28. Presence As a Person

The Eucharist is defined as the body and blood, soul and divinity of Christ, under the appearances of bread and wine. All these aspects are drawn out because historically someone questioned this or that element. The definition arose because of conflict and questioning. At its heart, it means that Christmas is forever. The Lord is still human and sits at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us. Only human beings (within the visible creation) can pray. Therefore, Christ can pray. But, because of his divinity, it takes on additional value. This is the profound significance of Christmas, the real reason why we sing Joy to the World. You cannot create this joy with simple repetition, singing hymns, or giving gifts; this is all an expression of a deeper reality. Things will never be the same again because of this child. God has been born as a man through the Virgin Mary. He becomes present in the Mass. He is the risen Christ, present through the Blessed Sacrament.

Why do we believe this? Let me first allay your fears and stress that there is no one who understands how this happens. This is true no matter whether you are a theologian, saint, or pope. There is a difference here between "how" and "what." We are discussing what we believe. We find it reasonable to hold this perspective. About a year before the Last Supper, Christ says: "I myself am the bread of life. No one who comes to me shall ever be hungry, no one who believes in me shall ever thirst" (John 6:35). He goes on to explain that they should eat this bread. The first reaction of the Jews is that they start to murmur. Thy understand him, and they do not like it. If you tell the kids to do something and they do not want to, they start murmuring. If your boss asks you to do something you would rather not do, you might begin to murmur. If it had merely been a symbolic presence, there would be no reason for grumbling. An example is the flag that stands for our country. There would be no problem with that kind of representation. Such symbols can be established from almost anything as long as it evokes the pertinent meaning. But, Jesus meant something more. He goes on to tell them: "Your ancestors ate manna in the desert, but they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven for a man to eat and never die. I myself am the living bread come down from heaven" (John 6:49-51). Now, they begin to quarrel among themselves. How can this be? The only basis for dispute is for some to take him for his word and for others to complain that he cannot mean it. How can he do that?

Jesus says over and over again, "The man who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him" (John 6:56). That provokes an objection from the people closest to him, his disciples. "From this time on, many of his disciples broke away and would not remain in his company any longer. Jesus then said to the Twelve, 'Do you want to leave me too?' Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe; we are convinced that you are God's holy one'" (John 6:66-69). Peter does not understand it. However, this does not mean that he fails to accept it. He receives it on the ground that Jesus says it.

Most of us have reactions similar to those in the Gospel. Jesus did not want to leave us in doubt as to what he wanted. Despite how t seems, it is not cannibalism. In our culture we have the expression of a parent for offspring, "I love you so much, I could just eat you up!" These words reflect the intensity and intimacy of our love for the Lord.

The Last Supper is really a Passover Meal. It has bread (unleavened) on the table and wine (their staple drink). It was always initiated with the father of the family addressing the others. The youngest child would ask, "Why is this night different from all other nights?" Then would come the explanation. At the Last Supper, we enter into Christ's story. It is the repetition and RE-PRESENTATION of his story that makes present the Passion of Christ. From the early Church to today, we have believed that Christ is made present. The Jews did it in memory of their flight out of Egypt. This is not nostalgia; but a belief that the same God who delivered them then is present now in their midst. Instituting the Eucharist, Jesus says, "Do this in memory of me." This living memory is understood in the Church by the name ANAMNESIS. He takes bread and he takes wine. Suddenly, at the Last Supper, he changes the rubrics. "This is my body. Take and eat. This is my blood. Take and drink." What did he mean? He means what he says!

"This is my blood of the NEW and ETERNAL COVENANT." A covenant is an agreement, as in marriage. When the Jews made a covenant with God, they always sealed it with blood. It would make no sense to make it with fake blood. This provides a small but important insight. Jesus is talking about real blood! Jesus really means it. His is the blood of the new covenant. He is the new Lamb of sacrifice.

Jesus is not dialoguing about the body as a torso. For the ancient Jews, this meant one's WHOLE SELF or the ENTIRE PERSON. In other words, Jesus is saying, "It is I." As for the blood, it is a sign of life. Combine the two, and he is saying, "It is I and I am alive." This is what we mean at Mass.

St. Paul was having some trouble with converts. He tells them: "I received from the Lord what I handed on to you, namely, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread, and after he had given thanks, broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' In the same way, after the supper, he took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.' Every time, then, you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes!" (1 Cor. 11:23-26). St. Paul, writing from 56 AD, is giving us the formula of the Mass as he had received it. However, if so very much of our faith was intact from the beginning, problems existed, too. A common meal used to be celebrated before the Eucharist. Many would run in for food, and because of selfishness, poor people would sometimes not get anything to eat. Critical of this situation and other laxities, St. Paul writes, "This means that whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily sins against the body and blood of the Lord" (1 Cor. 11:27). Well, you cannot sin against the body and blood of Christ unless it is really present. "A man should examine himself first; only then should he eat of the bread and drink of the cup. He who eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and drinks a judgment on himself" (1 Cor. 11:28-29).

Figures like Justin Martyr (died 165 AD) in the early Church would essentially echo this message. His description of the celebration of the Eucharist is not only one of the first, but probably one of the most detailed accounts: "On the day of the week which is called Sunday, all, whether they live in town or in country, gather in the same place. Then the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read for as long as time allows, after which the one presiding speaks, exhorts us to live by those noble teachings [homily]. Then we rise and pray together [prayer of the faithful]. When the prayer is finished, bread and wine and water are brought forward [offertory]. Then the priest prays and gives thanks as well as he can. All the people reply with the acclamation Amen." Justin explicitly declares that at the Eucharistic celebration, the bread and wine shared by the entire assembly are truly the body and blood of the incarnate God. The deacons took portions to those who could not be present so that they, too, could share in the community's life. Sunday is the first day of the week and commemorates both the first day of creation and the day that Christ rose from the dead. We see from St. Justin's account that as early as the second century the format of the Eucharist, as we know it, was already established and was celebrated on Sunday, the "Day of the Lord."

The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council have reiterated the importance and centrality of Sunday worship: "By a tradition handed down from the apostles which took its origin from the very day of Christ's resurrection, the church celebrates the paschal mystery every eighth day [an ancient term for Sunday as outside ordinary time]; with good reason this then bears the name of the Lord's Day or Sunday. For on this day the faithful are bound to come together into one place so that by hearing the word of God and taking part in the Eucharist they may call to mind the passion, the resurrection and the glorification of the Lord Jesus. . . . Hence the Lord's Day is the original feast day" (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 106).