I desire the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ

These last couple of weeks, I have been doing a lot of reflecting on the Eucharist, and specifically the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.  Exposition and Adoration of the Eucharist was one of the biggest parts of the youth conference I attended as a chaperone two weekends ago, the Eucharist was a topic of discussion during the religious education certification classes I took last week, and this past Sunday was the Solemnity of Corpus Christi (The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ).   That the bread and wine are truly transubstantiated into the body and blood of Christ during the Mass is something that I have never doubted or questioned, but it is something that I have found myself taking for granted from time to time.  

In the Eucharist, Christ is truly and substantially present under the appearance of ordinary bread and wine.  Think about that for a minute, what does it mean to you that the Savior of the Universe makes Himself present on every altar and in every tabernacle throughout the world? 

It isn’t easy for us to truly believe this, just as it wasn’t easy for the followers of Christ to comprehend when Jesus told them about it.  How often are we like the former disciples of Christ that we hear about in John 6:66, those who departed and returned to their former way of life because they could not accept that Jesus was the Bread of Life, that his flesh was true food and his blood was true drink?  These disciples could not accept this central teaching of Christ and so they departed.  We don’t see Jesus running after them, saying “Just kidding, I was only talking symbolically; I didn’t actually mean that I would give my flesh and blood for you to drink.”  No, Christ instead turns to the Apostles and asks them if they want to leave as well.  Peter, though, answers for them, saying “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”  John 6:68

How many times do we kneel at Mass and not really accept what Christ so clearly taught to his followers?  How many times do we genuflect before a tabernacle and think that maybe there isn’t really anything there?  

We must answer these times of insecurity and doubt just as Peter did.  We must declare that we believe and are convinced that Jesus Christ is the Holy One of God, that he gives his true flesh and true blood to be our food and drink, not just as a symbol of His love for us – but actually, in real and substantial witness to His love for us.

The real presence of Christ in the Eucharist has always been a doctrine of the Church.  It has been the belief of Catholics from Apostolic times to the present and will be until Christ comes again.  The sixth chapter of John’s Gospel and each of the institution narratives in the other Gospels are such rich illustrations of what Christ gives to us in the Eucharist. 

 The early Church Fathers had plenty to say on the subject, from Paul’s letters:

• "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?" (1 Cor. 10:16). 
• "Therefore whoever eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. . . . For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself" (1 Cor. 11:27, 29).           

To Ignatius of Antioch around 110 A.D.:

• "I have no taste for corruptible food nor for the pleasures of this life. I desire the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of David; and for drink I desire his blood, which is love incorruptible" (Letter to the Romans 7:3 [A.D. 110]
• "Take note of those who hold heterodox opinions on the grace of Jesus Christ which has come to us, and see how contrary their opinions are to the mind of God. . . . They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins and which that Father, in his goodness, raised up again. They who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes" (Letter to the Smyrnaeans 6:2–7:1 [A.D. 110]).

  To Justin Martyr in 155:

• "We call this food Eucharist, and no one else is permitted to partake of it, except one who believes our teaching to be true and who has been washed in the washing which is for the remission of sins and for regeneration [i.e., has received baptism] and is thereby living as Christ enjoined. For not as common bread nor common drink do we receive these; but since Jesus Christ our Savior was made incarnate by the word of God and had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so too, as we have been taught, the food which has been made into the Eucharist by the Eucharistic prayer set down by him, and by the change of which our blood and flesh is   nurtured, is both the flesh and the blood of that incarnated Jesus" (First Apology 66 [A.D. 151]).

This is just a small sample of the witnesses that the early Church Fathers give to us; so many other writings are still available to us today. 

I know that this is one Catholic belief that many of our separated brothers struggle with.  How could that little wafer actually be the Body of Christ?  The simple answer is that it is because Christ loves us so much that He humbles Himself to be truly present for us, just as He was truly present when he walked the Earth before and after His death.  

We Catholics believe that the Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life.” (CCC 1324).  I want to challenge myself and each one of you to carefully read and reflect on what Sacred Scripture, the Church Fathers, and the Catechism tells us about the Eucharist and to truly make the Eucharist the source and summit of our lives, today and until the end of time.

Be firmly set upon the Rock to avoid the lava waste

This past weekend, I spent the weekend at a youth conference as one of the chaperones for the youth group of another parish in my Diocese.  I have known the youth minister at this parish for several years, and when they were in need of another male chaperone, I agreed.  I went into the weekend not knowing a single one of the 29 kids who were going on the trip, which was a very different experience than volunteering with the youth group at my own parish.  

Throughout the weekend, we heard from several different speakers, all coming from very different backgrounds and life experiences.  The theme of the weekend was being “rooted in Christ”.  Of all of talks we heard, two Scripture passages really stuck out for me, one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament.  Over the weekend, the kids, other chaperones and I reflected on this theme, and I think it is so important in each of our daily lives.

“Thus says the LORD: Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh, whose heart turns away from the LORD. He is like a barren bush in the desert that enjoys no change of season, but stands in a lava waste, a salt and empty earth. Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose hope is the LORD. He is like a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream: It fears not the heat when it comes, its leaves stay green; in the year of drought it shows no distress, but still bears fruit.” Jeremiah 17:5-8

For me, the greatest part in going on a weekend retreat is being refreshed and encouraged in my faith.  We all know that it is hard to live the life we are called by God to live, especially with all of the distractions our society throws in front of us.  So often, we put our trust only in ourselves and the things of the world.  We are built up by society to believe that we have all power within us to do anything we want, and that we should do whatever we want to be happy and enjoy our lives.  And that way usually works for a while.  We are blessed to live in a great country, to have so much readily at our fingertips. 

But, eventually the heat and the drought comes – we lose our job, suffer an illness or injury, lose a loved one – and our entire world crumbles around us.  We wither in the face of these hardships, and we don’t have any way to deal with them.  But our God tells us exactly what we need to do to avoid going down this path.  If we live our life like the tree Jeremiah is talking about, then we will be able to handle the suffering that comes our way.  Because the tree stayed close to its source of life, the stream, even when the weather around it turned nasty, it was able to survive because it was tapped into the source of water that would never dry up.  

Sure, we are always going to face suffering, Christ never promised that we wouldn’t.  But, like Jeremiah’s tree, we have a great source of water that we can continually tap into.  Through the power of the Most Holy Trinity, Christ is our source of Living Water.  If we dig deep and plant ourselves with Him, then we will never wither and die in the face of heat and drought – those things can never conquer us if we are firmly rooted in Christ and live our lives the way He has showed us.

Christ tells us these things Himself, in a different way, when He was teaching the crowds during the Sermon on the Mount:

"Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined."  Matthew 7:24-27

Think about the difference between rock and sand for a minute.  I love going to the beach and laying on the sand, soaking up the sun.  It’s comfortable.  Laying on a rock, on the other hand, is hard and sometimes uncomfortable.  When we reach down, we can pick up a handful of warm sand, but then it slips right through our fingertips – just like all of the illusory promises the world offers.  But when we reach down and find rock, it is solid, immovable, and impenetrable.  

It is certainly not always comfortable to live as a faithful Christian – the world looks at that and laughs – telling us over and over that we shouldn’t limit ourselves and that we should frolic on the beach with everyone else.  But when the floods and winds come trying to drown us out and blow us over, the rock will remain secure, and if we build our live upon the Rock of Christ and His Church then we will remain secure also.

Pray that I and you and all of the kids I spent the weekend with remain firmly set upon the rock and rooted in Christ, and that none of us ever find ourselves stranded in the lava waste.

I am with you always, until the end of the age

I have always loved celebrating birthdays.  My own, my family members’, and friends’ birthdays have always seemed to be worthy of great celebration – how lucky are we to have been born, especially in a post-Roe v. Wade society.  My birthday is January 1^st, which means that I always get to have a party – I’m always off work that day, and people are always willing to celebrate the countdown, shoot off poppers, and drink champagne with me.  

Yesterday, the Church celebrated Pentecost Sunday – the day that the Church as we know it was born – when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles and they went out to fulfill the mission that Christ had left them.  How did you celebrate the birthday of the Church?  Did you grumble because there was an extra song before the Gospel – or did you truly celebrate all that we have been given by God?  

The first reading yesterday from the Acts of the Apostles is one of my favorite accounts in all of Scripture:
“When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem. At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd, but they were confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were astounded, and in amazement they asked, ‘Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans? Then how does each of us hear them in his native language? We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene, as well as travelers from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God.’” Acts 2:1-11

Truly, I cannot imagine what it must have been like for the Apostles and for the crowd that they spoke to that day.  During the fifty days between the Resurrection and Pentecost, the Apostles were undoubtedly unsure of what they were supposed to do, now that Christ was no longer going to be physically present with them.  I’m sure they were still trying to fully sort out all of the events leading up to the Passion and death of Christ, then finding the tomb empty, and having the Risen Lord appear before them in the upper room.  I imagine them feeling, all of a sudden, that their time with Jesus had been much to short, that he had not had time to teach them and show them all that they needed to learn in order to successfully do as Christ had commanded when he told them: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19-20

But, Jesus just didn’t give them a command – He also made a promise to them that day when He said “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”  Matthew 28:20.  On that day of Pentecost, the Apostles learned exactly what Jesus had meant by this statement – He would not be with them physically, but would not just be a memory either – He would be with them, infused with them, as God the Holy Spirit. 

“‘When the work which the Father gave the Son to do on earth was accomplished, the Holy Spirit was sent on the day of Pentecost in order that he might continually sanctify the Church.’ Then ‘the Church was openly displayed to the crowds and the spread of the Gospel among the nations, through preaching, was begun.’”  (CCC 767)

When the Holy Spirit descended upon them, they were sealed with the gifts that were necessary to their ministry – to building up the Church established by Jesus Christ.  The Church that Christ chose to build upon the rock of Peter, the Church that He entrusted to those men from Galilee, surged forward that day when the Apostles stepped forth and proclaimed the Word to all of those who would listen.  That Church to which I know that I am so privileged to be a part of today, 2000 years later, led by the successor of Peter and the other Apostles, was fully established that day when the Holy Trinity was fully revealed.  

“So that she can fulfill her mission, the Holy Spirit ‘bestows upon [the Church] varied hierarchic and charismatic gifts, and in this way directs her.’ ‘Henceforward the Church, endowed with the gifts of her founder and faithfully observing his precepts of charity, humility and self-denial, receives the mission of proclaiming and establishing among all peoples the Kingdom of Christ and of God, and she is on earth the seed and the beginning of that kingdom.’” (CCC 768)

Pentecost is truly a day to celebrate, and not just for its historical significance, but for what it means for us today.  The Church, and its members, is continually endowed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are necessary to carry out the mission Christ entrusted first to Peter and the other Apostles, and then to disciples they won for Christ, all the way down to each of us here today.  As members of the Body of Christ, we must continually celebrate what God has given to us, and strive to always use the gifts of the Holy Spirit for the benefit of all God’s people.  So, if you didn’t sing Happy Birthday to the Church yesterday, do it today!

Whoever Wishes to be Great Among You Shall be Your Servant

Can you believe that the 2012 presidential election is already heating up?  New challengers seem to be coming forward every day to throw their hats in the ring for the chance to take on President Obama next fall.  You can hardly turn on the evening news or read the headlines without being bombarded by all of these potential candidates.  I have always followed politics closely, and even chose Political Science as my second major as an undergrad.  I can remember having a mock presidential election when I was in middle school, and politics have always been a topic of conversation in my family and among my friends – and even though we don’t always agree, we are never afraid to discuss the issues.

Fully aware of all of this political interest, and of my more active participation in our Catholic faith over the last four years, my brother e-mailed me the following quote the other week, which he came across in a book he had been reading.

"A Catholic should not enter the public life unless willing to look on such office the way any Catholic should look on any job, as a means of becoming a saint." Fr. George Rutler, Beyond Modernity

For such a short sentence, I think that this statement is really quite profound.  Many of our politicians are Catholic, and it seems that most other politicians claim a Christian faith of some variety or another.  My Congressman is Catholic, the Speaker of the House of Representatives is Catholic, and so is the former Speaker – it seems clear that Catholics are appearing on both sides of the political aisle.   But are any of them actually living out their faith in the way that Fr. Rutler is talking about?  Can we name any Catholic political figure who we think might be declared a saint by the Church someday? 

What do we make of this?  What are the responsibilities of a Catholic when it comes to public service?  And not just elected politicians, but anyone who works in public service and citizens too – how are we called to serve the public?

The Catechism tells us that “those who exercise authority should do so as a service…No one can command or establish what is contrary to the dignity of persons and the natural law.”  (CCC 2235).  “Political authorities are obliged to respect the fundamental rights of the human person. They will dispense justice humanely by respecting the rights of everyone, especially of families and the disadvantaged….Political rights are meant to be exercised for the common good of the nation and the human community.”  (CCC 2237).

We see this notion of service laid out clearly by Christ in the Gospel of Matthew: “Jesus summoned them and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.’”  Matthew 20:25-28

A Catholic, or any Christian for that matter, cannot shy away from service to God just because he engages in public service.  It is so critical that these most public and powerful Christians actually act like Christians – defending the dignity of human life, from conception to natural death; defending the rights of the poor and sick; defending all of those who cannot defend themselves; humanely dispensing justice to those who violate the law; and ensuring that the laws of the land fully comport with God’s laws.  Imagine, for a second, what good might occur if every Christian public servant remembered that he or she was first and foremost the servant of God.

When considering the subject of political/public service, I cannot help but think of one of the greatest martyrs of the Church, and one of my personal favorite saints, Saint Thomas More.  Sir Thomas More was a great attorney in England, and was eventually appointed Lord Chancellor of England by King Henry VIII – yes, that King Henry.  Unfortunately, as most of us know, King Henry VIII broke away from Rome and declared himself the supreme head of the church in England.  Sir Thomas refused to swear the oath and was eventually found guilty of treason and executed by beheading.  Saint Thomas More is reported to have stated, just before his execution, “I die the king’s good servant and God’s first”.  I highly recommend you check out the movie A Man for All Seasons about Thomas More’s life – it won six Academy Awards in 1967, including Best Picture and Best Actor.

The point that Sir Thomas More proved, is exactly what the Catechism and the Holy Scriptures tell us – service to God our first responsibility, no matter the consequences – and if we truly are serving God, then we are always serving our fellow man.

Pray with me today for all of our political and public servants the prayer for political authorities of Pope Saint Clement of Rome, from the first century:

Grant to them, Lord, health, peace, concord, and stability,

so that they may exercise without offense the sovereignty that you have given them.

Master, heavenly King of the ages, you give glory, honor, and power

over the things of earth to the sons of men.

Direct, Lord, their counsel, following what is pleasing and acceptable in your sight,

so that by exercising with devotion and in peace and gentleness

the power that you have given to them, they may find favor with you. (CCC 1900)