"To respond to this invitation we
must prepare ourselves for so great and so holy a moment. St. Paul urges
us to examine our conscience: 'Whoever, therefore, eats of the bread or drinks
the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body
and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread
and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning
the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself' (1 Cor 11: 27-29). Anyone
conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of reconciliation before
coming to communion" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1385).
Scripture
Text: (1 COR 11:23-26)
Brothers and sisters:
I received from the Lord what I also
handed on to you,
that the Lord Jesus, on the night he
was handed over,
took bread, and, after he had given
thanks,
broke it and said, "This is my
body that is for you.
Do this in remembrance of me."
In the same way also the cup, after
supper, saying,
"This cup is the new covenant in
my blood.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in
remembrance of me."
For as often as you eat this bread and
drink the cup,
you proclaim the death of the Lord
until he comes.
Transubstantiation means "change
of substance", or "change of reality." When the priest
repeats the words that Jesus spoke at the Last Supper, the bread is no longer
bread, and the wine is no longer wine. Instead, the entire substance of
the bread and the entire substance of the wine have been changed into the
substance of The Body and Blood of Christ.
Transubstantiation occurs only by the
power of God, and in a way that we cannot empirically detect. We know
that transubstantiation takes place through the certainty of faith.
Dr. Scott Hahn, the famous former
Protestant minister that converted to Catholicism wrote in his conversion story
one of the most beautiful testimonies about the Eucharist that I have ever
read. Here are his words, written in his book that he co-authored with
his wife Kimberly.
"Then one day, I made a 'fatal
blunder' - I decided that it was time for me to go to Mass on my own.
Finally I resolved to darken the doors of Gesu, Marquette University's
parish. Right before noon, I slipped quietly into the basement chapel for
daily Mass. I wasn't sure what to expect; maybe I'd be alone with a
priest and a couple of old nuns. I took a seat as an observer in the back
pew.
All of a sudden lots of ordinary people began coming in off the streets;
rank-and-file type folks. They came in, genuflected, knelt and
prayed. Their simple but sincere devotion was impressive.
Then a bell
rang and a priest walked out toward the altar. I remained seated; I still
wasn't sure if it was safe to kneel. As an evangelical Calvinist, I had
been taught that the Catholic Mass was the greatest sacrilege that a man could
commit – “to re-sacrifice Christ” - so I wasn't sure what to do.
I watched and
listened as the readings, prayers and responses - so steeped in Scripture -
made the Bible come alive. I almost wanted to stop the Mass and say,
'Wait. That line is from Isaiah; the song is from the Psalms. Whoa,
you've got another prophet in that prayer'. I found numerous elements
from the ancient Jewish liturgy that I had studied so intensely.
All of a sudden
I realized, this is where the Bible belongs. This was the setting in
which this precious family heirloom was meant to be read, proclaimed and
expounded. Then we moved into the Liturgy of the Eucharist, where all my
covenant conclusions converged.
I wanted to stop everything and shout, 'Hey,
can I explain what's happening from Scripture? This is great!'
Instead I just sat there, famished with a supernatural hunger for the Bread of
Life.
After pronouncing the words of consecration, the priest held up the
Host. I felt as if the last drop of doubt had drained from me. With
all of my heart, I whispered, 'My Lord and my God. That's really you! And
if that's you, then I want full communion with you. I don't want to hold
anything back' (Rome Sweet Home, pp. 87-88).
Today, the Feast of Corpus Christi
reminds us that we possess an immense treasure. When a Catholic priest
takes a little piece of unleavened bread and repeats the words that Jesus spoke
at the Last Supper, "This is my body", and when he takes a small of
amount of wine in a chalice and says, "This is my blood", the bread
is no longer bread and the wine is no longer wine.
At
every Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we participate in a marvelous miracle!
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