There are at least two perspectives
that have a bearing on the Real Presence in the Eucharist. The Church provides one perspective with a
theological explanation of this doctrine, while the other perspective comes
from the individual Catholic. Because
Catholic teaching in this regard aims at forming community and individual
belief, the hope is that these two perspectives agree. Polls show, however, that many Catholics do
not understand the Real Presence in the way that the Church explains this
doctrine.[1] That is, some Catholics do not perceive or
believe that Jesus is really and substantially present in the consecrated bread
and wine. Instead, they interpret the
meaning of the Real Presence in ways that diverge from Catholic teaching.
Given the spiritual significance
of the Eucharist and the important role it has for the individual Catholic,
such divergence from Church teaching is a vital pastoral concern. The concern centers on how to reach those who
struggle with their belief in the Real Presence. The pastoral goal is to help those who
struggle come to a satisfactory and authentic understanding of this doctrine.
To that end, agreeable communication and the right attitude will yield the more
effective pastoral response. The right attitude
is one of respect and openness, without judgment or condemnation. This approach
relies on and utilizes the way in which most come to believe in the Real
Presence.
Belief in the Real Presence, like
belief of any sort, is not innate.
Belief is acquired through a process or journey that occurs over time
and in the complex circumstances of daily living. This holds for the Real Presence as
well. Belief in the Real Presence is the
culmination of a spiritual journey that usually begins with no awareness or
belief on one end, and that gradually develops and grows into genuine
acceptance and belief on the other. Many
variations of belief occur in between. Those who have reached the end, those
who believe, did so with the help of the Holy Spirit. From a pastoral point of view, the end result
of such a journey is always the work and fruit of the Holy Spirit.
From this perspective, there is
less of a pastoral worry about struggle or disbelief in the Real Presence than
first meets the eye. And, less worry can
promote a more effective pastoral response and authentic resolution for the
individual. In this light, the more
effective pastoral response begins by viewing struggle with belief in the Real
Presence as a point on a spiritual journey, a momentary stopping point along
the way to a journey’s end. Although the
end result is the work of the Holy Spirit, a good pastor stands ready to assist
when and where assistance is needed or solicited. The specifics of such assistance, however, depend
on the circumstances, the individuals involved, and the nature of the struggle.
How does the
Church explain the Real Presence?
In regard to belief in the Real
Presence, divergence and struggle in understanding among Catholics is not due
to a lack of clarity in Church teaching.
For, Jesus himself proclaimed this doctrine with unambiguous language
throughout his ministry and especially at the Last Supper. In time, the Council of Trent promulgated
decrees on the Eucharist that expounded on the meaning and spiritual
significance of Jesus’ words at the Last Supper. More recently, the U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops issued a pastoral statement on the Eucharist, entitled “The
Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist: Basic
Questions and Answers.”[2] The preface to their statement contains the
following citation from scripture:
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).
The Bishops relied on these words
to ground their articulation of the Catholic doctrine 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...This is
what the Church means when she speaks of the ‘Real Presence’ of Christ in the
Eucharist.”[3]
Pope John Paul II affirms this
doctrine and gives it deeper meaning in his encyclical on the Eucharist. He relies on Lumen Gentium when he writes
that, “When the Church celebrates the Eucharist, the memorial of her Lord's
death and resurrection, this central event of salvation becomes really present
and ‘the work of our redemption is carried out’ (LG, 3). This sacrifice is so decisive for the
salvation of the human race that Jesus Christ offered it and returned to the Father
only after he had left us a means of sharing in it as if we had been present
there. Each member of the faithful can
thus take part in it and inexhaustibly gain its fruits. This is the faith from which generations of
Christians down through the ages have lived.”[4]
John Paul further explains the
present possibility of sharing in the historical sacrifice of Jesus Christ in
terms of the “oneness of time”, by which he means kairos rather than
chronos. On this view, one might argue
that the Real Presence is an aspect and manifestation of creation itself, which
is a present and ongoing act of God. God
still acts in this respect because He is pure act itself. As St. Thomas explains it, God does not act
at one point and refrain from acting at another, for that would imply potential
in God. Because there is no potential in
God, Thomas argues that God is pure act.[5] It follows that creation is as present now as
at its inception in human history, and we who live today participate in God’s
original, ongoing act of creation by virtue of our individual created
existence.
By the same token, the Eucharist
brought about in time by the Word made flesh is a creative, present and ongoing
act that “began” at the Last Supper (speaking from a human perspective), but
continues in time through the present.
Thus, we who live today participate in the salvific act of Christ
through the Eucharistic elements and the Holy Spirit by virtue of our communion
and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Indeed, Pope John Paul claims that, “The saving efficacy of the
sacrifice is fully realized when the Lord’s body and blood are received in
communion. The Eucharistic Sacrifice is
intrinsically directed to the inward union of the faithful with Christ through
communion; we receive the very One who offered himself for us; we receive his
body which he gave up for us on the Cross and his blood which he ‘poured out
for many for the forgiveness of sins’ (Mt 26:28).”[6]
What happens
when we receive the Eucharist?
Receiving the Eucharist does not necessarily
translate into awareness of the Real Presence as the above polls show. For most of us, we perceive Jesus as really
present in the Eucharist and become aware of the effects of this Real Presence
over time. In this sense, we are like
the disciples who first heard Jesus refer to himself as the bread of life. He minced no words in that regard when he
said that, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life...For my
flesh is true food and my blood is true drink...Whoever eats my flesh and
drinks my blood remains in me and I in him...[and] will live forever” (Jn
6:54-58).
Many of the disciples who first
heard this discourse found it too hard, and “returned to their former way of
life and no longer accompanied him” (Jn 6:66).
The Twelve, however, remained with Jesus despite this teaching because
they believed and were convinced that he was the “Holy One of God” (Jn 6:69;
cf. Mt 16:21, Mk 8:29, Lk 9:20).
Although the Twelve did not reject and abandon Jesus, Scripture gives no
indication that they found his “bread of life” discourse any less radical or
difficult than those who abandoned Jesus.
It seems the Twelve first accepted this teaching with trust and more on
faith than on understanding.
The picture that emerges at the
Last Supper, however, is quite different.
When the disciples gathered with Jesus for the last time in the Upper
Room and heard him declare that the bread and wine were his body and blood,
they express no doubt or astonishment over his words and actions. Nor is there any indication that any of them
abandon Jesus at this time for this reason.
The contrast between the first
and last reactions of the disciples reflects a remarkable transformation in
perception and belief. The first
reaction to Jesus’ words is open abandonment by many disciples, coupled with
perhaps a blind loyalty by the Twelve.
The disciples’ last reaction in the Upper Room, on the other hand,
reflects no surprise or rejection of the idea, and appears to be a comfortable
acceptance of his “words” of consecration.
The only protest voiced by the Twelve at the Last Supper is intense
worry over being identified as the one who will abandon Jesus through betrayal.
The disciples appear to have had
no trouble accepting the words of Jesus at the Last Supper. It was only later with his arrest in the
Garden that they became aware that accepting the words of Jesus also meant
imitating his conduct. This greater
demand ultimately proved too much and caused many more disciples to abandon
Jesus. Peter’s sorrow notwithstanding,
it was only when the Holy Spirit descends at Pentecost and strengthens the
disciples in their faith that they fully accept what it means to follow
Christ. At Pentecost, they realize that
it means imitating both his words and his actions.
What is the
pastoral lesson to be drawn from this situation?
The process of enlightenment and
transformation by the disciples suggests a similar process will occur in a
modern context. In other words, perceiving
or believing the Real Presence in the Eucharist (and in others) can be a
gradual growth due to the very spiritual nourishment provided by the Eucharist
itself. In the end, belief is the work
and fruit of the Holy Spirit. The
post-resurrection experience of the disciples on the road to Emmaus clearly
shows that perceiving Jesus in the Eucharist is a direct, although perhaps not
immediate, result of breaking bread with Jesus himself, that is, of receiving
him in communion. For, despite the fact
that the risen Jesus had spent time with his disciples earlier in the day,
explaining Scripture to them, their eyes were opened and they recognized him
only “in the breaking of bread” later that day (Lk 24:31).
The pastoral lesson for today
seems clear. Receiving the Real Presence
in the Eucharist means receiving Jesus Christ himself, who in turn nourishes
and enables us to perceive him both in the Eucharist and wherever he manifests
himself. This perception is an outcome
of a spiritual journey with many points of maturity and various degrees of responsibility. Irrespective of our position about the Real
Presence along that path, receiving the Real Presence with a sincere and open
heart unites us to Christ in a way that inevitably compels an unambiguous response
on our part one way or the other.
In the end, our response must be to
imitate the words and actions of Jesus in our daily lives. In other words, we must imitate his love and
mercy in our own words and deeds. In the
words of St. Paul, union with Christ means that we must live according to the
Spirit (Rom 8:5). In accepting that
privilege and responsibility, we answer a call that allows the Holy Spirit to
advance us along the path of life with God.
This is one of the
principal fruits of receiving the Real Presence in the Eucharist. How each of us responds to those fruits,
however, is a personal determination made at many different points and in
various ways in the complex circumstances of our lives. Leaving the end result to the work of the
Holy Spirit, a good pastor thus stands ready to assist at each point along the
way. Depending on when and where such assistance
is needed or solicited, a good pastoral response always begins with the right
attitude.
