“Prevention is better than cure,” as the proverb says. Whether in the field of medicine or security, prevention is considered the best way to avoid illnesses and incidents. Any intervention is always more traumatic than precautionary actions.

From the outset, Divine Providence provided for the existence of life on this planet, arranging everything by “measure and number and weight” (Wis 11:20). Since man is a “social animal” and endowed with intelligence, God also offered him the means to live in community, with a view to mutual assistance in obtaining food, housing, clothing, etc., as well as in defence from external attacks.

St. Thomas Aquinas (cf. Summa Theologiæ III, q.79, a.6) asserts that the Eucharist, like bodily food, strengthens our soul against spiritual death. Indeed, would He who provided superabundant means for the maintenance of bodily life on this earth, not do the same to prevent the death of the soul?

One of the effects of the Sacrament of the Altar consists precisely in the preservation from spiritual death: “This is the Bread which comes down from Heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die” (Jn 6:50). Aquinas explains this compelling passage: “Sin is the spiritual death of the soul. Hence man is preserved from future sin in the same way as the body is preserved from future death of the body” (a.6).

The Eucharist defends the life of the soul as a powerful weapon that repels the attacks of the devil: “it is a sign of Christ’s Passion, whereby the devils are conquered” (a.6).

Moreover, the Angelic Doctor teaches that, just as the Creator provided food and remedies in nature to preserve the body from corruption, so too did He want the Eucharist to strengthen the heart of man (cf. Ps 104:15) to avoid the evil inclinations that lead to the perishing of the soul.

However, just as the effectiveness of a medicine depends on the state of health of the patient, the “Bread which comes down from Heaven” (Jn 6:51) diminishes the inclination to evil in proportion to individual dispositions, for “the effect of this Sacrament is received according to man’s condition” (ad 1). Consequently, it is up to each one to make the greatest possible use of this sublime gift!

St. Thomas further warns that, “although this Sacrament of itself has the power of preserving from sin, yet it does not take away from man the possibility of sinning” (ad 1).

The analogy with bodily medicines makes this reality even more understandable: their usefulness is proportionate to the greater or lesser disposition of the patient.

Communion with the Body and Blood of Christ also brings about an increase in charity. Therefore, ipso facto, it diminishes the attraction to sin and “directly strengthens man’s heart in good; whereby he is also preserved from sin” (ad 3).

Just as the natural impulse for survival makes us love life and reject what threatens it, the Eucharist provides us with a desire for God by which we adhere to good and reject evil. Blessed are those in whom the “supernatural instinct for self-preservation” is intense and active!