October 3, <strong>2010</strong> 27th Ordinary Sunday Page FourTHE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARISTExcerpts from the Catechism of the Catholic ChurchPart IX1374 The mode of Chri<strong>st</strong>'s presence under the Euchari<strong>st</strong>icspecies is unique. It raises the Euchari<strong>st</strong> above allthe sacraments as "the perfection of the spiritual lifeand the end to which all the sacraments tend. In themo<strong>st</strong> blessed sacrament of the Euchari<strong>st</strong> "the body andblood, together with the soul and divinity, of our LordJesus Chri<strong>st</strong> and, therefore, the whole Chri<strong>st</strong> is truly,really, and sub<strong>st</strong>antially contained." "This presence iscalled ‘real'—by which is not intended to exclude theother types of presence as ifthey could not be ‘real' too,but because it is presence inthe fulle<strong>st</strong> sense: that is tosay, it is a sub<strong>st</strong>antial presenceby which Chri<strong>st</strong>, Godand man, makes himselfwholly and entirely present.1375 It is by the conversionof the bread and wineinto Chri<strong>st</strong>'s body and bloodthat Chri<strong>st</strong> becomes presentin this sacrament. TheChurch Fathers <strong>st</strong>rongly affirmedthe faith of theChurch in the efficacy of theWord of Chri<strong>st</strong> and of theaction of the Holy Spirit tobring about this conversion. Thus St. John Chryso<strong>st</strong>omdeclares:It is not man that causes the things offered to becomethe Body and Blood of Chri<strong>st</strong>, but he who was crucifiedfor us, Chri<strong>st</strong> himself. The prie<strong>st</strong>, in the role ofChri<strong>st</strong>, pronounces these words, but their power andgrace are God's. This is my body, he says. This wordtransforms the things offered.And St. Ambrose says about this conversion:Be convinced that this is not what nature has formed,but what the blessing has consecrated. The power ofthe blessing prevails over that of nature, because by theblessing nature itself is changed. . . . Could not Chri<strong>st</strong>'sword, which can make from nothing what did not exi<strong>st</strong>,change exi<strong>st</strong>ing things into what they were not before?It is no less a feat to give things their originalnature than to change their nature1376 The Council of Trent summarizes the Catholicfaith by declaring: "Because Chri<strong>st</strong> our Redeemer saidthat it was truly his body that he was offering under thespecies of bread, it has always been the conviction ofthe Church of God, and this holy Council now declaresagain, that by the consecration of the bread and winethere takes place a change of the whole sub<strong>st</strong>ance ofthe bread into the sub<strong>st</strong>ance of the body of Chri<strong>st</strong> ourLord and of the whole sub<strong>st</strong>ance of the wine into thesub<strong>st</strong>ance of his blood. This change the holy CatholicChurch has fittingly and properly called transub<strong>st</strong>antiation."1377 The Euchari<strong>st</strong>ic presenceof Chri<strong>st</strong> begins at the momentof the consecration and enduresas long as the Euchari<strong>st</strong>ic speciessubsi<strong>st</strong>. Chri<strong>st</strong> is presentwhole and entire in each of thespecies and whole and entire ineach of their parts, in such away that the breaking of thebread does not divide Chri<strong>st</strong>.1378 Worship of the Euchari<strong>st</strong>.In the liturgy of the Mass weexpress our faith in the realpresence of Chri<strong>st</strong> under thespecies of bread and wine by,among other ways, genuflectingor bowing deeply as a sign of adoration of the Lord."The Catholic Church has always offered and <strong>st</strong>ill offer<strong>st</strong>o the sacrament of the Euchari<strong>st</strong> the cult of adoration,not only during Mass, but also outside of it, reservingthe consecrated ho<strong>st</strong>s with the utmo<strong>st</strong> care,exposing them to the solemn veneration of the faithful,and carrying them in procession.1379 The tabernacle was fir<strong>st</strong> intended for the reservationof the Euchari<strong>st</strong> in a worthy place so that itcould be brought to the sick and those absent, outsideof Mass. As faith in the real presence of Chri<strong>st</strong> in hisEuchari<strong>st</strong> deepened, the Church became conscious ofthe meaning of silent adoration of the Lord presentunder the Euchari<strong>st</strong>ic species. It is for this reason thatthe tabernacle should be located in an especially worthyplace in the <strong>church</strong> and should be con<strong>st</strong>ructed insuch a way that it emphasizes and manife<strong>st</strong>s the truthof the real presence of Chri<strong>st</strong> in the Blessed Sacrament.To be continued...
Page Five 27th Ordinary Sunday October 3, <strong>2010</strong>
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