EUCHARIST IS THE REAL PRESENCE OF CHRIST. In part 5 of my series on the US Catholic Bishops’ document, The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church, which will guide their three-year National Eucharistic Revival which began last June, I reflect on the one of three essential truths about the Eucharist: it is the Real Presence of Christ. Last week I addressed the Sacrifice of Christ and next week I’ll reflect on Communion with Christ and the Church. For past articles on the Revival, the whole document or free study guide, go to our Parish website: stmaryrutherford.org and click on National Eucharistic Revival Bulletin Articles.

“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.” (John 6:54-56)

Here’s a quote from the Bishops’ document:  

“… the Church has (always) believed and celebrated according to the (above) teaching of Jesus … It is not “ordinary bread and ordinary drink” that we receive in the Eucharist, but the flesh and blood of Christ, who came to nourish and transform us, to restore our relationship to God and to one another.”

THE BREAD OF LIFE. To understand why the Church so firmly teaches that the Eucharist truly is the Real Presence of Jesus Christ, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, it would help if you read the 6th Chapter of Saint John’s Gospel: the Bread of Life Discourse. It should sound very familiar, for back in 1966, Sr. Suzanne Toolan, RSM, enshrined that chapter in a beloved hymn we still sing: “I Am the Bread of Life.” As it unfolds, it becomes clear that Christ’s teaching about his own Real Presence in what became the Eucharist shocked many – and even drove some away! Jesus even asked His Apostles if they also wanted to leave!

That is why the Catholic Church INSISTS that the Eucharist is Christ’s Real Presence! For after Jesus proclaimed that the Consecrated Bread and Wine truly become His own Flesh and Blood, He then added a modern-age adage: “It’s MY way or the highway!” And just as He let the non-believers walk away and not partake in the Eucharist, so, too, does Holy Mother Church. She does not and cannot offer a blanket invite to all to join in the Eucharistic Banquet. Those who wish to receive MUST first accept that it truly IS Christ’s Real Presence, not simply a symbol or remembrance of Him!

WE NEED EYES OF FAITH! To the human eye, the Eucharistic Elements still look and taste like bread and wine, even after they are consecrated, the highest form of a blessing. (Admittedly, for practical reasons and to minimize crumbs, we use thin wafers that are more akin to cardboard!) But with the eyes of faith, we can ‘see’ how, after the Ordained Bishop or Priest ‘brings down’ the Holy Spirit upon the offerings with his consecrated hands and says the words our Lord said at the Last Supper, Jesus fulfills His promise to “be with us always” (Cf. Matthew 28:20) in a most ordinary yet most profound and amazing way! This is, perhaps, the greatest of all the mysteries of our Faith, one that even Saints struggled with – yet they put their trust in what Jesus said is, indeed, true: “This is my Body; this is my Blood!”

BE TRULY PRESENT TO THE REAL PRESENCE. At the 1960’s Second Vatican Council, Saint Paul VI wrote, “This presence is called ‘real’ not to exclude the idea that the others are ‘real’ too, but rather to indicate presence par excellence, because it is substantial and through it Christ becomes present whole and entire, God and man.” Because of this, the Church prescribes rites and actions to reaffirm and bolster our faith in the Real Presence. Among them are, primarily, our worship of the Blessed Sacrament outside of holy Mass: Eucharistic Exposition, Adoration, and Benediction; Eucharistic Processions; and Forty Hours Devotions. We are directed to reverently genuflect before the Blessed Sacrament reserved in the Tabernacle, refraining from all food and drink (except water and medicine) for one hour before, and bowing one’s head just before receiving Holy Communion. We must confess all mortal sins before receiving Holy Communion, or if no Priest is available, to make a good Act of Contrition and get to Confession ASAP. And we must never stop learning about the Eucharist or miss a weekly dose of this grace-filled Gift!

With God’s love and my prayers,

Very Rev. Michael J. Kreder, VF, KCHS

EUCHARIST IS THE REAL PRESENCE OF CHRIST. In part 5 of my series on the US Catholic Bishops’ document, The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church, which will guide their three-year National Eucharistic Revival which began last June, I reflect on the one of three essential truths about the Eucharist: it is the Real Presence of Christ. Last week I addressed the Sacrifice of Christ and next week I’ll reflect on Communion with Christ and the Church. For past articles on the Revival, the whole document or free study guide, go to our Parish website: stmaryrutherford.org and click on National Eucharistic Revival Bulletin Articles.

“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.” (John 6:54-56)

Here’s a quote from the Bishops’ document:  

“… the Church has (always) believed and celebrated according to the (above) teaching of Jesus … It is not “ordinary bread and ordinary drink” that we receive in the Eucharist, but the flesh and blood of Christ, who came to nourish and transform us, to restore our relationship to God and to one another.”

THE BREAD OF LIFE. To understand why the Church so firmly teaches that the Eucharist truly is the Real Presence of Jesus Christ, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, it would help if you read the 6th Chapter of Saint John’s Gospel: the Bread of Life Discourse. It should sound very familiar, for back in 1966, Sr. Suzanne Toolan, RSM, enshrined that chapter in a beloved hymn we still sing: “I Am the Bread of Life.” As it unfolds, it becomes clear that Christ’s teaching about his own Real Presence in what became the Eucharist shocked many – and even drove some away! Jesus even asked His Apostles if they also wanted to leave!

That is why the Catholic Church INSISTS that the Eucharist is Christ’s Real Presence! For after Jesus proclaimed that the Consecrated Bread and Wine truly become His own Flesh and Blood, He then added a modern-age adage: “It’s MY way or the highway!” And just as He let the non-believers walk away and not partake in the Eucharist, so, too, does Holy Mother Church. She does not and cannot offer a blanket invite to all to join in the Eucharistic Banquet. Those who wish to receive MUST first accept that it truly IS Christ’s Real Presence, not simply a symbol or remembrance of Him!

WE NEED EYES OF FAITH! To the human eye, the Eucharistic Elements still look and taste like bread and wine, even after they are consecrated, the highest form of a blessing. (Admittedly, for practical reasons and to minimize crumbs, we use thin wafers that are more akin to cardboard!) But with the eyes of faith, we can ‘see’ how, after the Ordained Bishop or Priest ‘brings down’ the Holy Spirit upon the offerings with his consecrated hands and says the words our Lord said at the Last Supper, Jesus fulfills His promise to “be with us always” (Cf. Matthew 28:20) in a most ordinary yet most profound and amazing way! This is, perhaps, the greatest of all the mysteries of our Faith, one that even Saints struggled with – yet they put their trust in what Jesus said is, indeed, true: “This is my Body; this is my Blood!”

BE TRULY PRESENT TO THE REAL PRESENCE. At the 1960’s Second Vatican Council, Saint Paul VI wrote, “This presence is called ‘real’ not to exclude the idea that the others are ‘real’ too, but rather to indicate presence par excellence, because it is substantial and through it Christ becomes present whole and entire, God and man.” Because of this, the Church prescribes rites and actions to reaffirm and bolster our faith in the Real Presence. Among them are, primarily, our worship of the Blessed Sacrament outside of holy Mass: Eucharistic Exposition, Adoration, and Benediction; Eucharistic Processions; and Forty Hours Devotions. We are directed to reverently genuflect before the Blessed Sacrament reserved in the Tabernacle, refraining from all food and drink (except water and medicine) for one hour before, and bowing one’s head just before receiving Holy Communion. We must confess all mortal sins before receiving Holy Communion, or if no Priest is available, to make a good Act of Contrition and get to Confession ASAP. And we must never stop learning about the Eucharist or miss a weekly dose of this grace-filled Gift!

With God’s love and my prayers,

Very Rev. Michael J. Kreder, VF, KCHS