Christianity is about salvation. Christ is our Savior. We all want salvation in one way or another. When we are sick we want to be made well. When we are depressed we want happiness. When we are lonely we want companionship. When we suffer we want peace. When we are dying we want life. These are all aspects of salvation that is, to be "saved" from the bad to the good.
Christ offers us an even more profound type of salvation; he wants to live in our hearts and souls so we can share eternal life with him. Christ says, "Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him (John 14:23)". Only God in the three divine persons of the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) has the power to live inside the heart and soul of another human being. St. Paul recognized this when he exclaimed, "Yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me (Gal. 2:20)". Imagine the magnitude of this, the omnipotent and omniscient God literally becoming one with us, His creation.
We don't have the power to save ourselves, only Christ can do that. We don't have the power to raise ourselves up after death. We must rely on Christ who is the Resurrection. This is why we see Peter in the First Reading today stating that there is, “No salvation through anyone else".
How does Christ live in us? Through faith, grace, prayer and as the Gospel explains, through a meal. Christians today receive Christ through a meal at Mass. God enters into our bodies and souls in a very real way through the Sacraments, more specifically through the body and blood of Jesus in the Eucharist. When we Christians partake in communion faithfully, Christ’s body and blood becomes one with ours.
If we want to be saved in Christ and rise with him, He must become one with us and we with Him in every way (body, mind, soul and spirit). Our lives must be transformed into a totally new way of existence. The divine life must reside in us. When this happens our lives are no longer burdensome and we will not be afraid at the hour of death.
A very practical way of living this out (while overcoming the evil and suffering in our lives) is to attend Mass weekly if not daily. The Christians who are faithful in doing so truly become set free.
A good biblical reflection here is the Bread of Life Discourse in John 6. Please refer to the link below:
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.
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