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The Real Presence

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The Real Presence

It started as a little spark, so small, so insignificant, but continued to grow and spread. The little spark became a fire, which very rapidly turned into a wild, then cyclonic conflagration as it sucked more and more air into itself… Nature continued to change the air into food for the ragging inferno. Nature had changed one substance into another, a common occurrence in nature. Yet God the creator of nature is questioned when He changes bread and wine into His own Body and Blood.

What images can one use to describe the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist? How can such a mystery be explained? It is difficult to create any adequate images that may help a person understand that Jesus Christ is really present, body and blood, in the Eucharist after the priest consecrates the bread and wine at Mass. The best approach may just be to use the words of Jesus Himself when He issues His demand….yes it is a demand, to eat His body and drink His blood. Jesus is the guarantor of the reality of the actual presence of His body and blood in the Catholic Eucharist.

In his gospel, John thoroughly relates the command of Jesus to “eat my flesh and drink my blood.” Jesus began his discourse on what we now call the Eucharist shortly after He fed the multitudes with bread and fish. Thus Jesus had prepared his followers for His astonishing revelation that they must be prepared to eat His flesh and drink His blood. Indeed though it was a difficult command to understand and accept, yet it occurred only after Jesus had presided over many miracles; He was preparing His followers for some hard teachings. Many could not accept the direction to eat His flesh and drink His blood; it was too hard for them. When followers began to murmur against the idea of eating His flesh and drinking His blood, Jesus did not change or refine His message. Jesus did not indicate that he was speaking only symbolically, but rather He emphasized that He was truly commanding his disciples to eat of His flesh and drink His blood. Then as now, Jesus was willing to accept the loss of many of His followers, rather than water down the truth of the requirement to eat His body and drink His blood.

St. Thomas Aquinas clearly stated in his Summa Gentiles that “by the conversion of bread into the body of Christ the very body of Christ exists in this Sacrament of the Church and is eaten by the faithful.” In the Catholic Catechism it is proclaimed, “By the consecration the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is brought about. Under the consecrated species of bread and wine Christ himself, living and glorious, is present in a true, real, and substantial manner: his Body and his Blood, with his soul and his divinity.”

Pope John Paul II wrote in Ecclesia in America: “My Predecessor Paul VI deemed it necessary to explain the uniqueness of Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist, which ‘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.’ … Under the species of bread and wine, ‘Christ is present, whole and entire in his physical reality, corporally present.”

Father John Hardon, the highly regarded 20th century theologian and philosopher, described the Catholic belief in actual presence of the body and blood of Jesus in the Eucharist in the following manner.

“During the supper with His apostles on Holy Thursday, after blessing the bread and wine, Jesus once again commanded the apostles to eat His flesh and drink His blood in remembrance of Him. The celebration of the Eucharist has been part of the Catholic worship since the beginnings of the church. The Church has been consistent through the centuries that after the consecration of the bread and wine by a priest, the Eucharist contains the actual body and blood of Jesus. We are to believe that the Eucharist is Jesus Christ – simply, without qualification. It is God become man in the fullness of His divine nature, in the fullness of His human nature, in the fullness of His body and soul, in the fullness of everything that makes Jesus Jesus. He is in the Eucharist with His human mind and will united with the Divinity, with His hands and feet, His face and features, with His eyes and lips and ears and nostrils, with His affections and emotions and, with emphasis, with His living, pulsating, physical Sacred Heart. That is what our Catholic Faith demands of us that we believe. If we believe this, we are Catholic. If we do not, we are not, no matter what people may think we are.”

Assuming a person is Catholic and that Jesus is God, then it seems reasonable….no, more than reasonable….that a person should thirst after the Eucharist. What a great gift? Should not mankind flock to it?

Additional Reading Suggestions

http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0941.htm   Fr. John Hardon article

http://www.catholic.com/tracts/who-can-receive-commmunion  

www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a3.htm  The Catholic Catechism

 

Persistence and Prayer

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Observing a young toddler attempting her first steps, it was striking how persistent she was in pursuing her goal of walking. She would struggle to her feet, glance quickly ahead, and then hurriedly step forward with a rush….and abruptly fall. But discouraged she was not….because she was determined to walk. Nothing would stop her and nothing did. After numerous falls and an equal number of numerous risings to start her quest again, she finally succeeded in her quest to walk. Oh what persistence and determination!  And what a lesson for all of us! Persist and persist again and again in seeking one’s goals.

We have all known aspiring athletes who persisted in their training in order to achieve some great athletic achievements. Most of whom would never have succeeded in reaching their quest, if they had not risen and charged forward after each and every failure, numerous as they may be. They learned that each failure is the next step towards success.

There is an American baseball player who has recently reach the pinnacle of success in his position….only after failing on several occasions. His failures even led him to consider leaving the game. Yet he stubbornly persisted and toiled diligently to improve his skills. After many setbacks he has reached the top of his profession and is admired by all of his colleagues. He persisted, learned from failure, made adjustments, and proceeded towards his goal.

But what if he did not eventually succeed as a baseball player? What would all of that persistence and toil get him? Would he have been nothing more than another frustrated athlete whose dreams of greatness were dashed on the fields of endeavor?  Or would he have learned that persistence itself is a great teacher and enabler? Would he been able to say to himself, “I did not fail; I learned that I was not destined to be a successful professional ball player, but I also learned that persistence has its own rewards. I know more about myself.”

In every field of endeavor, sports, business, teaching, individuals must persevere to achieve their goals. The same perseverance is especially needed in our relations with God; we are encouraged to persist. Jesus advises us to persist always in prayer so the Father will hear and answer our requests. Luke in his gospel relates two instances in which Jesus provides clear examples and encouragement to persist in prayer. In one instance, Jesus tells the story about the widow who is very persistent in pleading her case before a judge; Jesus pointedly notes that the widow eventually won her case precisely because she was so persistent. Similarly, in the story of the person who requests some food from his neighbor at a very late hour so he can serve some late arriving visitors, Jesus again pointedly comments on the neighbor’s persistence and the success he achieves as a result of his persistence. The lesson Jesus is emphasizing in both stories is the need for us to be very persistent in our prayers….pray and pray some more. One might go so far as to say that we need to continually pester God with our prayers and requests. 

Without persistence no toddler would walk and without persistence human accomplishment would not be achievable. Without persistent prayer, knowing and loving God would be very difficult, if not impossible.  We should not let ordinary human activities and interests crowd out our prayerful activities.  Our prayers will be heard and answered, though we may not like the answer. Persevere in prayer to the end… and then persevere some more…. and then some more. Never quit praying!  God does hear us and loves us!