You Will Be Changed Into Me: The Fruits of the Eucharist

In recent decades, Catholic books on the Eucharist have often focused narrowly on the question of the nature or essence of the Eucharist. Although the question of the nature of the Eucharist is undoubtedly important, it unfortunately has overshadowed a question that is just as important, if not more important: what does the Eucharist do? If Jesus' body, blood, soul, and divinity are truly present in the Eucharist as Catholics believe, then we should not be surprised to learn that when Catholics receive the Eucharist they receive multiple effects, or fruits.

You Will Be Changed Into Me introduces six of the most important fruits of the Eucharist. It will explore how the Jesus Event is brought to the present through Eucharistic memory; it will investigate how the Eucharist is the application of Christ's sacrificial offering on the cross; it will demonstrate how the Eucharist radically conforms the communicant to the heart of Christ; it will review the unity in the human family that is created by the Eucharist through union with Christ; it will show how a Eucharistic life leads to a life of service; it will explain the significance of the Eucharist for the journey beyond this life.

"What does the Eucharist do? Squires' answers deftly bridge scholarly material with everyday life, touching down on Springsteen songs, jail yard stews, Thanksgiving dinners, and much more. Squires is a natural teacher: the book is concise and accessible. He presents a quite traditional Catholic view of the Eucharist, but one with transformative implications for our lives in the world."

William T. Cavanaugh

DePaul University

"Stuart Squires hits the nail on the head in this fascinating book on the Eucharist. We might be used to saying what the Eucharist is, but we are less adept at saying what it does. Squires takes us through precisely this-the action of the Eucharist in ourselves and in the world-in an accessible and even entertaining way. I sincerely recommend this book to anyone who wants to deepen their own appreciation of the Eucharist, and to those who are wondering why they should receive it at all."

Sally Read

Editor, 100 Great Catholic Poems

"Filled with early Christian wisdom and compelling contemporary stories, Stuart Squires has written an edifying and winsome Catechism on the fruits of the Eucharist. This book teaches us not only what the Eucharist is but what it does, situating these lessons within a clear and accessible theology."

Jared Ortiz

Professor of Religion, Hope College

"If 'the purpose of the Eucharist is the transformation of those who receive it, ' Squires's book cultivates within the reader the conditions for that transformation. Engaging the heart and mind of those who take and read, Squires illuminates the theological and historical treasures of the Church's tradition for our own time. By weaving music, culture, and recent history into his setting, Squires makes present for contemporary readers a rich Eucharistic theology that is at once ever ancient and ever new. And by emphasizing elements of that theology that are too frequently overlooked, he spurs the reader on to pursue more deeply 'the transformation in communion' to which we are called."

George A. Harne

University of Saint Thomas