April 2023

There are many events taking place in the next several weeks that will focus on the gift of the Eucharist. Many will join the church as new Catholics at the Easter Vigil in our parishes, receiving the Eucharist with us for the first time. During the Easter season, many children will make their First Holy Communion. On June 3, Catholics from around our diocese will gather in Odessa for the Diocesan Eucharistic Congress. On the weekend of June 10–11, we will celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. Events such as these present us with many informal opportunities with family and friends to talk about the Holy Eucharist. In those conversations, when we seek to articulate our Catholic belief in the Eucharist, it is important to have a familiarity with some of the basic concepts.

Eucharist

The word “Eucharist” comes from a Greek word eucharistia, which means “thanksgiving.” In the Last Supper, when Jesus took the bread and the cup of wine, he gave thanks for them before he declared that they were his Body and Blood (see Mt 26:27; Mk 14:23; Lk 22:19). The word “Eucharist” is used to refer to the ritual, sacramental action of thanksgiving to God which constitutes the primary liturgical celebration in the Catholic Church. In the Mass, we give praise and thanks to God the Father for his saving action through Jesus Christ. We also use the word “Eucharist” to refer to the consecrated elements which have become the Body and Blood of Christ in the sacrifice of the Mass.

Transubstantiation

One of the most important Catholic doctrines regarding the Eucharist is transubstantiation. This is a central teaching of Catholicism. We believe that the Eucharist is not just a symbol of Jesus Christ, and it is not merely a memorial action in remembrance of him. In the consecration of the Eucharist, the bread and wine are actually changed into the Body and Blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ. Christ is really, truly, and substantially present in the Eucharist.

The word we use to describe the change that happens is “transubstantiation.” It is a change of substance. The sacred species continue to have the observable properties of bread and wine (taste, feel, smell, size, shape), but their substance, their true identity, is transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ. This substantive change happens at the consecration in the Mass, and it continues as long as the appearance of bread and wine remains.

Real Presence

Christ is present in many ways in our world, but Christ’s presence in the Eucharist is unique. It is a substantial presence in which Jesus Christ — God and man — makes himself wholly and entirely present. We commonly refer to this as the Real Presence. When we receive Holy Communion, we are not just receiving a “wafer.” We are receiving Jesus Christ himself, the eternal Son of God. The Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist has been a consistent Catholic teaching, from the time of Jesus himself until today.

Epiclesis

In the Eucharistic Prayer of the Mass, there is a brief but important prayer called the Epiclesis. In that moment, the priest prays: “May this same Holy Spirit graciously sanctify these offerings, that they may become the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Roman Missal, Eucharistic Prayer IV). This prayer expresses the fact that it is by the divine action of the Holy Spirit that God changes the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

Concomitance

This is an important word that many Catholics have never heard. The official Catholic doctrine of concomitance teaches that when we receive Communion only under the form of the consecrated host, or only under the form of the Precious Blood in the chalice, we receive the Body and Blood, soul and divinity of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Therefore, if one receives Communion under one species, nothing is lacking in that reception. St. Thomas Aquinas teaches that “the whole Christ is present under either species” (Summa Theologiae, III, q. 80, a. 12, ad 3).

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “Since Christ is sacramentally present under each of the species, communion under the species of bread alone makes it possible to receive all the fruit of Eucharistic grace. For pastoral reasons this manner of receiving communion has been legitimately established as the most common form in the Latin rite. But ‘the sign of communion is more complete when given under both kinds, since in that form the sign of the Eucharistic meal appears more clearly.’ This is the usual form of receiving communion in the Eastern rites” (CCC, no. 1390).

For a variety of reasons, a person might receive Communion under one species alone. For example, some are unable to receive the host because of allergic reactions to gluten in the wheat bread. Some are unable to receive the Blood of Christ because of their reaction to alcohol. Sometimes, due to various communicable diseases, we have not made the Precious Blood available in our churches. Nevertheless, by the doctrine of concomitance, we know that, under each species alone, Christ is truly present and we receive all Eucharistic grace.

Biblical basis for eucharistic teaching

The key biblical passages that provide a scriptural witness to our faith in the Eucharist are as follows:

John 6:32–35, 48–59
In the Bread of Life Discourse of John 6, Jesus says, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life” (Jn 6:53). Immediately after this discourse, many of his disciples found his teaching to be hard and shocking, so they no longer followed him (Jn 6:60-66). If he had intended his language to be merely symbolic, he had the opportunity in that moment to say, “Wait, come back, I was only speaking metaphorically,” but he did not.

Matthew 26:26–28
At the Last Supper with his disciples, “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.’” (Mark and Luke also have parallel passages at Luke 22:17–20 and Mark 14:22–24.) We believe that Jesus meant what he said in the Last Supper. He did not say, “This is a symbol of my body,” or “This is a symbol of my blood.”

1 Corinthians 10:14–17, 11:23–29
St. Paul writes to the early Christian community in Corinth about the celebration of the Eucharist. He says, “The cup of blessing that we bless — is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break — is it not a participation in the body of Christ?” Through these rhetorical questions, St. Paul is emphasizing the fact that we participate in the Body and Blood of Christ when we celebrate the Mass.

Patristic sources

The ancient Christian authors, also known as the Patristic writers, were very clear in their teaching about the reality of the Eucharist. For example, St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote in A.D. 110, “Heretics abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the Flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ” (Epistle to the Smyrnaeans, chapter 7).

St. Justin Martyr wrote in A.D. 150, “not as common bread nor as common drink do we receive these, but … as we have been taught, the food which has been made into the Eucharist by the eucharistic prayer set down by him, and by the change of which our blood and flesh is nourished, is both the Flesh and Blood of that incarnated Jesus” (First Apology, 66). There are many other similar examples in the writings of the various Patristic authors.

Thus, we see clearly in the Bible and in the Patristic writers that the ancient and original Christian understanding of what happens in the eucharistic prayers is that the elements of bread and wine truly become the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Seeking deeper faith

A mystery so profound as the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist is not always easy to grasp. When we have doubts about the reality of the Eucharist, or any truth of our faith, it is good to pray to God like the father of the boy with epilepsy in Mark 9:24, “Lord, I believe, help me in my unbelief.”

The gift of the Holy Eucharist is at the core of being a Catholic Christian. It is a precious treasure. We should never take it for granted.