Traditional Catholic Teaching

Appendix to Supplement B: Lesson 11

CHRIST IN THE BLESSED SACRAMENT REMAINS AMONG US

“I am with you, even to the consummation of the world.”—Matt. 28.

Behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.” This was the assurance which Christ, before leaving the world, gave unto His own. To fulfill this, His promise, it was certainly not necessary for Him to dwell bodily on earth as man; for according to His person He is, as God himself, present in heaven and also on earth.

Secondly, the promise of Christ to remain with us is fulfilled even though it would merely relate to the protection and assistance which He promised to extend to His Church from heaven.

However, he fulfilled it “literally” through His presence in the most holy Sacrament; for, as faith teaches us through the Council of Trent, Christ there present truly, really, and essentially, body and soul, divinity and humanity. What consolation should not this truth every faithful child of the Church who holds Jesus as the object of his ardent love! And what a source of grace is at the same time opened unto us for the sanctification of our lives through this His presence among us!

Let us consider the plenitude of graces which the most holy Sacrament of the altar, through the perpetual presence of Christ himself in our midst, confers upon us!

In order to awaken in your mind a vivid conception of the sublime, the indescribable happiness afforded by the Presence of Christ in the most holy Sacrament of the altar it will be essentially necessary for me, in a few brief words, to enliven your faith in that Presence, and, at the same time, to present to our view the proofs which establish that truth — a truth which has been, throughout all ages, assailed by those who have departed from our Faith as well as the enemies of the Church, and is still denied by them.

The Christian, however, who is thoroughly instructed in matters of faith, will not permit himself to be led astray, but rather, by considering what Holy Writ and Tradition teach us upon the subject, will become ever more firm in his belief in the real presence of Christ upon our altars.

All that Christ and His Apostles have said regarding this is too precise and explicit to permit the least, shadow of doubt to trouble our minds.

As to the expression of Christ himself, we need but recall the words He so solemnly pronounced at the institution of this most holy Sacrament; for, as we read in St. Matthew, “Jesus took bread in His hands, looked up to heaven, and said, ‘Take ye and eat, for this is my body.’ ” And, reaching to them the chalice said, “This is my blood, which shall be shed you.” Christ did not say, “This signifies my body, my blood, or “Here is my body, my blood;” but “This is my body, that which I hold in my hands is body. This is the chalice of my blood.”

Christ spoke these words as Lawgiver, at the institution of the New Law when not figurative but most definitive and explicit words were require instruct the disciples and their successors as to course of action throughout all subsequent ages.

Yes, even at an earlier period, Christ speaking the institution of this Sacrament employed the explicit terms when, as we read in the Gospel spoke of the manna which He would send down from heaven, to His own. Upon this occasion He spoke thus of this heavenly gift: “My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. I am the living which comes down from heaven; if any man eat of this bread he shall live forever. The bread which I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

And the Jews, hearing this, were scandalized and said, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” but Christ neither recalled the words He had used, nor told them: that they had not understood Him correctly; that His words were not to be taken in a literal sense but in a spiritual signification. No; He permitted them to depart, and, turning to His disciples, said that if they were not wiling to believe they also might leave Him.

But Peter answered in the name of all the Apostles, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life." And then, upon that day which witnessed the descent of the Holy Ghost, the first regulation which the Apostles made in regard to divine worship was that the neophytes (new Christians) should assemble daily for the "breaking of bread;" that is, to receive Holy Communion.

But of any one who received unworthily, St. Paul declared, "that he was guilty of the flesh and blood of Christ, and ate damnation to himself."

In precisely the same manner did the holy fathers understand the words of Christ and the doctrine of the Apostles in regard to the real presence of Christ in this Sacrament.

Let us hear some who will speak in the name of all. I will first quote St. Cyril. His words express the dogma in all its relations with most incontrovertible clearness. "Since Christ," he says, "himself affirms of the bread, 'This is my Body’ who would venture to doubt? And since Christ himself declares, This is my Blood,' who would presume to doubt that it is indeed His blood? "

"At the marriage feast of Cana, in Galilee, the Saviour changed water into wine, which had the appearance of blood! Should we then hesitate to believe that He changed wine into His blood? Therefore, although your senses tell you the contrary, your faith must nevertheless be stronger, that you may not judge things according to your taste, but believe with a firmness, which naught can move, that through this Sacrament the body and blood of Christ are administered to you”.

Mothers often refuse to nourish with their milk the children given to them by God, and Christ himself nourishes us with His flesh and blood. What a difference of love!' exclaims St. John Chrysostom."

But can it really be possible that bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Christ?" may be urged by some objecting voice; to which St. Augustine replies Friend, God can do more than man is able to comprehend!" And St. Ambrose, the master of St. Augustine, exclaims, Has not Christ then created the world out of nothing by His Word only? And is it not a far greater evidence of miraculous power to create what has never been than to change into other substances those which already exist?" So the Holy Fathers all declare.

Are there not even in nature, through the power of nature, changes which are just as difficult, yes, even more so, to the comprehension of man, than the changing of bread and wine into the flesh and blood of Christ by Christ?

Who can, for instance, understand how the bread which we eat is in our stomach changed into flesh? Or that the sap of the trees drawn from the same tasteless earth is transformed into fruit of the most different kinds and flavours? Side by side grow cherries, apples, apricots, figs, and oranges. How does the tasteless wood change the moisture of the same soil in the different fruits?

Mark this, O child of the Church! and when non-believers and antagonists try to weaken your faith in the real presence of our Lord in the most Blessed Sacrament by their shallow objections, answer them thus.

I will now make the application, and say, " Oh, with what exultation will not the faithful soul be overwhelmed at the thought, Jesus is certainly here. He is with me; He, my Saviour and Redeemer, my Father, my Divine Brother, my Friend, my future Judge, the Spouse of my soul! He is with me.

In this regard we need but question our own hearts as to the exquisite joy with which they are filled, when we are thrown into the company of persons to whom we are deeply indebted, yes, to whom we owe all our happiness in life, and whom we dearly love.

This is an every day experience, especially in our time, when so many, braving the perils of Travel, make a new country their home. For example, your heart has long been filled with an ardent wish to see once more your father, your brother, your bosom friend, and lo! you are suddenly asked if you know who has arrived from overseas that very day! You are told that some one or other of those beloved ones is nigh. Oh, how eagerly would you ask where he can be found, and hasten to greet him, even though the shadows of night had fallen upon the globe!

Now, what an ardent longing to hasten to Christ should fill the hearts of every Christian!

Christ, who is among us, in our very midst, in the most blessed Sacrament, is indeed that Father, through whom we have received the right to be once more children of God, to whom we are indebted for the privilege of calling God himself our Father, and who has reinstated us in that glorious right for time and eternity.

He is indeed that Brother, who through His Incarnation, procured for us the right to call God himself our Brother, because He, the Son of God, was made man, and will one day share with us the inheritance of heaven and earth.

He is indeed that Friend who, for us, gave up His very blood and life — that Friend who divides His every possession with us, who loves us far more than we love ourselves, who aids and assists us, and who, in ever), trouble of life, is ready with the sweetest solace and most welcome refreshment.

But, what is more than all else, He is our Creator, from whom we have received every thing, even our very existence, who created us according, to His own image and likeness, that we may share with Him his infinite delights and blessedness.

And, then, He is our Redeemer, who, when we had already forfeited our claim to heaven, came to save us, and who, in so merciful a manner, called us from among millions and nations to belong to his holy Church.

It is Jesus himself, who, to us, as children of that Church, has already imparted many, yes, innumerable graces, as well as the most powerful means of obtaining them. Yes, who personally abides with and imparts Himself to us, that, entering, into our hearts, He may nourish us with His own flesh and blood.

Besides this, He is our future Judge! Oh, what a motive for us to hasten to Him, every day of our lives!

Certainly it belongs to the priest alone to open the tabernacle, but the Christian who is blessed with an ardent faith opens it with the key of faith; or, rather, for one who believes implicitly there is no door, neither for one who loves with heartfelt fervor. Such a soul can look beyond at Jesus, and when she kneels before the tabernacle, united with Him in the most holy Sacrament, she will not be wanting affections of the heart, nor loving words to hold sweet, converse with her Lord and Spouse.

Such a soul will speak to Him as a child to its father, — as a brother to his brother, as one friend to another, as an invalid to his physician, as a criminal to the judge in whose power lies life or death for him. But above all, as a bride would speak to her spouse, with whom she ardently longs to be united day and night, and once eternally.

But how weak are all these comparisons when we reflect upon the infinite magnitude which all these motives assume when they are applied to Christ, the
Incarnate Son of God, our Creator and Redeemer! The fruit of this meditation should be a firm resolution on our part, that in future we will not only believe in the presence of Christ in the most holy Sacrament, but avail ourselves of that adorable Presence for our solace and salvation, to increase our merits for eternal life. The first means is diligently to visit the blessed Sacrament, not only on Sunday, but if it is possible, during the week also, yes, even daily. Happy all those who today will make this resolution, and put it in practice as well. With them begins on earth, as it were, the life of the saints in heaven, in their communion and Union with Christ! Amen!

Adapted for 21st century Internet use from:

Sermons

In honor of the

Blessed Sacrament

By F. X. Weninger, S. J.
Doctor of theology
Cincinnati: 1984

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