ORATIONS: EUCHARISTIC ADORATION. In part 17 of my series on The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church US Bishops’ document, I’m reflecting on the 1st of the 7 prayers used to end Benediction. Past articles on this Revival, the whole document, and a free study guide, are on our Parish website: stmaryrutherford.org; click on National Eucharistic Revival Bulletin Articles.
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Eucharistic Adoration – Closing Prayer #1 of 7 Lord Jesus Christ, you gave us the Eucharist |
HOW CAN WE ‘WORSHIP’ A SACRAMENT? Contrary to the charge often leveled against Catholics, that we ‘worship’ Angels and Saints, statues and icons, and the ‘Queen of Heaven’ who was a pagan fertility goddess to whom ancient Israelis offered sacrifice and worshipped (Jeremiah 7:18) – we ONLY worship God. However, we do revere, honor, and respect our Blessed Mother, (her title, ‘Queen of Heaven,’ has NOTHING to do with a pagan goddess!), the Angels and Saints. And while we celebrate Sacraments, we DO WORSHIP one: the Most Blessed Sacrament, because it is Christ’s Real Presence par excellence! A timely analogy may help explain how this is true.
Christmas customs can deeply touch us. Some serenely smile and get teary-eyed as the Christ Child’s statue is carried to the Crèche, as is our Parish custom, in a Candlelight Procession during Christmas Mass. Stony hearts melt as children piously play their parts in our Epiphany Pageant. Some are even moved by The Radio City Christmas Spectacular’s live Nativity Scene. However, if our hearts and minds are more moved by Jesus represented in a resin or plastic, ceramic, wood or golden statue – or in a roleplay – than by His Real Presence, in the form of bread and wine, in the Eucharist – something is terribly wrong!
When the Risen Lord called the then-fanatical Pharisee Saul , who was hellbent on destroying the infant Church, Jesus said, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” He said, “Who are you, sir?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” (Acts 9:4-5) Then Saul , whose name was changed to Paul , Saint Paul, was baptized and came to understand how the Church is the Body of Christ present in the world. And, in time, he came to believe that the Bread and Wine, blessed, broken and shared, is also Christ’s Body and Blood. The National Eucharistic Revival seeks to help us capture or re-capture, discover or rediscover, understand or better understand, the mystery of Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist.
Again, as I said in a previous bulletin article, when we go to a museum or art show, we miss out on so much – unless we have a knowledgeable guide with a trained eye who can help us ‘see’ the ‘whole picture.’ The same is true of the Church’s Sacraments, Rites, and dogmas. To help us ‘see’ more deeply into the full meaning of the Eucharist, the Church did our ‘homework’ for us! She scoured Sacred Scripture for every reference to the Blessed Sacrament – how it was prefigured in the Old Testament – lived out in the New Testament – developed into our 2,000-year-old Tradition. However, we must now do our ‘homework’ – by studying, reflecting on, and actively partaking in the Sacraments and other Rites – to reap their tremendous blessings.
This one oration summarizes almost every aspect of our Eucharistic theology. It references it as: a Memorial of Christ’s suffering and death; as the True, Real Presence of His Sacred Body and Precious Blood; as the source of Salvation or the saving grace by which God redeems us from our sins; as the bond of Peace that can unite all those who receive it into one Body and one Spirit; and as the safest, surest road into the Kingdom where we will be forever joined to the Most Blessed Trinity: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
As we prepare in this Advent time to welcome or re-welcome Christ into our minds and hearts, our homes and activities, make receiving and visiting Him in the Eucharist a priority. And don’t confuse ‘representations’ of Christ to His ‘Real Presence!’
With God’s love and my prayers,
Very Rev. Michael J. Kreder, VF, KCHS
ORATIONS: EUCHARISTIC ADORATION. In part 17 of my series on The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church US Bishops’ document, I’m reflecting on the 1st of the 7 prayers used to end Benediction. Past articles on this Revival, the whole document, and a free study guide, are on our Parish website: stmaryrutherford.org; click on National Eucharistic Revival Bulletin Articles.
|
Eucharistic Adoration – Closing Prayer #1 of 7 Lord Jesus Christ, you gave us the Eucharist |
HOW CAN WE ‘WORSHIP’ A SACRAMENT? Contrary to the charge often leveled against Catholics, that we ‘worship’ Angels and Saints, statues and icons, and the ‘Queen of Heaven’ who was a pagan fertility goddess to whom ancient Israelis offered sacrifice and worshipped (Jeremiah 7:18) – we ONLY worship God. However, we do revere, honor, and respect our Blessed Mother, (her title, ‘Queen of Heaven,’ has NOTHING to do with a pagan goddess!), the Angels and Saints. And while we celebrate Sacraments, we DO WORSHIP one: the Most Blessed Sacrament, because it is Christ’s Real Presence par excellence! A timely analogy may help explain how this is true.
Christmas customs can deeply touch us. Some serenely smile and get teary-eyed as the Christ Child’s statue is carried to the Crèche, as is our Parish custom, in a Candlelight Procession during Christmas Mass. Stony hearts melt as children piously play their parts in our Epiphany Pageant. Some are even moved by The Radio City Christmas Spectacular’s live Nativity Scene. However, if our hearts and minds are more moved by Jesus represented in a resin or plastic, ceramic, wood or golden statue – or in a roleplay – than by His Real Presence, in the form of bread and wine, in the Eucharist – something is terribly wrong!
When the Risen Lord called the then-fanatical Pharisee Saul , who was hellbent on destroying the infant Church, Jesus said, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” He said, “Who are you, sir?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” (Acts 9:4-5) Then Saul , whose name was changed to Paul , Saint Paul, was baptized and came to understand how the Church is the Body of Christ present in the world. And, in time, he came to believe that the Bread and Wine, blessed, broken and shared, is also Christ’s Body and Blood. The National Eucharistic Revival seeks to help us capture or re-capture, discover or rediscover, understand or better understand, the mystery of Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist.
Again, as I said in a previous bulletin article, when we go to a museum or art show, we miss out on so much – unless we have a knowledgeable guide with a trained eye who can help us ‘see’ the ‘whole picture.’ The same is true of the Church’s Sacraments, Rites, and dogmas. To help us ‘see’ more deeply into the full meaning of the Eucharist, the Church did our ‘homework’ for us! She scoured Sacred Scripture for every reference to the Blessed Sacrament – how it was prefigured in the Old Testament – lived out in the New Testament – developed into our 2,000-year-old Tradition. However, we must now do our ‘homework’ – by studying, reflecting on, and actively partaking in the Sacraments and other Rites – to reap their tremendous blessings.
This one oration summarizes almost every aspect of our Eucharistic theology. It references it as: a Memorial of Christ’s suffering and death; as the True, Real Presence of His Sacred Body and Precious Blood; as the source of Salvation or the saving grace by which God redeems us from our sins; as the bond of Peace that can unite all those who receive it into one Body and one Spirit; and as the safest, surest road into the Kingdom where we will be forever joined to the Most Blessed Trinity: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
As we prepare in this Advent time to welcome or re-welcome Christ into our minds and hearts, our homes and activities, make receiving and visiting Him in the Eucharist a priority. And don’t confuse ‘representations’ of Christ to His ‘Real Presence!’
With God’s love and my prayers,
Very Rev. Michael J. Kreder, VF, KCHS