19th Sunday OT
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
OLR, NOLA
To
the great shame of every bishop, priest, deacon, and Catholic
catechist in the nation, a recent survey revealed that fully 66% of
Catholics either do not know what the Church teaches about the Real
Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, or do not accept the teaching.
There are varying degrees of disbelief described in the survey and a
catalog of the various alternative beliefs about the RP – but it's
all too embarrassing and painful to talk about from the pulpit. If
you've ever wondered whether or not Catholic catechesis in the last
five decades has been an unmitigated disaster, wonder no more.
This survey reveals a level of ignorance and infidelity unmatched in
modern Catholic history. If the survey had revealed that 66% of
Catholic didn't understand the delicacies involved in obtaining an
indulgence, I'd be OK with that. If we were talking about 66% of
Catholics not quite grasping the details of Aquinas' argument that
God is subsistent Being-Itself, I wouldn't be worried. But that 2/3
of American Catholics either do not know about or do not believe in
the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist is a scandal approaching
the magnitude of the Protestant Revolution in the 16thc.
Yes, I'm exaggerating. But not by much.
So,
what is the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist? Simply put, the
Church teaches that during the celebration of the Mass, specifically
at the moment of consecration – this is my Body, this is my Blood –
the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ. The
substance of the bread and wine – what
they are – is
transformed into the substance of Christ's Body and Blood. We call
this change transubstantiation. The CCC (1374) teaches, “In the most
blessed sacrament of the Eucharist 'the body and blood, together with
the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the
whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained.'
This presence is called 'real' [. . .] because it is presence in the
fullest sense: that is to say, it is a substantial
presence by which
Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present.”
Therefore, the bread and wine are not merely symbols of Christ's body
and blood; and the Eucharist is not merely a symbolic meal to be
shared by a community. Since Christ is made substantially present on
the altar, the Eucharist is to be understood as our means of
participating in Christ's sacrifice on the Cross. In the Mass, we
reach up into eternity and God reaches down into history, and we are
pulled back to Golgotha to bear witness to the sacrifice that makes
our salvation possible.
I
will repeat: the Mass is not merely a symbolic meal where the
community is reminded of Christ's sacrifice. The Mass is our
immediate participation in his eternal sacrifice. The history of how
we came to see the Mass as merely a symbolic meal is too involved for
a Sunday sermon. Suffice it to say, that after VC2, there was a
movement in the Church to de-emphasize the sacrificial character of
the Mass in favor of a more Protestant view, the Mass as simply a
memorial meal. The altar became a table. The chalice became a cup.
The priest became a presider. And everyone was encouraged to receive
communion. . .whether they were prepared to do so or not. The idea
was: no one must be excluded; all must be welcomed! AND if all we're
doing here tonight is acting out a memorial play, then why not invite
everyone to eat and drink our symbols? That 66% of American Catholics
do not believe in the RPC can be blamed on several factors: the rush
to de-emphasize the sacrificial character of the Mass; a desire to be
seen as welcoming; an embarrassment among Church leaders at the
“medievalism” of the faith; and an ideological push to reshape
the nature of the Catholic priesthood into something resembling
Protestant ministry.
Regardless
of what might have happened historically to the RPC, we must look to
the future and understand why the RPC is necessary to the faith.
First, the Church has always taught the RPC. From Christ himself in
the Gospel of John to the earliest Church Fathers to the great
medieval theologians right up to St. JPII, BXVI, and Francis. Second,
if we are to be fed in the faith, we must be fed something of
substance. If you were to eat an American flag, no one would say that
you've eaten America. Symbols point to and denote; by definition,
they are not the things they symbolize. We eat and drink the Body and
Blood of Christ so that we can become more and more like Christ.
Eating and drinking a symbol is just eating and drinking a symbol.
Third, St. Paul tells us that it is possible to “eat our own
condemnation:” that is, to eat the Body and Blood unworthily is eat
our own damnation. How can eating a mere symbol cause you to condemn
yourself? Can you think of any symbol with that kind of power? No.
But if the bread and wine really are the Body and Blood of Christ,
then eating your own condemnation is real possibility. Lastly,
Christ promises us in Scripture that he is with us always. When two
or more are gathered. In the breaking of the bread. In prayer and
fasting. In our joys and in our sorrows.
I'll
end with a final exhortation: with the easy availability of on-line
resources – the CCC, the USCCB website, dozens of Catholic Answers
type sites, hundreds of forums to ask questions – there can be no
excuse for ignorance of the faith. No one expects every Catholic to
be an academically-trained theologian. I often find myself WAY of my
depth when listening to the pros at the seminary debate some
theological topic. We had a guest lecturer at NDS not too long ago. I
was lost three minutes into the lecture, which proved pretty
embarrassing for me the next day when the seminarians wanted me to
explain his talk! I'm not saying that you must be able to carry on a
detailed conservation about theological minutiae. I am saying that
every adult Catholic should be able to answer basic questions about
the fundamentals of the faith. Questions like: what does the Church
mean by “the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist”? That's
basic. At the very least, I would hope that you could say – w/o
fudging – that you believe this truth. “Faith is the
realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.”
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