Msgr. Peter J. Vaghi
Title of Series: "Holy Mass: An Up Close and Personal Look"

Part 8: "In the Eucharistic Presence of the Lord -- at Mass and Outside the Mass"

May 4th, 2006
First Thursday

“Then they recounted what had happened on the road (to Emmaus) and how they had come to know him in the breaking of the bread.” (Lk 24:35) Twice during the week following Easter, on Wednesday and Thursday, we heard that same line from St. Luke’s gospel in connection with the scripture text recounting how it was that Jesus quietly and unobstrusively joined the two disciples on their 7 mile walk to Emmaus from Jerusalem on that first day of the week, Easter afternoon, and how they failed to recognize Him -- at least initially -- until “He had seated Himself with them to eat, ...took break, pronounced the blessing, then broke the bread and began to distribute it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him.” (Lk 24:30-31)

My last meditation this First Thursday of May, this final meditation on the Eucharist, is precisely about the Eucharistic Presence of Jesus both inside and outside the Mass. It is after all the Risen Lord Jesus that we receive in holy communion. It is after all the Risen Lord Jesus that we adore in the monstrance, the Risen Lord Who is presently on our altar. Alleluia, Alleluia.

It is in the “breaking of the bread” that we too recognize the risen and living Lord Jesus, as those two disciples did on Easter Sunday afternoon.

In these months of reflections on the Mass, we have spoken of the two parts of the Mass -- the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. I have reiterated the teaching of the Second Vatican Council that, although divided in two, these two parts of the Mass are “so closely connected with each other that they form but one single act of worship.” SC56 “The Eucharistic table set for us is the table both of the Word of God and the Body of the Lord.” CCC 1346 Above all, the Mass is a paschal sacrifice reenacting the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ. It is the sacrament of Christ’s real and transforming presence. It is both a sacred banquet and sacrifice of love.

If you recall, last month I spoke about the second of the two parts of the Mass -- the Liturgy of the Eucharist. I underscored that the Liturgy of the Eucharist, according to the Roman Rite, consists of three parts -- Preparation of the Gifts, the Eucharistic Prayer, and the Communion Rite. “At the Last Supper Christ instituted the paschal sacrifice and banquet, by which the sacrifice of the cross is continuously made present in the Church whenever the priest, representing Christ the Lord, carries out what the Lord Himself did and handed over to his disciples to be done in his memory.” GIRM 72 We reflected on the first two parts of the Liturgy of the Eucharist -- the Preparation of the Gifts and the Eucharistic Prayer. Today, we will look at the Communion Rite, the Concluding Rites, and also Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.  Hence I have entitled this reflection: “The Eucharistic Presence of the Lord -- At the Mass and Outside the Mass.”

THE COMMUNION RITE

I.) The Lord’s Prayer

“Let us pray with confidence to the Father in the words our Savior gave us.”

Since the eucharistic celebration is a paschal banquet, and since the Lord Jesus commanded at the Last Supper that we eat His body and drink His blood, the body and blood of the Lord should be received as spiritual food -- “our daily bread” by those who are properly disposed, those who have fasted for one hour and are free of mortal sin. This is precisely the purpose of the “breaking of the bread” and the other two parts of the Liturgy of the Eucharist -- the Preparation of the Gifts and the Eucharistic Prayer.

We begin with the Lord’s Prayer, the Our Father. This is the prayer given to the disciples by Jesus Himself when they asked Him to teach them to pray, a prayer addressed to Abba Father, to the Father of Jesus.  St. Augustine wrote seven commentaries on the Our Father extolling the perfection of this prayer. St. Thomas Aquinas referred to the Our Father as “the most perfect prayer.” CCC 2763

The catechism teaches that “In the Eucharistic liturgy, the Lord’s Prayer appears as the prayer of the whole Church and there reveals its full meaning and efficacy. Placed between the...Eucharistic Prayer and the (reception) of Communion, the Lord’s Prayer sums up on the one hand all the petitions and intercessions expressed in the movement of the epiclesis (calling on the Holy Spirit) and, on the other, knocks at the door of the Banquet of the kingdom which sacramental communion anticipates.” CCC 2770

Note well that the Our Father consists of 7 petitions -- the first three are more supplications which move us toward the glory of God continuing the thrust of the Eucharistic Prayer just recited -- Name, Kingdom, Will -- hallowed be thy Name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done. The last four petitions are akin to an offering up of our expectations and move us toward the congregation -- “give us...forgive us...lead us not...and deliver us...” -- give us this day our daily bread, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, lead us not into temptation, and deliver us from the evil one.

How appropriate to ask for our “daily bread” within the Mass immediately before the reception of holy communion! The mention of daily bread turns our hearts and minds to the food and drink we are about to receive. For Christians, our daily bread “means preeminently the Eucharistic bread.” GIRM 81

How appropriate also that we pray “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” The word “as” is perhaps the most important word in that part of the prayer. To the extent that we forgive those who trespass against us, to that extent, and only to that extent, does the Lord forgive us. I am reminded of an appropriate passage from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus teaches in that extraordinary teaching -- “Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” Mt 5:23-24

Note well -- three points -- the prayer seeking forgiveness in the Our Father and then immediately afterwards we share the sign of peace. The prayer of forgiveness, in a certain sense, leads into the sign of peace, that gesture of reconciliation alluded to in the passage above. Then, in the Agnus Dei, the last of the three responses is “Grant us peace.” All before receiving holy communion -- “forgive us our trespasses,” the sign of peace and “grant us peace.” These remind us that we must truly be one in heart with each other before we receive the body and blood of the Risen Lord, a communion which makes us one in Him and each other.

2.) The Rite of Peace

“Let us offer each other the sign of peace.”

The first words of the Risen Lord to His disciples were “Peace be with you.” In these past two Sunday’s gospel, we heard the Risen One wish His disciples “peace” in the upper room where they were locked out of fear -- in the Gospel for the second Sunday of Easter not one time but three times. In a real sense, the gesture of peace that comes before the communion conjures up then the peace greeting of the Risen Christ. It is the greeting that we give to our neighbor as a sign of our preparation to receive in communion the Risen Lord. “The Rite of Peace…[is that rite]…by which the Church asks for peace and unity for herself and for the whole human family, and the faithful express to each other their ecclesial communion and mutual charity before communicating in the Sacrament.” GIRM 82

The rite of peace is hardly a modern invention. St. Paul, for example, urged the Romans to “greet one another with a holy kiss.” Rom16:16 It is a sign of reconciliation anticipated, as I have stated,  in the “forgive us...” of the Our Father and reconfirmed in the last petition for peace of the Agnus Dei. The church in our country leaves the type of gesture optional. For some, it is a kiss or bow, for others it is a handshake or hug. Regardless of the gesture, its meaning is unmistakable.

3.) Breaking of Bread (Fractio panis)

“He took bread and gave you thanks. He broke the bread, and gave it to His disciples.”

As the two disciples on the road to Emmaus came to know Him “in the breaking of the bread,” so too the early church referred to the the Eucharist or the Mass simply as “the breaking of the bread.” Acts tells us that “they devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers.” Acts 2:42 The breaking of the bread also symbolizes the unity of all who eat it -- many pieces from the one Bread of Life. “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of this one bread.” 1Cor 10:17

As the host is being broken, an act done only by the priest or deacon, in three unequal parts, all sing or say:

“Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world: have mercy on us. Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, grant us peace.”

The Agnus Dei, or the Lamb of God, is sung or said at Mass as long as it takes to break the consecrated bread. The word -- “lamb” referring to Christ -- has a very specific meaning and context. The lamb after all was the principal animal used for sacrifice in scripture. The Lamb is an Easter symbol. We often we hear in these days in the liturgy about the lamb who was slain for our salvation. That refers to Jesus, the Risen One. In the Hebrew scriptures, the blood of the lamb was put on the doorposts of Jewish homes which saved the chosen ones, as the angel of destruction passed them over, hence the term “passover.” The lamb has been used for the passover meal. For Christians, the lamb is often used at the Holy Thursday meal.

John the Baptist was the first to refer to Jesus as the the Lamb of God, (Jn l:29) the lamb whose sacrifice won us our salvation -- destroyed sin and with it death. Peter reminds us that we were saved, “not with perishable things like silver or gold but with the precious blood of Christ as of a spotless unblemished lamb.” (1Pet 1:18) And on the cross with His sacrifice, with that same sacrifice -- now bloodless -- which is reenacted at each and every Mass.

As he breaks the consecrated host, he places a tiny piece of it in the cup of consecrated wine saying: “May this mingling of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ bring eternal life to us who receive it.” This represents two historically symbolic meanings:

a.) In the early centuries of the church, the Holy Father would send several particles of his host to neighboring churches and pastors. They in turn would drop them into their own vessels of precious blood as a sign of unity between the pope and his pastors.

b.) Since we receive the Risen Lord in communion, this symbolic gesture was seen by some as a way to dramatize the reunion of Jesus’ body and blood in the resurrection.

4.) Quiet Preparation of the Priest

One of two prayers said quietly. One of them is:

“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, by the will of the Father and the work of the Holy Spirit your death brought life to the world. By your holy body and blood free me from all my sins, and from every evil.  Keep me faithful to your teaching, and never let me be parted from you."

Expression of humility and acknowledgement that our salvation is the work of the entire Trinity! “Keep me faithfull” is an expression of mistrust in own power or strength, reliance on the Lord especially in the eucharist. “Never let me be parted” is a prayer to keep the devil from me with all his enticements.

5.) Invitation to Communion

The priest shows the host to the people and says:

“This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Happy are those who are called to his supper.” Again the Lamb of God is mentioned, a link to the Agnus Dei. But why an invitation to supper especially when the Mass takes place before breakfast or at noon? Answer: It refers to the heavenly banquet, that still to come and in reference to the Book of Revelation: “Blessed are those who have been called to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” (Rev 19:9)

Our response: “Lord I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.” You remember that this refers to the healing of the the centurion’s servant in Matt 8:5-13. Certainly, humility is the model for us in preparation for communion and we can expect to be healed by the saving body and blood of Jesus. We should never take the Blessed Sacrament for granted for, in ourselves, we are not worthy. 

6.) Reception of Communion

First millennium -- communion received in the hand and standing

Second millennium -- communion generally received on the tongue and kneeling

Third millennium -- current practice is a blend of both -- option exists -- but faith and reverence are the key attitudes

But what should we thinking when we receive communion? St. Theresa of the Little Flower once wrote “that the Lord had given her such a lively faith that when she heard some persons say they wished they had lived at the same time as Christ, He who is our good in the world, she laughed to herself, as it seemed to her that, having truly, as they do have, the Most Holy Sacrament, what more could they want and He have given them!” In receiving communion, we receive the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ, the Risen One. The Lord is in each and every one of the consecrated hosts. God desired that this food from heaven strengthen us who receive it and unite us all the more closely with Christ.

7.) Prayer After Communion

Both a personal and communal prayer, the priest petitions that the effects or fruits of the mystery just celebrated take effect in us.

In his book “Sacrifice of the Altar,” Federico Suarez writes about the Prayer after Communion: “the Prayer after Communion is the clasp that brings closure, with the most ardent desires, to the sacrifice in which, together with the spotless Victim, we have offered ourselves to God. And thus He will transform us also into an acceptable oblation through a holy life dedicated to his service.” (p. 208)

The concluding rites include the blessing and the dismissal said or sung by either the priest or deacon, it the dismissal is a challenge for you and me to live in our own unique ways the Mystery we have just celebrated. There are three options in the Roman Rite -- “Go in the peace of Christ,” “The Mass is ended, go in peace,” or “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.” To whichever one is spoken or sung, our common response is “Thanks be to God.” In Latin, the command is “Ite, Missa est.” Simply translated and perhaps best said, it means “Go, the Mass is.” The Mass never ends. How can it?

As Jesus took, bless, broke and gave the bread at the Last Supper and as he Himself went immediately thereafter where He was taken, blessed, broken and given, so too you and I are challenged in this dismissal in a similar way. We are challenged to be taken, blessed, broken and given, in effect, to put into action in our own concrete and daily lives, by the grace and transforming power of this Holy Sacrament, the Love we have just celebrated. In that great encyclical letter, Deus Caritas Est, Benedict writes: “A Eucharist which does not pass over into the concrete practice of love is intrinsically fragmented.” DCE 14 There could be no stronger words to interpret the dismissal and the entire meaning of the Eucharist.

EUCHARISTIC PRESENCE OUTSIDE THE MASS

By the words of consecration, Jesus has given us His body and blood, with an assertion that placed no limits on this presence. For sure, He commanded that we eat His body and drink His blood, and that is what we do each time we gather for Mass, but His personal presence cannot be exhausted in a function of nourishment alone as important and essential as that is for this gift of divine life. Prayer and adoration before the Blessed Sacrament deepens our faith and love in the real presence of Christ Jesus.

As a result, over the centuries, starting in the 13th, a desire developed among believers to prolong and continue veneration and adoration of the real presence outside the Mass. That is happening more and more in our own day after years of disfavor. This desire was affirmed months before his recent death where Cardinal Basil Hume wrote: “We need...to recapture devotion to the real and abiding presence of Christ in the Eucharist...Outside Mass that presence continues and is celebrated through devotion and prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.”

It started when Urban IV in 1264 made Corpus Christi a universal feast of the church with the purpose “to adore, venerate, glorify, love, and embrace” the Blessed Sacrament. In the 14th century, the use of exposition in the monstrance was introduced. At the end of the 15th century, 40 hour devotion began, the 40 hour part was a parallel to the 40 hours the Lord was in the tomb. During the Renaissance, the tabernacle was erected on the main altar. Private visits to the Blessed Sacrament spread in the 18th century under the influence of St. Alphonus Liguori.

The link of this kind of devotion outside the Mass is linked importantly to the Mass itself however and this must never be forgotten.

In that wonderful book, published at Rome by the Theological-Historical Commission for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, entitled “The Eucharist, Gift of Divine Life, the following is written:

“True, the Eucharistic presence remains a gift essentially destined for the celebration of the Eucharistic sacrifice and Communion meal. It can never be considered or venerated apart from all realization in the celebration. The adoration of the real presence prepares for the offering of the sacrifice and for Communion. Besides, it derives its validity from the sacrifice and the meal, after that sacrifice and that meal have been celebrated. That is, it is simultaneously an introduction to the celebration, and a fruit of the same.” (p. 119)

In these summer months, I encourage you to make Eucharistic adoration a regular part of your spiritual journeys in addition to the habit, where possible, of regular weekday celebration of the Eucharist. Not any one of us can be more close to the risen Lord, the source and summit of our lives as His followers.