The Holy Eucharist and ‘Being There’: Much of Life is All About Showing Up
Simple facts can often be significant . . . and often unadverted to. Consider the Last Supper. Obviously, the Apostles had to be present in order to participate in it. Wonderful as it was, it would have been of no benefit to Peter if he had decided not to attend. And yet, this trivial observation takes us into the heart of our faith, viz., that Jesus—who, as the Son of God, is omnipresent—was located at a given place, at a given time. That’s what we mean when we say that the eternal Word of God became man, was incarnate, in the flesh, in the here and now.
The implications of this fact are important. For one thing, it means that two thousand years ago in Palestine to encounter God in Christ you had to go where he could be found; for he was here and not there, today and not yesterday or tomorrow. People recognized and acted on this knowledge. Recall the paralytic lowered through the roof when the house was too full to permit access to Jesus through the door; or the crowds that followed him into the desert; or Zacchaeus in his sycamore tree; or the woman who came to anoint Jesus in the house of Simon the Pharisee.
A second implication of the physical presence of God in the man Jesus is this: that Jesus rose from the dead in that self-same body. In other words, in the risen Christ God is still located physically. The holy women encountered him at the tomb, and the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Thomas touched his wounds in the upper room, and Jesus fed the Apostles on the shore of the Lake of Galilee.
There’s a third implication: the same holds true today. If we wish to have contact with Jesus we must go where he is to be found; we must see and hear him and touch his body. But where, one asks, is he now localized? There are millions of believers around the world. How can each one be expected to encounter Jesus in the here and now? Well, he explains it himself. “Take and eat; this is my body. Take and drink; this is my blood.” He is present on the altar under the species of bread and wine. That’s why we attend Mass; he’s there, and we simply have to be where he is. And thus, the doctrine of what we call “the Real Presence” is the inevitable consequence of the Incarnation itself.
Christ also speaks in the words of Scripture when they are solemnly proclaimed at Mass, and he is present in the assembly, for as Saint Paul tells us, the Church is the Body of Christ. The priest, too, represents Christ, the bridegroom, presiding at the wedding feast of the Lamb. For Jesus is present as concretely and as really as he was during his earthly life, and it would be a foolish for me to stay away as it would have been to remain in the house when news came that Jesus was in town that day, preaching and working wonders.
A final implication of the Incarnation would require a book to elaborate, for it is the entire sacramental system. As man’s salvation was accomplished in the words and deeds of Jesus, so too does the Church continue his great work by rites in which pray and gesture convey to the faithful member the graces peculiar to each sacrament. In Jesus, God has given us a pattern that shows how he interacts with the human family. How consoling it is to find in the Church the same union of word and act.
Saint Kateri , Canada’s Protectress
This was the title given to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, by Pope Benedict XVI, when he canonized her on October 28th, 2012, along with six others, in Saint Peter’ Square (she had been beatified by Pope John Paul II back in 1980). With Saint Joseph as our protector, along with the Canadian martyrs, we seem to[…]Continue reading→
Remembering Father Alphonse de Valk
(Today marks the sixth anniversary of the death of Father Alphonse de Valk, C.S.B., a faithful, courageous and indefatigable Basilian priest, pro-life-and-family apostle, and the founder of Catholic Insight magazine. Here is what we wrote those on his entering into eternity five years ago, as we continue to remember him in our prayers and thoughts)[…]Continue reading→
My Name is Bernadette
April 16th is a propitious day, for besides the anniversary of Father de Valk’s death, who founded Catholic Insight in its print form decades ago, and the commemoration of the ‘two Benedicts’, mentioned in accompanying posts, today we also recall Saint Bernadette Soubirous, the young visionary to whom the Virgin Mary appeared numerous times at[…]Continue reading→
Canonizing Sister Faustina and Divine Mercy
HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER MASS IN ST PETER’S SQUARE FOR THE CANONIZATION OF SR MARY FAUSTINA KOWALSKA Sunday, 30 April 2000 1. “Confitemini Domino quoniam bonus, quoniam in saeculum misericordia eius”; “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever” (Ps 118: 1). So the Church sings on the Octave of[…]Continue reading→
Divine Mercy Sunday – An Echo of Every Mass
Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe’… ‘My Lord and my God!’ (Jn. 20:18)). Today is Divine Mercy Sunday, and as we celebrate the end of the Easter Octave, we contemplate the wounded side of our Saviour, the Church’s source of life. On Good Friday in the[…]Continue reading→
Saint Stanislaus of Szczepanów
We celebrate Saint Stanislaus today (+ April 11, 1079), in light of this Easter Octave, a bishop and martyr who accepted the episcopacy only at the direct order of Pope Alexander II. He proved a wise and courageous leader of his flock, put to death by his own king, Boleslaus, for rebuking the monarch’s ‘immoral[…]Continue reading→
First Holy Communion: Sermon from May 16, 1943
Here is a sermon from the good old days by +Rev. Msgr. Vincent Nicholas Foy (August 14, 1915 – March 13, 2017), from 1943. Readers may recall that Pope Saint Pius X, by the decree Quam Singulari in 1910, lowered the customary age of reception of Holy Communion – after the rigours of the plague[…]Continue reading→
In the Glorious Light of Easter, Alleluia!
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory (Col. 3:3-4). The Resurrection of Our Lord and Saviour[…]Continue reading→
An Ancient Homily for Holy Saturday
The time between Good Friday and Easter Sunday is one of waiting, in silence, as the world wonders – anticipates – what will happen, after the death of Christ. We re-live this time each year in the anamnesis of our liturgy, and in turn look forward to the glorious re-creation of all things at the[…]Continue reading→
Europe’s Long Descent
(As we meditate on this day on Christ’s burial, and His descent into hell, it is fitting to ponder here with contributor Peter Marcus how the world seems to be heading there as well. The difference is that, although God cannot ‘redeem’ hell, nor those therein, He can and did redeem the world. There is[…]Continue reading→