Eucharistic Revival

The revival was launched on Sunday, June 19—Solemnity of Corpus Christi, at the 9:30 AM Mass –St. Anthony Church with a Solemn Eucharistic Procession. This was followed by a Diocesan Family Picnic at the Turkey Swamp Park in Freehold.
 

Five Steps to Making a Worthy Holy Communion

1. Approach the Sacrament with faith in the  Lord’s Real Presence and with the right intention. Come not out of routine, or because everyone else is approaching the altar.  Come to be nourished in order to strengthened to live the Christian life.
2. We should examine our conscience to determine if there is any grave sin for which we must be truly sorry and must confess before coming forward to receive. The sacrament of Penance removes the one obstacle that would block our receiving the grace of the holy banquet.
3. Approach the Holy Eucharist after praying to receive the graces we intentionally seek. This preparation can be long or short according to our situation, but it should be as careful and as intense as we can make
4. We should observe the Eucharistic Fast of one hour prior to receiving the Eucharist.   This means not taking any food or drink—water and medicine excepted.
5. Offer a prayer of thanksgiving after receiving.  We should refrain from leaving Church before the Mass is ended and use the time after communion to thank the Lord for the gift of Himself and to speak to him about all that is going on in our life.

 

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Magister adest et Vocat Te
“The Master is Here and is Calling You”

 

From Heart of the Christian Life, Benedict XVI

In taking flesh, the Son of God could become Bread and thus be the nourishment of his people, of us, journeying on in this world toward the promised land of heaven. We need this bread to face the fatigue and weariness of our journey. Sunday, the Lord’s Day, is a favorable opportunity to draw strength from him, the Lord of life. The Sunday precept is not, therefore, an externally imposed duty, a burden on our shoulders. On the contrary, taking part in the Celebration, being nourished by the Eucharistic bread, and experiencing the communion of their brothers and sisters in Christ is a need for Christians, it is a joy; Christians can thus replenish the energy they need to continue on the journey we must make every week.

[Benedict XVI:  Heart of the Christian Life, p. 13]

The Christ whom we meet in the Sacrament is…the same Christ who is present in the Eucharistic bread of every place on earth. This means that we can encounter him only together with all others. We can only receive him in unity. Is not this what the Apostle Paul said…”Because the loaf of bread is one, we, many though we are, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.” (I Cor. 10:17). The consequence is clear: we cannot communicate with the Lord if we do not communicate with one another. If we want to present ourselves to him, we must also take a step toward meeting one another.”

[Benedict XVI: Heart of the Christian Life, pp. 15-16]

“We cannot communicate with the Lord if we do not communicate with one another. If we want to present ourselves to him, we must also take a step toward meeting one another. To do this we must learn the great lesson of forgiveness: we must not let the gnawings of resentment  work in our soul but must be open to  the magnanimity of listening to others, open our hearts to understanding them, eventually to accepting their apologies, to generously offering our own. The Eucharist is…the sacrament of unity.”

[Benedict XVI:  Heart of the Christian Life, p.16]

What is the history and meaning of the Gloria of the Mass?

The “Gloria in excelsis Deo” (Glory to God in the highest) is a most ancient and venerable hymn by which the Church glorifies God the Father and Jesus, the Lamb of God. It is not permitted to replace this hymn by any other. It may be intoned by the celebrant, cantor, or choir. It is a hymn sung or said on Sundays outside of Advent and Lent and on Solemnities and Feasts.

No one quite knows who composed the Gloria but we can trace the hymn back to the third century. Tradition holds that it was first composed as a prayer in the East and translated to Latin by Saint Hilary of Poitiers around the year 360.

Historically, the Gloria is known as the “Angelic Hymn” because it contains the words sung by the angels on the night of Christ’s birth. (Luke 2:13). At first the Gloria was sung as an Easter hymn at dawn after morning prayer. By the 6th century it became part of the Papal Christmas Mass. Gradually it was incorporated into Masses at which bishops presided. Priests were permitted to include the Gloria only at the Easter Vigil. However, by the 6th century, the Gloria was sung at all Sunday and feast day Masses.

The Gloria is an ancient prayer that is meant to point our hearts towards a spirit of awe. It reminds us that we are called to praise and glorify the maker of our hearts and souls.

Symbolic Imagery During Mass
 

Why do the priest and deacon kiss the altar at the beginning and end of the Mass?

The kiss is intended as a sign of reverence for the altar as the place of sacrifice and as a symbol of Christ Himself. During the Middle Ages, it was also directed to the relics of confessors and martyrs that were enclosed in the altar.

Why is incense used at various times during the Mass?

The use of incense in worship started more than 2,000 years before Christianity even began. Incense is noted in the Talmud and is mentioned 170 times in the Bible. (e.g., Exodus 30: 1) It was a definite influence in the Church’s use of it in the liturgy. The burning of incense is an image of the prayers of the faithful rising to heaven. Incense is a sacramental, used to sanctify, bless, and venerate. The smoke from the incense as it rises upward is symbolic of the mystery of God Himself. The smell conveys the sweetness of Our Lord’s presence and the imagery reinforces how the Mass is linked to Heaven and Earth, ending in the very presence of God. At Mass incense may be used:

• During the entrance procession
• At the beginning of Mass to incense the altar and the cross
• Before the Gospel reading
• To incense the offerings of bread and wine, the cross, the altar, the priest, and finally the people.

Why do we begin Mass with an Act of Penitence?

An act of Penitence before Mass is appropriate because we are sinful. The invitation of the celebrant for all to acknowledge their sins should be followed by a brief period of silent reflection. This is followed by using one of the three forms of an expression of repentance. The rite is meant as a preparation to celebrate the mysteries and to draw down God’s mercy. This rite is not to be confused with sacramental absolution but should be seen as petitions for pardon. This rite may be replaced on Sundays with the blessing and sprinkling of holy water. It is a renewal of the memory of our baptism. It can rightly replace the Act of Penitence since Baptism is the basic repentance or change of heart.

 

Johannes Emminghaus: The Eucharist pp. 116-122

Reflections from Celebrating the Holy Eucharist by Francis Cardinal Arinze

At the Last Supper, the night before he gave his life for us on the Cross, our Lord Jesus Christ took bread, gave thanks, and said to his Apostles: “This is my Body given for you.” He did the same with the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood poured out for you.” Jesus gave to his Apostles his Body to eat and his Blood to drink. Then he added: “Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me.”…When the Church celebrates the Eucharist, she celebrates the memorial of Christ’s Passover, or Easter, which becomes present. The sacrifice that Christ offered once for all on the cross becomes actually present.…Jesus our Savior was already symbolized as victim in Isaac and the paschal lamb and as food in the manna given to the chosen people during their forty years in the desert. It is this Jesus who gives himself to us in the Holy Eucharist every day of our earthly pilgrimage … At Holy Mass Christ gives the same Body that he handed over for us on the Cross and the same Blood…poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Therefore…the Eucharistic Sacrifice, or the Mass, is one and the same sacrifice as the sacrifice on the Cross … When therefore, the Lord Jesus gathers us around the altar for Holy Mass, we are like those disciples who stood at the foot of the Cross on Mount Calvary, together with the Most Blessed Virgin Mary.

 pp. 13-14


In the most Holy Eucharist, Jesus Christ is really present. He remains with us. His words are clear. They are not ambiguous: “This is my Body…This is my Blood.” The way in which Christ is present in this sacrament is unique. It raises the Holy Eucharist above all other sacraments and makes it “the perfection of the spiritual life and the end to which all sacraments tend.” (St. Thomas Aquinas) As the Council of Trent teaches us, in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist…the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained.” (CCC 1374)…Of course Jesus is present in liturgical celebrations, in the person of the priest who is his minister, in the ministers of the other sacraments, in the Word of God proclaimed in the liturgical assembly…But the presence of Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist surpasses all these other types of presence. It is therefore rightly called the Real Presence, not because the other forms of presence are not real, too, but because it is presence in the fullest sense: that is to say, it is substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present…It is with the whole tradition of the Church that we believe that under the appearance of bread and wine, Jesus is really present. Faith demands that we approach the Eucharist fully aware that we are approaching Christ himself.

 pp. 16-17


Jesus nourishes us in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. We absolutely need him in order to have life.  His teaching is clear and unmistakable. “If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his body, you have no life in you…for my flesh is real food and my blood real drink.” (Jn 6: 53,55) When we receive Jesus in this sacrament, we abide in him and he in us. This is of crucial importance if we want to produce lasting fruit in the apostolate, in our mission for Christ.

 p. 17


The Holy Eucharist is the bread for our earthly pilgrimage symbolized by the forty years spent by the chosen people in the desert. When people prepare themselves well and receive Jesus in Holy Communion, he produces in them wonderful fruits. Holy Communion separates us from sin, cleanses us from sin, and preserves us from future sins by strengthening us against temptation and increasing our taste for the things of God. As bodily nourishment restores lost strength, so the Holy Eucharist strengthens our charity. The Holy Eucharist prepares us for entry into eternal glory.

, p. 17


The wonderful effects of Holy Communion are not automatic. They demand from the communicant adequate preparation. The most important form of preparation is that the person be in the state of grace. It would be a sacrilege to receive Jesus while one is in the state of mortal sin. A person in mortal sin should first repent, go to confess to a priest who will give absolution in the name of Christ and the Church, and only then come to the Eucharistic table…Pope Benedict XVI…also underlined the role of the sacrament of Penance even for people who have no grave sins because this sacrament strengthens our continued effort to follow Christ with growing fidelity. Saint Paul urges us to examine our conscience before we receive Holy Communion: “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the Body and Blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the Body eats and drinks judgment upon himself.” (1 Cor 11: 27-29)

 pp. 21-22

The Church in celebrating the Eucharistic Sacrifice is very aware of doing so in union with the heavenly host. One Eucharistic Prayer after another confesses: “In union with the whole Church we honor Mary, the ever-virgin Mother of Jesus Christ our Lord and God. Then the following are named: Saint Joseph, the Apostles, the Martyrs, the confessors, the virgins, and all the saints…The angels are given special mention in the preface…these references to the angels are only natural, as the cry of “Holy, Holy, Holy” that we make our own immediately afterward is attributed by Scripture to them. The Church suffering in purgatory is not forgotten. The Eucharistic Sacrifice is also offered for the faithful departed who “have died in Christ but are not yet wholly purified.” [Council of Trent] It follows therefore that at the Mass ‘our union with the Church in heaven is put into effect in the noblest manner when with common rejoicing we celebrate together the praise of the divine Majesty.

 pp. 26-27

The fact that the Eucharist brings us to long for, to strain or tend toward the world to come, must not be interpreted to imply a diminishing of interest in the improvement of this present world on earth...The Holy Eucharist commits us to undertake initiatives to promote development, justice, and peace. Solidarity and cooperation should replace competition and domination. Oppression, repression, or exploitation of individuals or of the poorer minorities or countries should be eliminated. The Christian who is coming from the Eucharistic celebration should examine his conscience on what can or should be done for the poor, the sick, the handicapped, and the needy in general. Christ washed the feet of his Apostles to teach that the Holy Eucharist sends us to love our neighbor actively. Saint Paul tells the Corinthians that their participation in the Holy Eucharist is defective if they are indifferent toward the poor. (see 1 Cor 11:17-22, 27-34)

 pp. 28-29


At the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, we are fed at the two tables of the Word of God and of the Body and Blood of Christ. In the first part of the Mass the sacred Scriptures are proclaimed, then we should find our hearts burning within us. We should be better enlightened on the mysteries of Christ, on what God is saying to us, and on what he is sending us to do. The second table is that of the Body and Blood of Christ. This sacrament promotes our union with Christ, increases the life of God, or grace, within us, and thus puts us in a good position to carry out our share in the mission of the Church.

 p. 92

The tabernacle in which the Blessed Sacrament is reserved is traditionally given special attention by the Church. The tabernacle should be in a part of the church that is really noble, distinguished, conspicuous, well decorated, and suitable for prayer. It should be placed either in the sanctuary, apart from the altar of celebration in the most suitable form and place, or even in a chapel suitable for adoration and the personal prayer of the faithful and which is integrally connected with the church and is conspicuous to the faithful. A sanctuary lamp, fed by oil or wax, should burn near the tabernacle to indicate that Jesus is present…It is a beautiful practice for people who are near a church or chapel where the august Sacrament is reserved to pay visits to our Lord, short or long as the case may be. There is also the praiseworthy habit of making the sign of the cross or bowing when one drives past such a sacred place.

, pp. 103-107

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Reflections from The Faith Explained, by Leo Trese

In saying that the Holy Eucharist is the greatest of all the sacraments, we are stating the obvious. Baptism of course is the most necessary sacrament. Yet, despite all the wonderful things that Baptism and the other five sacraments accomplish in the soul, they still are but instruments of God for the giving of grace; while in the Holy Eucharist we have not merely an instrument for the giving of grace—we have the actual Giver of grace himself, Jesus Christ our Lord, truly and personally present. The sacrament of Christ’s body and blood has had many names in the course of Christian history. Such names as Bread of Angels, the Lord’s Supper, the Sacrament of the Altar, are familiar to us. But the name which has endured from the very beginning, the name that the Church officially gives to this sacrament is that of Holy Eucharist. This name is taken from the account of the institution of the Holy Eucharist as it is given in the Bible. All four of the sacred writers, Matthew…Mark…Luke and Paul...tell us that Jesus, as he took the bread and wine into his hands, ‘gave thanks.’ And so from the Greek word, ‘eucharistia,’ which means a ‘giving of thanks’ we have the name of our sacrament: the Holy Eucharist.

  pp. 347-348
 

The Catechism points out that the Holy Eucharist is both a sacrifice and a sacrament. As a sacrifice, the Holy Eucharist is the Mass, that divine action in which Jesus through the agency of the priest, changes the bread and wine into his own body and blood and continues through time the offering which he made to God on Calvary—the offering of himself for mankind. It is at the consecration of the Mass that the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist comes into being (or is confected as the theologians say); it is then that Jesus becomes present under the appearances of bread and wine. As long as the appearances of bread and wine remain, Jesus remains present, and the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist continues to exist there. The act by which we receive the Holy Eucharist is called Holy Communion. We might say that the Mass is the ‘making ‘of the Holy Eucharist and Holy Communion is the ‘receiving’ of the Holy Eucharist. In between the two, the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist continues to exist (as in the tabernacle) whether we receive it or not.

Exactly what did happen when Jesus at the Last Supper (and the priest this morning at Mass) said, “This is my body” over the bread and “This is my blood“ over the wine? We believe that the substance of the bread completely and totally ceased to exist, and that the substance of Christ’s own body replaced the annihilated substance of the bread. We believe that the wine entirely ceased to exist as wine, and that the substance of Christ’s own blood replaced the wine. We also believe that Jesus, by his almighty power as God, preserved the appearances of bread and wine, in spite of the fact that their substances were gone. By appearances of bread and wine we mean all those outward forms and accidentals which can be perceived in any way by our bodily senses of sight, touch, taste, hearing, and smelling. The Holy Eucharist still looks like bread and wine, feels like bread and wine, tastes like bread and wine, smells like bread and wine, and if broken or splashed would sound like bread and wine…This change that takes place, by the words of consecration, is such a special kind of change that the Church has to coin a special word to describe it. The word is “transubstantiation.” It means, literally, a crossing from one substance to another; but in this case, a unique and unparalleled kind of crossing.

, pp 353-360

Jesus Christ is present in the Holy Eucharist, whole and entire, under the appearance of bread and wine. He is simultaneously present in every single sacred host on every altar throughout the world, and under the appearance of wine in every single consecrated chalice whenever Mass is being offered. Moreover, Jesus is present, whole, and entire, in every part of every sacred host, and in every drop contained in the consecrated chalice. If a crumb were to drop from the sacred host, or a drop were spilled from the chalice, Jesus would be present in that crumb and in that drop.

 p. 363

Jesus is not present in the sacred host in miniature, a tiny and shrunken Jesus. He is there in the fullness of his glorified Person, but in a spiritualized way, without any extension in space. He has no height nor breadth, nor thickness. Jesus does not multiply himself so that there are many Jesuses; nor does he divide himself up among the many hosts. There is but one Jesus, whole and undivided. His multilocation is not the result of multiplication or division; it is the result of the suspension of the laws of space as far as his sacred body is concerned. It is as though his himself stayed in one place, and all parts of space were brought to him, were pinpointed in him. It is easy to see why the Holy Eucharist is called—and is—the sacrament of unity. When we receive Holy Communion, we are where Jesus is; we and our fellow communicants all over the world. Space has dissolved for us, and we are there together—one in Christ.

, p. 363

How long does Jesus remain present in the Holy Eucharist? Only as long as the appearances of bread and wine remain. If a sudden fire were to destroy the sacred hosts in the tabernacle, Jesus would not be burned. The appearance of bread would be changed to the appearance of ashes, and Jesus would be gone. When, after Holy Communion, our digestive processes have destroyed the appearance of bread within us, Jesus no longer is bodily present, only his grace remains.

 pp. 363-364

In the early Church, adoration of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist was practiced by Christians only at Mass. Devotion to Jesus outside of Mass…developed gradually. It took some time for Christians to realize what a treasure was theirs in the Holy Eucharist. It is only in the 12th century that the custom originated of reserving the holy Eucharist for the adoration of the people. After that, it spread rapidly. Nowadays, in every Catholic Church there is a tabernacle…a cupboard-like safe marked by a burning light called the tabernacle or sanctuary lamp. Following ancient tradition, the use of a veil is also a fitting way indicating the presence of Christ.

, p. 367]
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Reflections from Divine Intimacy, by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen

Jesus is present in the Eucharist, with all his divinity and all his humanity. Although his humanity is not present in corporeal extension, it is whole and entire in the consecrated Host, body and soul. Therefore, Our Lord knows and loves us as God and as man. He is not a passive object for our adoration but is living, he sees us, listens to us, answers our prayers with his graces. It is true that in the Eucharist not only his divinity but even his humanity is hidden; however, faith supplies for the senses, it substitutes for what we do not see or touch. The Son of God…makes himself present in the Eucharist to be our companion on our earthly pilgrimage to be the viaticum of our journey.

[Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, Divine Intimacy, Vol III, pp. 24-25]

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Reflections from The Sacraments, by Fr. Matthew Kauth

What is the Holy Eucharist? If it is only a symbol, Flannery O’Connor once quipped, “well then to hell with it.” Far from being profane, this is perfectly precise. If it is bread, I, and everyone else have been fools, believing a ridiculous lie. I should no more genuflect before the host than I should the bread of my cupboard. But if it is what Christ said it is, then the only proper response is adoration. There is no adequate response that lies between these two poles. The only thing one cannot do when confronted with the reality of the Holy Eucharist is to be indifferent.
 p.63]

The Holy Mass is called a sacrifice not because Christ is crucified again. Rather, it is called this because you and I participate in his one and eternal sacrifice ‘re-presented’ (made present again)to us in an unbloody manner. The sacrifice of the cross and the sacrifice of the Mass are numerically one, present in different modalities. There is no new sacrifice in the Holy Eucharist but a different mode of the same sacrifice. Holy Mass is not a mere recollection but rather a re-presentation of the Passion. We now participate by acts of loving devotion in that which we previously only participated in by sinfulness. In other words, our sins were present at the cross. So too by the power of the Mass are our acts of sacrificial love. The one, eternal offering is applied to diverse times and places in fulfillment of his command to “do this.”

 p 67]

The reception of this sacrament [the Eucharist] has the effect…of changing us into that which is eaten, instead of what is eaten being transformed into the consumer. The love of Christ transforms the one who feeds on his Body and Blood into an active lover of Christ…But what if the recipient does not love? How many times we have seen someone (often ourselves) come straight from Mass with the same wicked behavior that preceded it? Did that person (we) receive the actual Body and Blood of Christ? What if the priest was wicked before and after? Did he truly confect the Body and Blood of Christ? Neither the priest’s piety, nor the fidelity of the recipient changes the objectivity of the Body and Blood. For our participation and reception to be fruitful, we must possess active faith and charity to receive.

 p 73-74]

Our Lord often spoke of a King who returns from a long absence. What will he find when he returns, Christ often asked. In some sense, every Mass is a dress rehearsal. He comes to us truly…We are to act from love’s volition, not from obligation. Our longing takes the form of preparation, of engagement, and of resting in his advent. If we come to Mass without such love for him, we should beg for it. We can receive him sacramentally in Holy Communion without sanctification. Another analogy Christ used…was that of a wedding feast. Recall that on one occasion, a man was asked to come…after others had refused. Another was censured for coming without the proper wedding garment. To be there was to be clothed in the friendship of his son; it is to be clothed with divine charity. Not only can we manifest a lack of love by refusing to come as so many did in the parable, we can also come without the baptismal garment of divine love. Furthermore, if we receive him in Holy Communion without reconciling with him first, we commit sacrilege. Holy Communion…is dependent upon an interior disposition of self-offering. We must receive Holy Communion spiritually as well as sacramentally, otherwise the latter is of no avail. Sacraments are not magic.

pp.76-78]

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Reflections from Understanding the Mass, by Charles Belmonte

It is a mistake to think that the Mass is a memorial service like that of Memorial Day, or a sort of imitation of the Last Supper, or a collection of prayers. he Mass is not just a collection of prayers, no matter how beautiful or moving they may be. Our Lord becomes present in the Mass, doing something deeply supernatural: performing a sacrifice. Before his passion, Jesus and his disciples were on the road to Jerusalem…He took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to him…Jesus was going to offer his life to God as a ransom for our sins…

While Jesus was talking about giving oneself to God for others, by contrast the disciples argued among themselves about who was to wield power in the future kingdom.

An ardent desire filled Christ’s heart: a desire to go through his passion and death and to leave a perpetual memorial of his sacrifice. On the night of the Last Supper, Christ instituted the Mass. He offered his body and blood under the species of bread and wine to God the Father.

 pp.3-4

The words of Jesus at the Last Supper, “Do this in memory of me,” command the continuation of his sacrifice in every Mass celebrated anywhere in the world until the end of time…Therefore, in obedience to her Founder’s behest, the Church prolongs the priestly mission of Jesus Christ mainly by means of the sacred liturgy. She does this most of all, at the altar, where constantly the sacrifice of the cross is reenacted…The Lord is immolated in an unbloody way in the Mass, and he re-presents (makes present here and now) the sacrifice of the cross and applies its salvific power at the moment when he becomes sacramentally present through the words of consecration. He becomes the spiritual food of the faithful under the appearances of bread and wine.

 pp.7-9


Whatever our senses perceive in the consecrated host, even with the help of scientific instruments, is always of the same sort—a quality: the whiteness of the bread, its softness, its roundness, its smell, etc. These are attributes. We call them in the language of metaphysics, accidents. These are all our senses perceive. But from them, our mind discerns a deeper reality, something that underlies these qualities or accidents as their subject: the thing itself, which we call the substance. We know that through Christ’s words, that in the eucharistic species, none of the substance of the bread and wine remains, Their accidents or sensible qualities—as bread and wine—remain, though not, of course as accidents of Christ’s body and blood. They are held up solely by the will of God, who keeps them in existence, without inhering to any subject. True, before the Consecration what we have on the altar are bread and wine; but as soon as the words of the Consecration are pronounced, the whole substance of the bread and that of the wine disappear, and they become the body and blood of Jesus Christ. This change is called transubstantiation. Just as the words which God spoke in the Upper Room are the same as those that the priest now pronounces, so, too, the host is the same. Christ is really present.

 pp.12-13

Our Lord’s presence in the sacrament is called “real” not to exclude the idea that the others are “real,” too, but rather to indicate presence par excellence, because this presence is substantial and through it, Christ becomes present whole and entire, God and man. Thus, this presence is not merely intentional (i.e., in the mind only) or virtual (i.e., by power). And so it would be wrong for anyone to limit it to symbolism, as if this most sacred sacrament were to consist in nothing more than an efficacious sign “of the spiritual presence of Christ and of his intimate union with the faithful, the members of his Mystical Body…The Lord did not say, “This is a symbol of my body, and this is a symbol of my blood” but rather, “This is my body and my blood.”

pp.13-14
 

The Holy Eucharist acts in the soul in the same way that ordinary food nourishes the body. Life in the body begins with generation, and then our body grows to full maturity while we keep receiving food for our sustenance. Similarly, there is a spiritual generation into the life of grace…We need spiritual food…our food is the Eucharist. The external form of food is most appropriate to signify the union with Christ which is effected in this sacrament. However, there is a discrepancy in the comparison of the Eucharist with food.  Whereas food is assimilated by the person fed, in the case of the Eucharist the person receiving it becomes assimilated into Christ. The Eucharist also directs our eyes toward our last destination. The fullness of the New Covenant will reach its culmination in the new and everlasting Jerusalem, in heaven, where all the chosen ones shall be gathered in the eternal banquet.

pp. 16-17
 

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Under both species?

During the past few years in our diocese, we have followed the custom of receiving Holy Communion “under both species,” i.e., both the Sacred Host and the Precious Blood. That is, until it was suspended when COVID struck. Since then, we have received only the Sacred Host. Was something lost with the reception of the Host alone?

While Holy Communion under both species provides a “fuller sign” of the Eucharistic mystery, the Lord Jesus is “fully present” under each species. This is called the doctrine of “concomitance.” St. Thomas Aquinas teaches: “Nothing is lost by the body being received by the people without the blood: because the priest both offers and receives the blood in the name of all, and the whole Christ is present under either species” (Summa Theologiae, III, q. 80, a. 12, ad 3).

The Catechism (1390) states: “Since Christ is sacramentally present under each of the species, communion under the species of bread alone makes it possible to receive all the fruit of Eucharistic grace."

The U.S. Bishops remind us that “it should never be construed…that Communion under the form of bread alone or Communion under the form of wine alone is somehow an incomplete act or that Christ is not fully present to the communicant. The Church’s unchanging teaching through the ages has witnessed to a constant unity of faith in the presence of Christ in both elements. Even in the earliest days of the Church’s life, when Communion under both species was the norm, there were always instances when the Eucharist was received under only the form of bread or wine. Thus, the Church has always taught the doctrine of concomitance, by which we know that under each species alone, the whole Christ is sacramentally present, and we receive all the fruit of Eucharistic grace.

We hope that at an appropriate time we can return to receiving Communion under both forms, but it is good to remind ourselves that even without the reception of Holy Communion by the chalice, no one is missing out on any part of the Eucharist. Remember the doctrine of concomitance!