"The greatest thing we can do when we consume him is take him back into the world." | Rakhi McCormick

Being raised in the Hindu faith, Rakhi didn’t come to encounter Jesus in the Eucharist until she was in college. Hear how the witness of a faithful Christian introduced her to the mercy of Christ, and listen as she unpacks how she came to know his real presence in the Eucharist through a mystical encounter with him during her first Mass. 

(00:44) We meet our guest, Rakhi McCormick, who previously co-hosted the Beyond Sunday podcast, has been involved in several ministries throughout the Archdiocese of Detroit, and is a wife and mother to three children. She briefly shares her current work with the Coming Home Network. 

(02:53) Rakhi describes her early life of faith, growing up Hindu and feeling that faith and community were not part of her everyday life. She shares how she began to explore faith more seriously in college and describes a profound encounter with a young Christian Marine while passing out Christmas presents to homeless families. 

(07:40) Fr. Mario highlights the power of our personal witness, noting how this young man’s faith planted the seeds for Rakhi to continue to seek Christ. Rakhi shares how she continued searching and ultimately accepted her friend’s invitation to Mass. She describes a life-changing mystical encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist that changed her life forever. 

(13:31) She talks about how she has received similar experiences from the Lord since that time but also highlights how she has relied on those moments of consolation in the times when she does not feel or sense his presence so profoundly. 

(17:57) Rakhi talks about her decision to join the Catholic faith and some of the impact that her campus minister had on her RCIA experience. She shares about how moving away from community and losing her father shortly after becoming Catholic impacted her and how her relationship with Jesus in the Eucharist grounded her over time. 

(21:22) Rakhi shares about coming to understand the practice of adoration and accepting that receiving the Eucharist means she is sent out to share Christ with others. She and Fr. Mario also highlight how communion can help us through the grief of losing loved ones, recognizing that heaven and earth come together in the Eucharist. 

(27:03) She describes how she incorporates Eucharistic prayer into her life today and shares her motherly heart and desire that her children would have transformative encounters with Jesus in the Eucharist.