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July 28, 2023The recent meetings of the US bishops, in concert with the bishops around the world, resulted in a movement towards renewing our understanding and recognition of the centrality of the Eucharist. This is one of our central teachings and is what the Vatican Council II documents called the “source and summit of our faith”. (LGII #5) At Mass, at the words of institution, when the priest says, “Take this all of you and eat it, this is my body, which will be given up for you…” and likewise with the chalice, “Take this all of you and drink from it this is the cup of my blood…..” the real presence of the glorified body of our risen savior Jesus Christ is made present. The long word for this is transubstantiation, i.e., the inner reality of the material (the bread and wine become the body and blood of the risen Lord). This is the central moment of our faith, which is why we say that it is the source and summit of our faith. Recent polls by Catholic polling companies reveal that even among practicing Catholics there is doubt and misunderstanding. In our own time, there has been a retreat from Mass and certainly the pandemic did a lot to change the habits of practicing Catholics, too. In order to address this concern, the bishops are inviting the whole church to a Eucharistic Revival. Across the nation and the world there will be moments in which we celebrate the Eucharist and invite people to nights and times of adoration. In our own parish, we are attempting to continue with our regular practice of adoration and to focus on the reality of the true presence in the Eucharist. One change we have made is to give some instruction in receiving Communion. We ask that each person, particularly if you receive in the hand, immediately consume the Host and not walk away with it. This is partly to remember that Jesus told us to, “take and eat”, not take and adore, which some do. It is a laudable intention, but the focus at this point in the Mass is for all of us to be fed at the same time in the same way. We also must be careful how we handle this precious gift. With the number of visitors that we have, it is important that we model good behavior around the Eucharist.
We have also been increasing the number of ministers of the Eucharist to include more people in service to God’s people. At our baptisms, we were anointed priests, prophets, and king/queens in the image of Christ. That means that we all have a call to discipleship through service (priests) to share the word of God’s message (prophets) and to lead others to Jesus. (kings and queens). Everybody is invited to respond to this universal call to holiness and all of us are called to use the gifts we have received to make other disciples. The best way to prepare ourselves and others to do this is through the Eucharist. Whether we experience Jesus in the reception of the Eucharist or whether we spend time in adoration, the goal is to prepare ourselves to be able to carry the message. Every week, we have the opportunity to receive part of the mystery of love that is the glorified body of the risen Lord.
This week, we continue to reflect on what it means to be a Eucharistic people, prepared to receive and to share with others, this great truth, the presence of Christ.
Building news: This week we were visited by a plumber and a painter. We have had a little money offered to us to repaint the chapel. The plumber was doing some work on the air conditioner in the chapel. We also had a problem in the rectory with running water, but all seems to be okay now. After many years of service, we are considering whether a change to a new and more efficient system might be a good investment. We also had the cushions in the church steam cleaned. They were looking like they needed some care, and the company was ready to go this week.
