O Sacrament most holy!

By Fr. Vincent Hawkswell

Corpus Christi, Year A
May 29, 2005
First Reading: Deut. 8:2-3, 14-16
Second Reading: 1 Cor. 10:16-17
Gospel Reading: Jn. 6:51-59

In this year dedicated by Pope John Paul II to the Eucharist, we should celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Body and Blood of Christ, with special solemnity and attention.

The Mass, the Eucharistic Sacrifice, is “the source and summit of the Christian life,” the Second Vatican Council proclaimed. “The Church draws her life from the Eucharist,” said Pope John Paul in his encyclical letter Ecclesia de Eucharistia. “This truth does not simply express a daily experience of faith, but recapitulates the heart of the mystery of the Church.”

The Church “joyfully experiences” in a variety of ways the constant fulfilment of Christ’s promise to remain with us until the end of the world, the Pope said, “but in the Holy Eucharist, through the changing of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of the Lord, she rejoices in this presence with unique intensity.”

Each of the sacraments consists of a sign which accomplishes what it signifies. For example, the baptismal water, accompanied by the right words and the right intention, really does wash away original sin. However, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church says, the Eucharist is the “Sacrament of Sacraments,” for here the sacramental signs, bread and wine, not only accomplish our spiritual nourishment, but actually become our spiritual food.

At the Last Supper, the Pope noted, Christ did not say “This is My Body” and “This is My Blood” alone; He added “which is given for you” and “which is poured out for you.” He stated that what He was giving them to eat and drink was His Body and Blood, but He also expressed its sacrificial meaning and made present sacramentally the sacrifice He was about to offer on the cross.

By participating in the Mass, therefore, we participate in the crucifixion as well as the Last Supper. “The Mass is at the same time, and inseparably, the sacrificial memorial in which the sacrifice of the cross is perpetuated and the sacred banquet of communion with the Lord’s Body and Blood,” the Pope said.

Accurate language

Do we believe this? I do not ask whether we understand it, for it is beyond understanding. However, our inability to understand should make us even more careful to cherish and nourish our belief in what takes place on our altars.

One way to do this is to speak about it accurately. (A teacher I know claims that his students will learn difficult scientific concepts only if they are careful to talk about them with precision from the first moment they hear about them.)

For example, it is utterly false to call what is present on the altar after the Consecration “bread and wine”; it is the Body and Blood of Christ. However, many people find these words embarrassing. I recall a member of my parish asking a question about “the bread and wine.” When I gently corrected him, saying, “You mean Christ’s Body and Blood,” he smiled sheepishly, but he could not bring himself to rephrase his question.

Even those of us who know that It is not bread and wine try to modify or reduce the impact of the stark words “Body and Blood.” Instead we say “the precious Blood,” “the cup,” “the chalice,” “the consecrated wine,” “the Host,” “Communion,” etc.

There is nothing wrong with any of these terms. However, I found it appalling that during the Pope’s funeral Mass, some Catholic television commentators could describe the Eucharistic sacrifice and even explain what it was at some length without once saying “Body and Blood of Christ.”

Receive lovingly

Nourishing and cherishing our belief in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist also means receiving Holy Communion properly.

Before receiving Christ’s Body and Blood, we should make sure that we are prepared, physically and spiritually. That means having clean hands, if we want to receive Communion on the hand. It means fasting one hour from food and drink other than water. It means making sure that we are in a state of grace; it means going to confession first if we have committed a mortal sin.

Immediately before receiving Communion, with our eyes on the uplifted Host, we should voice a fervent Amen! We should not let the minister of Holy Communion, ordinary or extraordinary, place the Host on our hand or on our tongue until we have said it. Nor should ministers of Holy Communion get into the habit of administering the Host until the communicant has said it.

If we receive Communion on the hand, we should consume the Host immediately after we have received it, not expose it to danger or disrespect by carrying It away from the altar.

From the time we receive Christ’s Body and Blood, we should talk to Him in prayer. Even on the way back to our seats in the church, we should concentrate on Him, not on our acquaintances. At that time, He is inside our bodies, closer to us than any human lover can ever be. We should make acts of love, which may be as simple as breathing His name: Jesus! We should assure Him of our faith and trust: O Jesus, I trust in You! Most sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You! We should ask Him for favours: Jesus, help me! Jesus, save me!

This Sunday, let us pray the prayer I recite when I take Communion to the sick: “O Sacrament most holy, O Sacrament divine, all praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine.”