The Blood of the Lord, indeed, is twofold. There is His corporeal Blood, by which we are redeemed from corruption; and His spiritual Blood, that with which we are anointed. That is to say, to drink the Blood of Jesus is to share in His immortality.36
Clement then says that as wine is mixed with water, so is the Spirit with man. He believed that in receiving the Eucharist worthily we also receive an increase of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Once again he links Holy Communion (the Watered Wine) and the Holy Spirit with eternal life:
The one, the Watered Wine, nourishes in faith, while the other, the Spirit, leads us on to immortality. The union of both, however – of the drink and of the Word – is called the Eucharist, a praiseworthy and excellent gift. Those who partake of it in faith are sanctified in body and in soul. By the will of the Father, the divine mixture, man, is mystically united to the Spirit and to the Word.37
Pope John Paul II refers to his Apostolic Letter, On the Mystery and Worship of the Eucharist, Dominicae Cenae (24 February 1980) when he says, ‘Today I take up anew the thread of that argument, with even greater emotion and gratitude in my heart, echoing as it were the word of the Psalmist: “What shall I render to the Lord for all his bounty to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord (Psalm 116:12-13).”’38
Furthermore he gives us two fantastic insights into the eternal life aspect of the Eucharist. The first is when he quotes 1 Corinthians 11:26, ‘until you come in glory’ and says39, ‘The Eucharist is a straining towards the goal, a foretaste of the fullness of joy promised by Christ (cf. John 15:11); it is in some way the anticipation of heaven, the “pledge of future glory.”’40
The second is when he states so profoundly, that we can receive eternal life now and relates the Eucharist to our bodily resurrection:41
Those who feed on Christ in the Eucharist need not wait until the hereafter to receive eternal life: they already possess it on earth, as the first-fruits of a future fullness which will embrace man in his totality. For in the Eucharist we also receive the pledge of our bodily resurrection at the end of the world: ‘He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:54).’
Once again we see the concept of the here and now and the not yet of the kingdom of God. Thus we get a mere taste, the first fruits of the future completeness that we are called to and will receive when we are fully deified; we will not lose our humanness but will share in the life and divinity of Christ.
If what the Catholic Church teaches is true, and the above is true then all I can say is this is a gloriously priceless treasure and sadly one that many people have ignored. No wonder the Pope says, ‘Here is the Church’s treasure, the heart of the world, the pledge of the fulfillment for which each man and woman, even unconsciously yearns.’42
The Eucharist is where the Church is most fully realised. It is where Christ and His sacrifice are made present now. Furthermore it is the summit towards which all the activity of the Church is directed and the source from which all its power flows; Vatican II expressed the Eucharist as ‘the fount and apex of the whole Christian life’.43
Resurrection of the Body Earlier I covered the concept of the resurrection of the body, and that our body and soul belong together. St Irenaeus thus returns to the theme of the resurrection of the body as a result of receiving the Body and Blood of the Lord. He analogously compares the wood of the planted vine bearing fruit in the future, and that the grain of wheat falling to the ground rises up to an abundant harvest. The latter through the Word of God becomes the Eucharist, which is the Body and Blood of Christ. He says regarding the Eucharist that ‘also our bodies, nourished by it, and deposited in the earth and decomposing therein, shall rise up in due season, the Word of God favoring them with resurrection in the glory of God the Father’.44
We now move to the 3rd century to reveal the amazing writings of these early Christians. One such Christian was Tertullian who coined the term ‘Trinity’ sometime between 208 and 212 AD. He illustrates the belief that the body and imperishable soul belong together as he covers the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Eucharist:
The flesh, then, is washed, so that the soul may be made clean. The flesh is anointed, so that the soul may be dedicated to holiness. The flesh is signed, so that the soul too may be fortified. The flesh is shaded by the imposition of hands, so that the soul too may be illuminated by the Spirit. The flesh feeds on the Body and Blood of Christ, so that the soul too may fatten on God. They cannot, then, be separated in their reward, when they are united in their works.45
The Eucharistic Our Father Prayer St Cyprian of Carthage, born to wealthy pagan parents sometime between 200 and 210 AD, converted to Christianity and was baptised about 246 and ordained a priest soon afterwards. Then he was ordained the Bishop of Carthage in either 248 or 249. He shares a wonderful insight, tying in the Eucharist with the Our Father, also known as the Lord’s Prayer:
As the prayer continues, we ask and say, ‘Give us this day our daily bread [Matthew 6:11]’… And we ask that this bread be given us daily, so that we who are in Christ and daily receive the Eucharist as the food of salvation, may not, by falling into some more previous sin and then in abstaining from communicating, be withheld from the heavenly Bread, and be separated from Christ’s Body… He Himself warns us, saying, ‘Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man [sic] and drink His Blood, you shall not have life in you [John 6:54].’ Therefore do we ask that our Bread, which is Christ, be given to us daily, so that we who abide and live in Christ may not withdraw from His sanctification and from His body.46
St Thomas illustrates the Eucharist as conferring love: ‘In the life of the soul, too, something is lost in us every day through venial [small] sin which lessens the warmth of charity. But the Eucharist confers the virtue of charity, because it is the sacrament of love.’47 Therefore with what we have learnt so far about the Eucharist, why would we not want to receive it more than just once a week or once a year?
Eucharist Brings Unity As with any sharing of a meal there is a unity experienced, especially if everyone is able to participate. The Eucharist brings about a more powerful unity; though many different cultures we are one body:
The blessing-cup, which we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ, and the loaf of bread which we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? And as there is one loaf, so we, although there are many of us, are one single body, for we all share in the one loaf (1 Corinthians 10:14-17).
Other Christians have a great respect for the Eucharist. Fr Groeschel and Fr Monti in In the Presence of Our Lord detail how the Lutheran theologian Yngve Brillioth, shows ‘profound respect for Eucharistic devotion as practiced by Catholics past and present’.48
One of the authors of the book visited a shrine in honour of the Mother of Jesus, in England and says: It is obvious that some members of the Anglican Communion have managed to withstand the theological chaos and preserve Eucharistic devotion as it has come to flower with those referred to as ‘ritualists’. Around 1990 I witnessed this myself at England’s Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, where the Anglican Shrine leaves the Catholic completely in the shadows, sad to say, when it comes to Eucharistic devotion.”49
Other Christians desire the unity to be found within the Eucharist as this following event described by Pope John Paul II depicts the heartfelt desire of Lutheran Bishops for true unity. The event was the Eucharistic celebrations in Finland and Sweden which left a ‘profound impression’ on him:50
At Communion time, the Lutheran Bishops approached the celebrant. They wished, by means of an agreed gesture, to demonstrate their desire for that time when we, Catholics and Lutherans, will be able to share the same Eucharist, and they wished to receive the celebrant’s blessing. With love I blessed them. The same gesture, so rich in meaning, was repeated in Rome at the Mass at which I presided in Piazza Farnese, on the sixth centenary of the canonization of Saint Brigitta of S
weden, on 6 October 1991.
This deep desire for unity will be fulfilled as it is God’s yearning and thus His will. There have been some rather sensational steps towards unity which sadly the secular media never seem to pick up on or quickly forget. This includes the report by the joint church commission, Anglican Roman Catholic International
Commission , entitled, ‘Gift of Authority’ which is the fruit of a 30 year dialogue initiated by Archbishop Michael Ramsay and Pope Paul VI in 1968.51 There are also examples on the internet of wonderful steps taken towards unity between the Anglican Church with other denominations.52
Another earth-shattering development was the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification by the Lutheran and Catholic Churches. This used to be a major stumbling block between the Churches, but now has been resolved with the joint declaration.53
In 2007 the Traditional Anglican Communion, which describes itself as a worldwide association of orthodox Anglican Churches, working to maintain the faith and resist the secularisation of the Church, approached the Vatican and requested that the Catholic Church receive them into full communion. This will enable up to 400,000 traditional Anglicans to come into full communion with the Catholic Church. In 2009 the Catholic Church opened the way for them to retain their liturgy and also to keep their married priests but not married bishops. The Church released an Apostolic Constitution, Anglicanorum Coetibus (On Groups of Anglicans), to enable groups of Anglicans to come into full communion with the Catholic Church while retaining aspects of their Anglican identity. This is wonderful that the Holy Spirit is inspiring entire groups to be in union with the Church that was established by the Apostles.
In 2007 the Anglican, Rt. Rev Jeffrey Steenson, Bishop of Rio Grande felt called to the Catholic Church as he felt his obligations to the Church could lead him to a place apart from scripture and tradition. But where did such a journey of the heart as he puts it originate. He says it began in the autumn (fall) of 1978 when on the evening news he saw Pope John Paul II step on the loggia of St Peter’s for the first time. He calls this a quo vadis moment whereby he sensed for the first time the importance of being in communion with the successor of Peter. Therefore his journey of the heart led him more and more to the realisation that Christ’s words and thus He is embodied in His ecclesial Body (the Church) at its source, the Catholic Church.
He is grateful for the gift of ordained ministry in the Episcopal (Anglican) Church. He also stresses it is painful to lay down his ministry but feels obliged to through his conscience.
Referring to Vatican II’s Lumen Gentium he stresses that if many elements of sanctification of truth are outside of the Church’s visible structure then what they do as Anglicans ‘ought to be directed toward the goal of reunification with the Catholic Church’.54
He believes that ‘the churches of the Reformation were not intended to carry on indefinitely separated from their historical and theological mooring in the Church of Rome’.55
Referring to the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission’s 1998 report he says the Anglican’s Gift of Authority has been largely forgotten because of conflicts, ‘especially its call for the re-reception of the historic ministry of Peter within Anglican life’.56
Two retired Anglican bishops also felt God’s calling to become Catholic: Bishop Dan Herzog of Albany and Bishop Clarence Pope of Fort Worth. In 2010 five more Anglican Bishops sought to come into full communion with the Catholic Church. Bishops Andrew Burnham, Keith Newton, John Broadhurst, Edwin Barnes and David Silk sought acceptance to the Ordinate for England and Wales.
Anglicans are not only seeking full communion with the Catholic Church. Some are instead seeking to reunite with the Orthodox Church. The Rt. Rev Bishop Robert Waggener of the Anglican Communion together with many of his parishioners converted to the Antiochian Christian Church’s Western Rite Vicariate. In fact the Bishop and his parishioners chose to set aside their titles, leave their church property and to abstain from communion until they were received into the Antiochian Christian Church. This reformed Western Liturgy was the restored Liturgy of St Gregory the Great.
Where to Now? Now that we have explored the theory of the mystery of the Eucharist, it is important to apply what we have learnt. When we apply it to our daily lives then with God’s grace we allow transformation. The spiritual life is an on-going transformation process. We come to see ourselves as we really are, created by a loving interpersonal God who cares about every area of our lives. While the conversion process may begin intellectually it can move intentionally to a desire for union with our Creator. St Augustine said, ‘My heart is restless until it rests in you.’ We realise that this union can be achieved firstly through baptism and the other sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist. The transformation process does not just affect me but has the power to affect others as an effective and life changing witness. In other words we can all be transformed by love through responding wholeheartedly in the sacraments, becoming fully human, the process of deification; we share in the life and divinity of Christ (See 2 Peter 1:4).
When Jesus said, ‘Do this in memory of me’ He did not just want us to merely remember Him. The memory of the first Mass was to be a permanent inspiration. Christ knew that spiritually we would share in that first Mass and the wonderful death, resurrection and glorification of Christ for all Masses that followed.
The Eucharist is a mystery of faith to contemplate; we are required to have faith in order for full participation in the sacrament and so to gain the most from it. Therefore faith is fundamental – it is the prerequisite. Remember that we can ask for more faith and develop it by putting it into action.
We are called to live the mystery of the Eucharist; to die to ourselves (becoming less selfish and more Christ-like); to let the presence and essence of Christ in the Eucharist transform us; and to become a light to the nations, a witness of the loving nature of God.
Summary God manifests His power through miracles. The question we are faced with concerning miracles is: Are they possible? For a contingent being, miracles would have to come as a result of the ability given to it. So for us miracles happen through prayer. For example praying for someone terminally ill with cancer and the whole tumour disappears without a trace.
In addition a miracle can happen as a result of the Necessary Being initiating the miracle rather than by our praying for it. We have examples of this in Sacred Scripture. For example, St Paul was blinded by God which caused His conversion to Christ (Acts 9:1-1). Although with this example, St Paul was a supporter of St Stephen’s murder and St Stephen prayed for those who were about to kill him. Therefore Jesus and Peter walking on water is a more pertinent example.
Christianity is either the result of a wonderful miracle, Christ’s resurrection, or the greatest hoax ever! Either there are miracles that are manifestations of God’s power or they are just the wishful longing of billions of people throughout history. Furthermore either the Eucharist is really the Real Presence, sacrifice, brings unity and invisible manifestations of God’s love and power or it is just a piece of bread. I believe that the evidence from Sacred Scripture, and the lived experience of the Church through the Church Fathers is overwhelming; the early Christians, including the successors of the Apostles believed that the bread and wine actually become the Body and Blood of Christ, and that His real and unique presence was contained in the Eucharist; and intimately unites us with Christ as we live in Him and He in us. Additionally the scriptural evidence shows that Jesus meant that the bread and wine would become his Body and Blood and the Biblical Christians such as St Paul truly believed it. Most of all, the Eucharist gives us eternal life, if we receive it worthily, and love the Lord also through loving others. Will you too believe in the Eucharist, or turn away from the Lord as shown by many of His followers when Jesus commanded that we eat His Body and drink His Blood?
The following poem that I wrote in 2003 expresses my love for Jesus in the Eucharist:
OH WHAT JOY! I stan
d holding you in my hands Expectation fills my heart I receive your Body
And your precious Blood
Though the taste is natural To my senses
What a sweet taste
Your deep presence is to my soul
Oh what joy fills my heart
I am uniting with my Jesus
What intimacy God has given me
I receive Him in
His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity
Notes
1. The Confessions of Saint Augustine. See www.crossroadsinitiative.com/ library_article/207/Jesus_is_the_Only_Way_St._Augustine.html
2. Brendan Roberts. Born to be Free (Auckland; New Zealand: Kiwi Graphix, Auckland, 1998), p. 132.
3. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Instruction on the Worship of the Eucharistic Mystery, Item 1.
4. Jurgens, The Faith of the Early Fathers – Volume One, passage 846, p. 361. 5. See www.piar.hu/councils; www.newadvent.org/library/almanac_14388a.htm; and www.vatican.va
6. Matthias Scheeban. The Mysteries of Christianity, 1961, 4) (see In the Presence of Our Lord).
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid., n.64, p. 25.
9. Ibid., n.54a, p. 22.
10. Ibid., n.56, p. 22.
11. Ibid., n.128, p. 55.
12. William A. Jurgens. The Faith of the Early Fathers – Volume One, (Collegeville; Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1970), passage 408, p. 178. 13. Ibid.
14. See ibid., n.232, p. 95.
15. John Paul II, Catechism of the Catholic Church, n.1367.
16. John Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, n.4.
17. Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, 47: “…our Saviour instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice of his body and blood, in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the Cross throughout time, until he should return”.
18. Cf. Ecumenical Council of Trent, Session XXII, Doctrina de ss. Missaw Sacrificio, Chapter 2: DS 1743: “It is one and the same victim here offering himself by the ministry of his priests, who then offered himself on the Cross; it is only the manner of offering that is different”.
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