The Eucharist: The Real Presence of Jesus Christ

THE REAL PRESENCE OF JESUS CHRIST

by Fr. Jim Whalen, Priests for Life Canada - National Director

The Real Presence of Jesus Christ cannot just be believed to be retained. It must be understood. There is no alternative for Catholics. There is no option for those involved in Catholic pro-life ministry. The single most fundamental mystery of Christianity today is the Real Presence of Jesus Christ on earth today: His unique, total, real, substantial, human, divine, Body and Blood Presence in the Holy Eucharist, the Most Blessed Sacrament. The future of all human life and family life depends largely on faith in the Real Presence. The whole meaning of the Catholic Faith, the Catholic Church, the Mass, and Catholic apostolic work, including pro-life evangelization, depends on the fact of the Real Presence.

When Jesus foretold and later instituted the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper, many did not believe and many left Him, including some of His own disciples. Jesus did not waste words. He explained He would nourish His followers with his own Body and Blood. “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood will have eternal life” (Jn 6:54). Some were astonished, scandalized, and rejected Jesus and His teaching. “This is intolerable language! Who can believe it?” (Jn 6:62). What Jesus said at the Last Supper: “This is My Body… This is My Blood” must be taken literally, not interpreted or re-interpreted. This is not figurative or symbolic interpretation, as some would believe. The precondition for accepting literally, Christ’s words of institution, the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, is faith in Christ’s Divinity and faith in the Church’s infallibility. Faith in the Incarnation is the condition of our faith in the Real Presence.

What we believe as Catholics is that the whole Christ, everything which belongs to Christ, everything which makes Christ, is present in the Blessed Sacrament. Christ is present in many different ways, in persons in the state of grace, in the believing community, wherever two or three are gathered in His name, in His Word, and in our Lady, etc. However, He is not present everywhere with the wholeness of His divinity and humanity. Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist is absolutely unique. Christ is present in the fullness of His being, with the wholeness of His divinity and humanity, only in the Eucharist. When transubstantiation takes place, when the substance, the ‘breadness’ and ‘wineness’ are replaced, changed into the living Jesus, true God and true man, whole God and whole man, the Real Presence is the whole Christ, while the qualities of bread and wine remain. The appearances of bread and wine acquire a new meaning… a new finality… and contain a new reality, which we call ontological (Mysterium Fidei, #146).

Eucharistic Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, by implication and proclamation, is part of our mandate as Church to make disciples of all nations and teach them all that Jesus taught. There is no truth more fundamental than the fact that God-became-man, died for our salvation, and remains with us in the world, in the Eucharist - in the Blessed Sacrament. We have an obligation to honour and follow the priorities of our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, the Vicar of Christ, as well as his directives when possible. Perpetual Adoration is very dear to his heart. He and Blessed Mother Teresa have made it abundantly clear that this is part of the solution for our Church and the whole world situation at this time. Pope John Paul II stated what he hoped would happen: “the establishment of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration in all parishes and Christian communities throughout the world” (45th International Eucharistic Conference, Seville, Spain, June 1993). Blessed Mother Teresa’s thoughts are to the point: “The time you spend with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the best time you will spend on earth”.

If we are to be apostles of the Real Presence in the world today, it means we need greater understanding of he Church’s teaching on the Holy Eucharist, how the Sacrament of the Eucharist is Sacrifice, Communion and Presence, and how the Real Presence is fundamental for the Mass and Communion. There is also a need for training and motivating priests to promote Eucharistic adoration. We are to live and to practise what we believe. Popes Pius X, Pius XII, Paul VI, and John Paul II have given us abundant teachings on Eucharistic doctrine. It is available but requires a willingness to take time to study, digest, and assimilate. Pope John Paul II writes about priesthood: “In a certain way, we derive from the Eucharist - we exist for the Eucharist. We are also, and in a special way, responsible for the Eucharist” (On the Mystery and Worship of the Eucharist). The most influential and primary teachers in religious doctrine are the parents. No one can replace them. No one can substitute for their example - their role. They are the primary channels of grace for their children. They have a responsibility not only to bring children into the world but into Eucharist, so that the Blessed Sacrament becomes part of their lives. Parents must be Eucharistic believers and lovers. We need Eucharistic priests, Eucharistic parents, and Eucharistic teachers, who allow themselves to be instruments, of Christ, to pass on God’s graces to all we encounter.

When we examine our present world situation, we realize no earthly or human means can solve the problems. In terms of global conflict between nations, more people have been killed in wars in the 20th century than in all wars of mankind. Legalization of abortion is almost world-wide. Over 55 million per year have been slaughtered through surgical abortion and 250 million through chemical abortion. Divorce is rampant: over 50% of marriages in some countries; family life breakdown has reached the point where school children from families where both parents live together has become more and more rare. Contraception is widely accepted even by Catholics. Over 80% still practice contraception avoiding their responsibilities of child bearing and child rearing - directly opposing Church teaching. Euthanasia has become more predominant with the murdering of the aged with or without consent. Suicide has been legalized in some countries. The institution of Marriage is under attack by same-sex union advocates. Pornography has augmented to the point where parents have to scrutinize even the daily programs on TV and the Internet. Embryonic stem cell research uses unborn living human beings for experimentation, irregardless of consequences to human life.

Believing Catholics are the ‘hope of the world’. Pro-life Catholics are called to be heroic in declaring the truth, in defending the unborn, in protecting the handicapped, in rescuing the vulnerable, the chronically ill, and the aged. “Where sin has abounded grace has abounded even more” (Rom 5:20). Graces are available. Jesus Christ transformed the world. He can do now, in the present, what He did before, in the past.

Lord, we need your Real Presence. Stay with us today. Stay with your threatened children. Stay with your unborn brothers and sisters. Stay with your suffering sick. Stay with your isolated handicapped. Stay with your oppressed families. Stay with your persecuted priests. Stay with your confused parents. Stay with us in Your Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament. We ask you, Lord, to work your miracles of mercy and love. Change us. Convert us. Transform us into apostles of your Real Presence. +