Fr. Don's Daily Reflection
In the summer of 2019, there was discussion in Catholic periodicals about a poll of what Catholics believe about Christ’s presence in the bread and wine.* The discussion got into how the questions were phrased; the term transubstantiation; how the questions were understood; do Catholics have a correct understanding, etc.
The discussion on how Christ is present prompts others to ask the why of Christ’s presence. Talk about how the bread and wine are changed might miss another change. How are we changed (improved, bettered) by receiving the body and blood of Christ? Theologian Anne McGowan** put it this way: "That's the real change that ultimately matters." We are changed when we allow Christ more and more to live and act in us.
At the Last Supper, taking the bread, Christ said: “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”*** Vatican II documents tell us that at Mass Christ especially is present in the bread and wine but also in the Scriptures, in the congregation and in the presider. Jesus becomes present so that, recalling his suffering, death and resurrection with thanksgiving and praise, we are empowered to love and serve our fellow human beings like him. (See Matthew 25!!)
We thank God for life itself and for our rescue by Christ (if we accept it) from selfishness and the horrors it can lead to: war, prejudice, oppression of others, etc. Sharing by communion in the self-giving of Jesus commits us to a like service of others.
Sharing the bread and wine builds our union in love with Christ and with each other to form one body. “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.” (I Cor 10:17) Someone has expressed the desired outcome of our sharing in the Mass this way: “If Catholics leave Mass charged with charity, compassion and justice, they're getting it.”
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*Pew Research Center poll conducted in Feb 2019, results published August 2019.
**Professor, Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, IL
***e.g. Luke 22:19; I Cor 11:25,26