Encountering Christ in the Eucharist
Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. 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…” (John 6:53-55).
Upon hearing Jesus speak these words, many of his disciples left him because they could not accept such a difficult teaching. However, the twelve apostles remained faithful to him. Obeying the Lord’s command at the Last Supper to “do this in memory of me” (Luke 22:19), they preserved his teaching in the Church’s celebration of the Eucharist from the time of the earliest Christian community in Jerusalem down through the centuries to the present day. Thus, the Catholic Church has always professed that in the celebration of the Eucharist, bread and wine become the Body and Blood of the risen Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit and the instrumentality of the priest. The body, blood, soul and divinity of the risen Christ are truly present in what appears to be bread and wine, but what are, in fact, the Body and Blood of Christ. This is what is meant by the expression the “Real Presence” of Christ in the Eucharist.
Though one cannot exhaust the Mystery of the Eucharist, the gift of faith and the grace of the Holy Spirit can give us some understanding of this great Mystery. Relying on Christ’s teaching given to us in Scripture and Tradition, the Church describes what happens during the consecration of the Eucharist with the word “transubstantiation.” This word does not explain how bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ; rather, it describes the change that takes place. Before their consecration, the gifts brought forward are bread and wine, both in substance and in appearance. (In theological language, the word “substance” means the underlying reality of what a thing is at its deepest level of existence.) After the consecration, though the appearance of bread and wine remains, the substance has been fundamentally and unalterably changed into the Body and Blood of Christ. By the power of the Holy Spirit, the underlying reality of the gifts—what they are at their deepest level of existence—has changed from bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. The bread ceases to be bread, and the wine ceases to be wine; yet under the appearance of either form, we are offered the entire Christ—his body, blood, soul and divinity. Christ is wholly present under the appearance of either bread or wine and in any piece of the consecrated host or any drop of the Precious Blood.
After Mass has ended, Christ’s presence in the Eucharist endures. Though it is possible to consume all of the consecrated bread, Catholics reserve some in the tabernacle. This practice originated and continues so that the Blessed Sacrament can be distributed to the dying, the sick, and those who legitimately cannot be present at Mass. Reserving the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle also makes it possible for the faithful to adore the risen Christ present in the Eucharist, whether this is done in the Rite of Eucharistic Exposition and Benediction or when the faithful pray privately before the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle.
Because Catholics believe that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist and that through this sacrament he offers us the saving grace of his death and resurrection, we properly prepare ourselves to approach this sacrament, and we do so with tremendous reverence. Catholics who enjoy good health fast from all food and drink (except water and medicine) for at least one hour before receiving the Eucharist as a sign of reverence and to allow our physical hunger remind us of our spiritual hunger for union with Christ. If conscious of grave sin, Catholics are not to receive the Eucharist without prior sacramental confession except for a grave reason where there is no opportunity for confession. In this case, one must make an act of perfect contrition and intend to confess as soon as possible. As a sign of respect and adoration, Catholics genuflect in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle and bow before receiving both the Body and Blood of the Lord. This can be done while the person before you is receiving Holy Communion. These outward signs of reverence are not empty gestures. Rather, they reflect, express and strengthen an inward disposition of adoration for the Risen Christ present in the Eucharist, our Savior who died and rose so that we might have eternal life.
~ Jean-Marie Dimech-Juchniewicz
February 16, 2003