The “Real Presence” of Christ in the Holy Eucharist refers to the unique and special way that Christ is present to us in the Most Blessed Sacrament. The using of the term ‘real’ here is not to exclude other ways Christ is present, as if they could not be real too. However, in the Eucharist Christ is “present in the fullest sense: it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present” (Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC] 1374). Christ becomes present in the Holy Eucharist when the bread and wine offered at the Mass are converted into Christ’s body and blood. God makes this conversion happen through the words and gestures of the priest, who speaks the words that Christ himself commanded at the Last Supper. Specifically, these words are called “the words of institution” or “the words of consecration,” namely, “This is my body…this is my blood.”

 

The Council of Trent (16^th Century) declared that in the Holy 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” (quoted in CCC 1374). This does not mean that when we receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist we are eating a piece of his physical human flesh, like a finger or his shoulder. Some enemies of the Church in the early days accused Christians of being cannibals for this reason. No, we eat and drink the glorified body of a resurrected person, and not the dead flesh cannibals eat. So the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist is a unique presence, not known in any other way that we know of in this world. Even Jesus shared this presence with his Apostles at the Last Supper before his crucifixion, anticipating his glorification in heaven.

 

The priest, calling down the Holy Spirit and then pronouncing the words of consecration during Mass, changes the “whole substance of the bread into the whole substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the whole substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation” (from the Council of Trent, quoted in CCC 1376).

 

Non-Catholic communities have different understandings and teachings about holy communion. For this reason we as Catholics should refrain from receiving holy communion from other Christian communities that are not in union with the Roman Catholic Church; and non-Catholic Christians should refrain from receiving Holy Communion in a Catholic Church as well. As Christians we have an obligation to work towards unity around the one altar of the Lord; however, ignoring the differences among Christian communities by promoting “intercommunion” ignores significant differences in belief and practice.

 

I am convinced that the real evidence for the “Real Presence” of Christ in the Holy Eucharist is its effect in the lives of the saints. Mother Teresa would say that she Adored Jesus in the Eucharist (“Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament”) with her community for a Holy Hour before receiving Him in Holy Communion at Mass; then she would go out into the streets and care for Him under the distressing disguise of the poor. Mother Teresa’s ministry was based on the Holy Eucharist. She claimed she could not live one hour without the Holy Eucharist. She would also say that inasmuch as you see Jesus present in the Holy Eucharist is how much you will see Jesus present in those who suffer. Authentic belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist makes the heart of a saint.

 

St. Mary’s Parish offers several opportunities to encounter the Real Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. Primarily, Holy Mass is the center of our lives as Christians, no doubt, which is offered daily. However, like Mother Teresa, we need to actively cultivate an appreciation of Jesus’ Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist. Regularly we need to come before the Lord, bow down before him in the Holy Eucharist, and pray for a real Eucharistic faith. We offer two Holy Hours of Eucharistic Exposition each week and a twenty-four hour Vigil every month. Spend time with the Eucharistic Jesus and come to know His Heart.

 

Fr. Will