THE EUCHARIST (2) – Christ is Really There
In the Eucharist, “the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained” (CCC1374). As stated by Pope Paul VI in his Encyclical Mysterium Fidei, the Holy Eucharist is “a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present.” The consecrated hosts are not merely just a symbol of the Body and Blood of Christ but the real presence of Christ in its fullest sense (CCC1374). Just as Christ said at the Last Supper that the bread He broke is His body, “take, eat, this is my body” (Mt 26:26) and the cup He took is His blood, “drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood” (Mt 26:27). Therefore, at the sacrifice of the Mass, the sacraments of which He is the author (CCC 1373), the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ by “the words of Christ” and “the invocation of the Holy Spirit” (CCC 1333), the Epiclesis. Just as St. John Chrysostom declared, “it is not man that causes the things offered to become the Body and Blood of Christ, but He who was crucified for us, Christ Himself” (CCC 1375). Christ becomes present in the species of bread and wine at the transubstantiation (CCC 1376), where His presence “endures as long as the Eucharistic species subsist” (CCC 1377). This is a sign of the memorial of His love for us (CCC 1380) “to the end” (Jn 13:1). “It is highly fitting that Christ should have wanted to remain present to His Church in this unique way” (CCC1380) so that all those who believe in Him may return in complete unity of Christians in the Eucharist (CCC 1398).
Therefore, not only must we reserve and handle “the consecrated hosts with the utmost care” (CCC 1378), we must make worthy our reception of the Holy Sacrament when Christ becomes our guest (CCC 1387), i.e. observe the fast required and ensure that we are in a state of grace. Otherwise, we commit sacrilege, meaning “profaning or treating unworthily the sacraments and other liturgical actions” (CCC 2120) which is a grave sin especially when committed against the Eucharist. “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the Body and Blood of the Lord” (1 Cor 11:27).
St Thomas Aquinas said that the presence of the true Body and Blood of Christ is something that “cannot be apprehended by senses but only by Faith” (CCC 1381). When we express our Faith in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist during the liturgy of the Mass (CCC 1378), we also believe in Christ’s presence in the Blessed Sacrament outside of the Mass, i.e. in the tabernacle, at the exposition of the Eucharist during Eucharistic adoration, benediction or procession etc. We ought to express our worship of the Holy Eucharist by “genuflecting or bowing deeply as a sign of adoration of the Lord” (CCC 1378). “Let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker” (Ps 95:6). Christ’s presence in the Eucharist is worthy of our worship, as to adore God is to acknowledge the greatness of the Lord who created us (CCC 2628) who is the “King of Glory” (Ps 24:10).
As our Faith in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist deepen, we would become more conscious of the meaning of silent adoration of the Lord presents under the Eucharistic species (CCC 1379).
“How lovely is Thy dwelling place, O LORD of hosts! For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand elsewhere” (Ps 84:1 & 10). Just as Pope Paul VI had said in his Encyclical Mysterium Fidei, “to visit the Blessed Sacrament is a proof of gratitude, an expression of love, and a duty of adoration toward Christ our Lord” (CCC 1418). Pope St John Paul II, who had great devotion towards the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, had also expressed in his Letter Dominicae Cenae that “the Church and the world have a great need for Eucharistic worship” (CCC 1380). He believed that by offering our time to meet Christ at adoration, who is waiting for us in this sacrament of love, we can take part in making amends for the serious offenses and crimes of the world, hence, “let us not refuse the time to go to meet Him in adoration. Let our adoration never cease” (CCC 1380).
This article was written by Joni Cheng.
Published on O Clarim, July 21, 2018