The True Presence

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

I pray that you are blessed and had a wonderful weekend. A few weeks ago we celebrated The Feast of Corpus Christi (The Body & Blood of Christ). About that same time I saw a headline from The Pew Foundation, which gathers a lot of census data on The Catholic Church. Apparently, their recent studies have shown that 75%-80% of Catholics surveyed either do not believe that The Eucharist is “The True Presence” of Christ or they do not understand what that truly means. I admit to not reading the entire article, but just that headline is a very sad bit of information. After all, our belief that The Eucharist is in fact the real presence of The Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, and not merely symbolic, is a core belief for Catholics. Not to mention, one of the main pieces of theology that separates us from many other denominations, especially those born out of Luther’s reformation.

What does The Eucharist mean to you? That was a major question in the early days of the pandemic when Catholics around the world could not gather around The Table of The Lord. Did not receiving The Eucharist matter to you? For me, lack of access to The Eucharist is a far bigger issue than whether missing Sunday mass is a grievous sin or not?

And what about Communion time during mass? Ask any new priest or Eucharistic Minister and you will hear the same experiences. Like people who walk up to receive The Eucharist and are day-dreaming or chatting with people in the pews, and how many people do not respond to “The Body/Blood of Christ?” We are being asked if we believe this. Our response should be, “Amen!” or “Yes it is!” or “Ashe!” or “I believe!” And yet, most people either say nothing at all or whisper something half-heartedly. I have often been tempted to not give someone The Eucharist until they actually respond, confidently and clearly saying, “Amen!”

Another pet peeve of mine are those who snatch The Eucharist out of my hands. We come forward to the altar of our Lord to receive a precious Gift. A Gift that by the Grace of God we have been made worthy to receive. It is being given to us, and so, we should never simply take it. You wouldn’t grab a gift out of the hands of the one who is giving it to you (at least I hope not). This is one of the reasons we hold our hands out in front of us. So that The Eucharist/The Gift can reverently be placed in our upturned palms, which have been placed in the form of a cross. Then we step to the side and use our dominant hand, which has been placed underneath the other, to pick up the host and place it in our mouth and then make the sign of the cross and quietly return to our seats.

One final comment on a practice that has recently become popular, the showing of reverence before receiving The Eucharist. Personally, I don’t think this was very well thought out, at least not by anyone who regularly distributes The Eucharist. I’ve seen people genuflect and the person behind them fall over them. Or worse, knock the hosts out of the ministers hands as they stand back up. Some can only genuflect if they hang onto a pew or another person. And while I should not judge, some people seem to be more worried about what others think of them by doing some elaborate gestures, than about showing reverence to the presence of The Lord. If you really want to show reverence, I recommend The Sign of The Cross or a simple bow as the person in front of you is receiving Communion and before you are standing in front of the Eucharistic Minister. After all, God knows what is in your heart, and if it is true reverence for our Lord, then no one else needs to see it.

So next time you are in a Communion line think about what you are about to receive and how you are going to receive it? Are you doing it for God or for others? And as you return to your seat meditate on the precious Gift you have just received and what it means to be The Body of Christ.

In the Redeemer, Fr. Rick