Transubstantiation—try saying that word three times very fast! It’s a technical word packed with meaning, because it is the term the Church has used since the 11th century to describe what happens to the bread and wine at the consecration of the Mass. The Council of Trent calls it “a singular and wonderous conversion of the total substance of bread into the body and of the total substance of wine into the blood of Christ, the external appearances only remaining unchanged.” After the consecration, although the appearance, the taste, and smell of the bread and wine are the same, they are no longer bread and wine but Christ himself, in his Body, Blood, Soul, Divinity—not a symbol but the Person of Jesus; not something but Someone! This is what the Church believes and teaches. Yet, if we are to believe recent polls, only 30% of Catholics believe this.
So, we can assume many people struggle with this belief. Perhaps this is why some Catholics easily leave the Church since they do not realize what they are leaving behind. If one firmly believes in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, how could someone give up such a gift? Yet struggles with this belief began in the time of Our Lord.
When Jesus said, “I am the living bread…from heaven…my flesh for the life of the world…unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life…” he perturbed and baffled his hearers. In fact, St. John tells us that many disciples walked away and no longer accompanied him.” But Jesus did not chase after them, declaring that he did not mean what he said. He meant what he said, and would give us the Eucharist at the Last Supper on Holy Thursday. Our joy in the institution of the Holy Eucharist is not fully expressed on Holy Thursday because of the nearness of Good Friday, so the Church gives us this feast so that we might joyfully offer our homage to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
Pope Benedict saw two aims in this feast: to counter our forgetfulness and to elicit our thankfulness.
So, what should we not forget? What are we to remember? The Mass and our reception of the Eucharist can easily become so routine, even mechanical, leading to a decline in our reverence. We can guard against this danger by preparing well. Recollection and prayer should precede our Holy Communion. We should all help to create in our church a climate that is conducive to prayer and recollection.
Silence is fundamental. Pope Francis says, “Only in the silence of prayer can we listen to the voice of God.” It is a vital ingredient to the spiritual life. Can people find it in our church coming in from a chaotic and noisy world? Even after Mass many people remain in church to extend their prayer but how often it is disturbed by “clusters of chatting” around them.
Corpus Christi reminds us too, that in reverence we should observe the one hour Eucharistic fast prior to Holy Communion and to make a sacramental Confession when we are aware of serious or mortal sin.
Corpus Christi is also an invitation to thanksgiving. We do this best just after the reception of Communion. It is very easy to be distracted when we return to our place after receiving the Eucharist. In fact, we call this making an “act of thanksgiving.”
However, we might look around, read the bulletin, (a “take home” not for spiritual reading) or observe the people in line for Communion. Sadly, some even head for the door to get a jump start in the parking lot. What’s the rush? We wait in a doctor’s office sometimes for hours. Why is it that we cannot spend some extra minutes in communion with the Lord? Let’s take advantage of this special time we have to speak to the Lord about all that is going on in my life…my struggles, joys, the people who cross my path, the sick. I might recommend the thanksgiving prayer of St. Thomas on page 327 of the missalette!
On this solemn feast let us never forget, let us always be thankful for the treasure we receive. Let our “Amen” upon receiving the Lord be full of faith, reverence, and love.
