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- Why does Jesus give
himself to us as food and drink?
- Why is the Eucharist
not only a meal but also a sacrifice?
- When the bread and
wine become the Body and Blood of Christ, why do they still look and
taste like bread and wine?
- Does the bread cease
to be bread and the wine cease to be wine?
- Is it fitting that
Christ's Body and Blood become present in the Eucharist under the
appearances of bread and wine?
- Are the consecrated
bread and wine "merely symbols"?
- Do the
consecrated bread and wine cease to be the Body and Blood of Christ
when the Mass is over?
- Why are
some of the consecrated hosts reserved after the Mass?
- What
are appropriate signs of reverence with respect to the Body and Blood
of Christ?
- If someone
without faith eats and drinks the consecrated bread and wine, does
he or she still receive the Body and Blood of Christ?
- If a
believer who is conscious of having committed a mortal sin eats and
drinks the consecrated bread and wine, does he or she still receive
the Body and Blood of Christ?
- Does
one receive the whole Christ if one receives Holy Communion under
a single form?
- Is Christ
present during the celebration of the Eucharist in other ways in addition
to his Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament?
- Why
do we speak of the "Body of Christ" in more than one sense?
- Why
do we call the presence of Christ in the Eucharist a "mystery"?
Introduction
The Lord Jesus, on the
night before he suffered on the cross, shared one last meal with his
disciples. During this meal our Savior instituted the sacrament of his
Body and Blood. He did this in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of
the Cross throughout the ages and to entrust to the Church his Spouse
a memorial of his death and resurrection. As the Gospel of Matthew tells
us:
While they were eating, Jesus took bread,
said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, "Take
and eat; this is my body." Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and
gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you, for this is
my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the
forgiveness of sins." (Mt 26:26-28; cf. Mk 14:22-24, Lk 22:17-20,
1 Cor 11:23-25)
Recalling these words of Jesus, the Catholic
Church professes that, in the celebration of the Eucharist, bread and
wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ through the power of
the Holy Spirit and the instrumentality of the priest. Jesus said: "I
am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread
will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the
life of the world. . . . For my flesh is true food, and my blood is
true drink" (Jn 6:51-55). The whole Christ is truly present, body,
blood, soul and divinity, under the appearances of bread and wine-the
glorified Christ who rose from the dead after dying for our sins. This
is what the Church means when she speaks of the "Real Presence"
of Christ in the Eucharist. This presence of Christ in the Eucharist
is called "real" not to exclude other types of his presence
as if they could not be understood as real (cf. Catechism, no.
1374). The risen Christ is present to his Church in many ways, but most
especially through the sacrament of his Body and Blood.
What does it mean that Jesus Christ is present in the Eucharist under
the appearances of bread and wine? How does this happen? The presence
of the risen Christ in the Eucharist is an inexhaustible mystery that
the Church can never fully explain in words. We must remember that the
triune God is the creator of all that exists and has the power to do
more than we can possibly imagine. As St. Ambrose said: "If the
word of the Lord Jesus is so powerful as to bring into existence things
which were not, then a fortiori those things which already exist
can be changed into something else" (De Sacramentis, IV,
5-16). God created the world in order to share his life with persons
who are not God. This great plan of salvation reveals a wisdom that
surpasses our understanding. But we are not left in ignorance: for out
of his love for us, God reveals his truth to us in ways that we can
understand through the gift of faith and the grace of the Holy Spirit
dwelling in us. We are thus enabled to understand at least in some measure
what would otherwise remain unknown to us, though we can never completely
comprehend the mystery of God.
As successors of the Apostles and teachers of the Church, the bishops
have the duty to hand on what God has revealed to us and to encourage
all members of the Church to deepen their understanding of the mystery
and gift of the Eucharist. In order to foster such a deepening of faith,
we have prepared this text to respond to fifteen questions that commonly
arise with regard to the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. We
offer this text to pastors and religious educators to assist them in
their teaching responsibilities. We recognize that some of these questions
involve rather complex theological ideas. It is our hope, however, that
study and discussion of the text will aid many of the Catholic faithful
in our country to enrich their understanding of this mystery of the
faith.
1. Why does Jesus give
himself to us as food and drink?
Jesus gives himself to us in the Eucharist as spiritual nourishment
because he loves us. God's whole plan for our salvation is directed
to our participation in the life of the Trinity, the communion of Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. Our sharing in this life begins with our Baptism,
when by the power of the Holy Spirit we are joined to Christ, thus becoming
adopted sons and daughters of the Father. It is strengthened and increased
in Confirmation. It is nourished and deepened through our participation
in the Eucharist. By eating the Body and drinking the Blood of Christ
in the Eucharist we become united to the person of Christ through his
humanity. "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in
me and I in him" (Jn 6:56). In being united to the humanity of
Christ we are at the same time united to his divinity. Our mortal and
corruptible natures are transformed by being joined to the source of
life. "Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because
of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because
of me" (Jn 6:57).
By being united to Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling
in us, we are drawn up into the eternal relationship of love among the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As Jesus is the eternal Son of
God by nature, so we become sons and daughters of God by adoption through
the sacrament of Baptism. Through the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation
(Chrismation), we are temples of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us,
and by his indwelling we are made holy by the gift of sanctifying grace.
The ultimate promise of the Gospel is that we will share in the life
of the Holy Trinity. The Fathers of the Church called this participation
in the divine life "divinization" (theosis). In this
we see that God does not merely send us good things from on high; instead,
we are brought up into the inner life of God, the communion among the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In the celebration of the Eucharist
(which means "thanksgiving") we give praise and glory to God
for this sublime gift.
2. Why is the Eucharist
not only a meal but also a sacrifice?
While our sins would have made it impossible for us to share in the
life of God, Jesus Christ was sent to remove this obstacle. His death
was a sacrifice for our sins. Christ is "the Lamb of God, who takes
away the sin of the world" (Jn 1:29). Through his death and resurrection,
he conquered sin and death and reconciled us to God. The Eucharist is
the memorial of this sacrifice. The Church gathers to remember and to
re-present the sacrifice of Christ in which we share through the action
of the priest and the power of the Holy Spirit. Through the celebration
of the Eucharist, we are joined to Christ's sacrifice and receive its
inexhaustible benefits.
As the Letter to the Hebrews explains, Jesus is the one eternal high
priest who always lives to make intercession for the people before the
Father. In this way, he surpasses the many high priests who over centuries
used to offer sacrifices for sin in the Jerusalem temple. The eternal
high priest Jesus offers the perfect sacrifice which is his very self,
not something else. "He entered once for all into the sanctuary,
not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood, thus
obtaining eternal redemption" (Heb 9:12).
Jesus' act belongs to human history, for he is truly human and has entered
into history. At the same time, however, Jesus Christ is the Second
Person of the Holy Trinity; he is the eternal Son, who is not confined
within time or history. His actions transcend time, which is part of
creation. "Passing through the greater and more perfect tabernacle
not made by hands, that is, not belonging to this creation" (Heb
9:11), Jesus the eternal Son of God made his act of sacrifice in the
presence of his Father, who lives in eternity. Jesus' one perfect sacrifice
is thus eternally present before the Father, who eternally accepts it.
This means that in the Eucharist, Jesus does not sacrifice himself again
and again. Rather, by the power of the Holy Spirit his one eternal sacrifice
is made present once again, re-presented, so that we may share in it.
Christ does not have to leave where he is in heaven to be with us. Rather,
we partake of the heavenly liturgy where Christ eternally intercedes
for us and presents his sacrifice to the Father and where the angels
and saints constantly glorify God and give thanks for all his gifts:
"To the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing
and honor, glory and might, forever and ever" (Rev 5:13). As the
Catechism of the Catholic Church states, "By the Eucharistic
celebration we already unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy and
anticipate eternal life, when God will be all in all" (no. 1326).
The Sanctus proclamation, "Holy, Holy, Holy Lord . . . ,"
is the song of the angels who are in the presence of God (Is 6:3). When
in the Eucharist we proclaim the Sanctus we echo on earth the song of
angels as they worship God in heaven. In the Eucharistic celebration
we do not simply remember an event in history. Rather, through the mysterious
action of the Holy Spirit in the eucharistic celebration the Lord's
Paschal Mystery is made present and contemporaneous to his Spouse the
Church.
Furthermore, in the Eucharistic re-presentation of Christ's eternal
sacrifice before the Father, we are not simply spectators. The priest
and the worshiping community are in different ways active in the Eucharistic
sacrifice. The ordained priest standing at the altar represents Christ
as head of the Church. All the baptized, as members of Christ's Body,
share in his priesthood, as both priest and victim. The Eucharist is
also the sacrifice of the Church. The Church, which is the Body and
Bride of Christ, participates in the sacrificial offering of her Head
and Spouse. In the Eucharist, the sacrifice of Christ becomes the sacrifice
of the members of his Body who united to Christ form one sacrificial
offering (cf. Catechism, no. 1368). As Christ's sacrifice is
made sacramentally present, united with Christ, we offer ourselves as
a sacrifice to the Father. "The whole Church exercises the role
of priest and victim along with Christ, offering the Sacrifice of the
Mass and itself completely offered in it" (Mysterium Fidei,
no. 31; cf. Lumen Gentium, no. 11).
3. When the bread and
wine become the Body and Blood of Christ, why do they still look and
taste like bread and wine?
In the celebration of the Eucharist, the glorified Christ becomes present
under the appearances of bread and wine in a way that is unique, a way
that is uniquely suited to the Eucharist. In the Church's traditional
theological language, in the act of consecration during the Eucharist
the "substance" of the bread and wine is changed by the power
of the Holy Spirit into the "substance" of the Body and Blood
of Jesus Christ. At the same time, the "accidents" or appearances
of bread and wine remain. "Substance" and "accident"
are here used as philosophical terms that have been adapted by great
medieval theologians such as St. Thomas Aquinas in their efforts to
understand and explain the faith. Such terms are used to convey the
fact that what appears to be bread and wine in every way (at the level
of "accidents" or physical attributes - that is, what can
be seen, touched, tasted, or measured) in fact is now the Body and Blood
of Christ (at the level of "substance" or deepest reality).
This change at the level of substance from bread and wine into the Body
and Blood of Christ is called "transubstantiation." According
to Catholic faith, we can speak of the Real Presence of Christ in the
Eucharist because this transubstantiation has occurred (cf. Catechism,
no. 1376).
This is a great mystery of our faith-we can only know it from Christ's
teaching given us in the Scriptures and in the Tradition of the Church.
Every other change that occurs in the world involves a change in accidents
or characteristics. Sometimes the accidents change while the substance
remains the same. For example, when a child reaches adulthood, the characteristics
of the human person change in many ways, but the adult remains the same
person-the same substance. At other times, the substance and the accidents
both change. For example, when a person eats an apple, the apple is
incorporated into the body of that person-is changed into the body of
that person. When this change of substance occurs, however, the accidents
or characteristics of the apple do not remain. As the apple is changed
into the body of the person, it takes on the accidents or characteristics
of the body of that person. Christ's presence in the Eucharist is unique
in that, even though the consecrated bread and wine truly are in substance
the Body and Blood of Christ, they have none of the accidents or characteristics
of a human body, but only those of bread and wine.
4. Does the bread cease
to be bread and the wine cease to be wine?
Yes. In order for the whole Christ to be present-body, blood, soul,
and divinity-the bread and wine cannot remain, but must give way so
that his glorified Body and Blood may be present. Thus in the Eucharist
the bread ceases to be bread in substance, and becomes the Body of Christ,
while the wine ceases to be wine in substance, and becomes the Blood
of Christ. As St. Thomas Aquinas observed, Christ is not quoted as saying,
"This bread is my body," but "This is my
body" (Summa Theologiae, III q. 78, a. 5).
5. Is it fitting that
Christ's Body and Blood become present in the Eucharist under the appearances
of bread and wine?
Yes, for this way of being present corresponds perfectly to the sacramental
celebration of the Eucharist. Jesus Christ gives himself to us in a
form that employs the symbolism inherent in eating bread and drinking
wine. Furthermore, being present under the appearances of bread and
wine, Christ gives himself to us in a form that is appropriate for human
eating and drinking. Also, this kind of presence corresponds to the
virtue of faith, for the presence of the Body and Blood of Christ cannot
be detected or discerned by any way other than faith. That is why St.
Bonaventure affirmed: "There is no difficulty over Christ's being
present in the sacrament as in a sign; the great difficulty is in the
fact that He is really in the sacrament, as He is in heaven. And so
believing this is especially meritorious" (In IV Sent.,
dist. X, P. I, art. un., qu. I). On the authority of God who reveals
himself to us, by faith we believe that which cannot be grasped by our
human faculties (cf. Catechism, no. 1381).
6. Are the consecrated
bread and wine "merely symbols"?
In everyday language, we call a "symbol" something that points
beyond itself to something else, often to several other realities at
once. The transformed bread and wine that are the Body and Blood of
Christ are not merely symbols because they truly are the Body and Blood
of Christ. As St. John Damascene wrote: "The bread and wine are
not a foreshadowing of the body and blood of Christ-By no means!-but
the actual deified body of the Lord, because the Lord Himself said:
‘This is my body'; not ‘a foreshadowing of my body' but ‘my body,' and
not ‘a foreshadowing of my blood' but ‘my blood'" (The Orthodox
Faith, IV [PG 94, 1148-49]).
At the same time, however, it is important to recognize that the Body
and Blood of Christ come to us in the Eucharist in a sacramental form.
In other words, Christ is present under the appearances of bread and
wine, not in his own proper form. We cannot presume to know all the
reasons behind God's actions. God uses, however, the symbolism inherent
in the eating of bread and the drinking of wine at the natural level
to illuminate the meaning of what is being accomplished in the Eucharist
through Jesus Christ.
There are various ways in which the symbolism of eating bread and drinking
wine discloses the meaning of the Eucharist. For example, just as natural
food gives nourishment to the body, so the Eucharistic food gives spiritual
nourishment. Furthermore, the sharing of an ordinary meal establishes
a certain communion among the people who share it; in the Eucharist,
the People of God share a meal that brings them into communion not only
with each other but with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Similarly,
as St. Paul tells us, the single loaf that is shared among many during
the Eucharistic meal is an indication of the unity of those who have
been called together by the Holy Spirit as one body, the Body of Christ
(1 Cor 10:17). To take another example, the individual grains of wheat
and individual grapes have to be harvested and to undergo a process
of grinding or crushing before they are unified as bread and as wine.
Because of this, bread and wine point to both the union of the many
that takes place in the Body of Christ and the suffering undergone by
Christ, a suffering that must also be embraced by his disciples. Much
more could be said about the many ways in which the eating of bread
and drinking of wine symbolize what God does for us through Christ,
since symbols carry multiple meanings and connotations.
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and Sacramental Schedule
The Real Presence of Jesus Christ
in the Sacrament of the Eucharist: Basic Questions and Answers@ 2001
United States Catholic Conference, Inc., Washington, D.C. All rights
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