring of grace and that by not attending, I would be left to still hunger for more. Then we went to Mass just a few feet above sea level in our sleepy beachside town — and something happened. Our priest raised the Host, said the words of consecration, and broke the bread. In that moment, I realized I need not travel to reach the summit. It was right here before me.

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The Church draws her life from Christ in the Eucharist; by him she is fed and by him she is enlightened. The Eucharist is both a mystery of faith and a “mystery of light.” Whenever the Church celebrates the Eucharist, the faithful can in some way relive the experience of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus: “their eyes were opened and they recognized him.” (Ecclesia De Eucharistia)

The same God who made the ocean we live near and the mountains we climbed, humbles himself offering His body and blood, soul, and divinity to us in the same act He offered before the disciples 2,000 years ago. Whether we’re in a gathering with the masses or in a Mass with a few, the source and summit of our faith through the great mystery of faith provides us the bread of life.

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” (John 6:35)

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Seeing the faithful gather, hearing many of the powerful witness talks laid bare to me that I underestimate God. He is the same God who fed the five thousand from a few loaves, the same God who healed the sick and made the blind see. He is the same God who died and rose for our sin, and the same God who shows up in our lives and hearts when we open ourselves to Him. We have this mysterious unique access to Him that no hero or celebrity of ours could ever offer us.

As I review our pictures and recall our vacation, I see them differently now. I realize that all of God’s creation draws us into Him. He beckons us with sunrises and sunsets filled with colors we’ve never seen before. He pursues us with His beauty and wonders that leave us breathless, and He presents Himself before us every time we come before Him in the presence of the Eucharist.

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