"O taste the LORD and see that He is good"

"O taste the LORD and see that He is good" are words used by the Psalmist to describe the experience he has developed with God. It is a taste of the LORD - How good He is towards His people, the human family created by Him.
On Sunday August 19, 2018, the Jesuit scholar Fr. Henri Boulad uttered an extraordinary homily commenting on the readings of the Mass in the Roman Catholic Rite (Proverbs 9: 1-6; Ephesians 5: 15-20; John 6: 51-58)...The homily can be found here in French subtitled in English. Following the first reading from Proverbs, Fr. Boulad speaks about "Wisdom." In, Latin "wisdom" is translated "sapienta" and is derived from "sapere" which means "to taste; to savour" Real knowledge is one that could be tasted. Fr. Boulad shows the origin of knowledge which lies in the senses such as taste and sight which in turn express wisdom emanating from the heart before the brain understands this wisdom. Fr. Boulad continues: Experience in touching is found in the wonder of the child who discovers food or touches his mother as a "new reality" for him. The academic abstracts come later but first the child/adolsecent develops intelligence in stages of development according to Jean Piaget. In English, the word "understand" means to "stand under"or rather stand behind the appearance on the outside.  Wisdom came from the ancient masters. We could think of Moses - How he experienced God. When Moses experienced his encounter with God on Mount Horeb, he could not follow what God asked him to do since Moses had a stutter in his ability to speak. God helped him to speak with Pharaoh using the help of Aaron's wisdom for Pharaoh's ill-treatment of the Israelites.  When Pharaoh's heart did not respond to Moses requests, God told Moses to get the Israelites out of Egypt. Is not it human that the Israelites complained to Moses when they crossed the Red Sea into Mount Horeb that they were better off in Egypt eating and sleeping and now they thirst? In response God provided for them sweet water and Manna. 

In Jesus' words "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness" (Mt. 5:6) He goes out to feed thousands (Jn 6: 1-13). But he does not stop there. He challenges his hearers "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever." (Jn 6: 51-58). After the Resurrection of Christ, he walked with the two disciples to Emmaus. He interpreted Scriptures regarding him to them. When they sat at the table, he broke the bread and vanished from their sight.but the disciples eyes were opened (Lk 24:13-35) This is what the early Christians understood (See also a commentary by the Biblical scholar Scott Hahn here)

One of the great Biblical scholars in history is St. Cyril of Alexandria (ca 376-444). In his commentary on the Gospel of St. John, St. Cyril speaks on the purpose of the Eucharist in these words "For the Son dwells in us in a corporeal sense as Man, commingled and united with us in the mystery of the Eucharist; and also in a spiritual sense as God, by the effectual working and grace of His own Spirit building up our spirit into newness of life and making us partakers of His divine nature"(Cf. here).

In his letter "Against Julian", St. Augustine appeals to many brilliant and holy teachers of his age including Irenaeus, Cyprian, Hilary, Basil, Gregory, Ambrose and Jerome, but cites St. Hilary of Poitier for his abiding faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. See here the site created by Bishop Robert Barron where evidence is shown.

In his Summa Theologiae St. Thomas Aquinas wrote about eating and drinking in receiving the Eucharist "Bread and wine are the proper matter of this sacrament. And the reasonableness of this is seen, first, in the use of this sacrament, which is eating: for, as water is used in the sacrament of Baptism for the purpose of spiritual cleansing, since bodily cleansing is commonly done with water; so bread and wine, wherewith men are commonly fed, are employed in this sacrament for the use of spiritual eating." (Cf. here)  The Blessed Sacrament is the richest spiritual gift since God the Word himself is the offered lamb for eternal joy. Those who receive the Eucharist do not analyze it first in their brains but receive it as a gift from God. This is why it is called the Mystery of thanksgiving.

Tasting Christ in the Eucharist is found too in many early Fathers and Doctors of the Church including St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Justin Martyr, Tertullian and Origen...The full list can be checked on this site.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church mentions that Christ tasted death for our sake. Baptism is the sacrament in which the Christian person is buried with Christ and rises with him...See The Catechism's intra text here...
"O Taste the LORD and see that He is good" (Psalm 34:8)