On the Real Presence of Christ

debbie linbrunner • February 5, 2021

 

 

On the Real Presence of Christ – Part 2

I would like to follow up on the theme I started in my weekly column last week, that is the Holy Mass and the Eucharist and the implication for our spiritual life.

Though all the sacraments are special channels of grace, the Eucharist has the most prominent place among them, or, as The Second Vatican Council rightly proclaimed that the Eucharistic sacrifice is “the source and summit of the Christian life” ( Lumen Gentium , 11). When we come to Holy Mass we enter the Most Sacred space. At Mass the Word becomes flesh again as it is attested by numerous Eucharistic Miracles throughout the world. For that reason Saint John Paul II dedicated entire encyclical to the explanation of the Eucharist. In the introduction he stated,

“The most holy Eucharist contains the Church's entire spiritual wealth: Christ himself, our P assover and living bread. Through his own flesh, now made living and life-giving by the Holy Spirit, he offers life to men. Consequently, the gaze of the Church is constantly turned to her Lord, present in the Sacrament of the Altar, in which she discovers the full manifestation of his boundless love” (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 1). 

We must remember that there are special moments when physical reality is transcended and assumed into spiritual realm, and the sacraments are an example of that. The clearest example of transcending physical reality was the incarnation of the Son of God, “ the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us ” (John 1:14). The Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity became man, yet He remained the Divine Person—Jesus was true God and true man. The two natures have been united in the person Jesus Christ forever. It means that while still walking on earth Jesus the Man was permeated with His divine nature. He was the presence of God among the people. That is why St. John the Baptist and Jesus Himself cried out: “ Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand ” (Matthew 3:2; 4:17; 10:7).

So, on practical note, we must prepare ourselves in order to receive the Eucharist worthily, for it is not a cookie that we receive.  It is the mysterium tremendum , an awesome and terrible mystery beyond human comprehension—an encounter with The Living God, who stooped down to us and hid Himself under the species of bread and wine. Thus, we cannot receive Holy Communion too frivolously; we must be prepared spiritually. Otherwise, our reception of Holy Communion becomes sacrilegious or a mockery of our faith. No one can truly appreciate the Eucharist if he/she does not want to repent. Thus, those who live in a state of mortal sin as is attested by the Bible and defined by the teaching of the Church, should not receive Holy Communion until they are reconciled with the Church in the sacrament of penance. We need to repent of all the sins, even those that are now widely accepted by society, for example: living in free unions, engaging premarital sex, adultery, committing or promoting abortion—active and passive participation, engaging in active homosexual acts, black magic or fortune-telling practices, contraception, suicidal attempts, blasphemy, deliberately missing mass on holy days of obligation etc.

People who decide to receive the Eucharist without repenting of those sins only delude themselves. It is not real communion for they have already separated themselves from the Church of Christ by the fact of remaining in the state of mortal sin. Moreover, they offend God gravely by an insolent approach toward the sacred mysteries. In other words, they commit the sin of pride, which lies at the basis of all the sins.

Of course one may say that Jesus came to everybody so everybody should have “a right” to receive. It is true, Jesus came to everyone but not everyone was ready or willing to accept Christ’s teaching and then to receive Him. Only those who believed, that is, all who accepted all Jesus’s teaching in its entirety were able to enjoy the graces He bestowed upon them. Notice, that after His resurrection Christ did neither appear to His adversaries nor to anyone who did not believe Him, but only to His disciples. He appeared only to those who believed His Word and followed Him to the Cross.

So if we want to truly enjoy and comprehend the great mystery of the Eucharist let us take seriously what St. Paul wrote to the church in Rome: “ Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God ” (Romans 12:2).

I strongly recommend to find out more about the Eucharistic miracles, which you can look up on this website http://www.miracolieucaristici.org. I also encourage you to read two great books on the understanding of Holy Mass and the Eucharistic: The Spirit of the liturgy by Joseph Ratzinger and The Lamb’s Supper by Scott Hahn.

I wish you blessed week. Fr. Janusz Mocarski

 

Mensaje del pastor para la celebración de la Pascua 2025

By Anthony Aruanna • April 14, 2025
Queridos hermanos y hermanas,

Pastor’s message on Easter 2025

By Anthony Aruanna • April 14, 2025
Dear brothers and sisters,

From Pastor’s Desk on the Eight Sunday in Ordinary Time, year C

By Anthony Aruanna • March 2, 2025
“Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?” — Our Lord Jesus addresses this question to His disciples trying to tell them that they need to be healed of their spiritual blindness first. In this context blindness is not to believe in Christ and healing means to have faith in Jesus who is the Light of the world. In other words, when we gain our spiritual sight through faith, then we will be able to help others on the way to salvation. Without faith in Jesus we just remain living in the darkness of sin. Without Jesus we are all like blind men bouncing against the walls of reality and against each other. However, when we embrace faith in God in the person of Jesus and let our hearts be set on Christ, then He—the Son of God and Our Lord—becomes our guide. Because of that our every step will be illumined with the light of faith. While putting our faith into action in our daily life we also start bearing good fruits of an authentic and happy life.

Del Escritorio del Párroco en el Octavo Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario, Año C

By Anthony Aruanna • March 2, 2025
“ ¿Puede un ciego guiar a otro ciego? ¿No caerán ambos en un pozo? ” - Nuestro Señor Jesús dirige esta pregunta a sus discípulos tratando de decirles que primero necesitan ser curados de su ceguera espiritual. En este contexto, ceguera significa no creer en Cristo y curación significa tener fe en Jesús, que es la Luz del mundo. En otras palabras, cuando ganemos nuestra vista espiritual a través de la fe, entonces seremos capaces de ayudar a otros en el camino de la salvación. Sin fe en Jesús solo permanecemos viviendo en la oscuridad del pecado. Sin Jesús todos somos como ciegos que rebotan contra las paredes de la realidad y contra los demás. Sin embargo, cuando abrazamos la fe en Dios en la persona de Jesús y dejamos que nuestro corazón se fije en Cristo, entonces Él -el Hijo de Dios y Nuestro Señor- se convierte en nuestro guía. Por eso, cada uno de nuestros pasos estará iluminado por la luz de la fe. Al poner nuestra fe en acción en nuestra vida diaria, también empezamos a dar buenos frutos de una vida auténtica y feliz.

Del Escritorio del Párroco en el 5º Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario, Año C

By Anthony Aruanna • February 6, 2025
A menudo la gente nos pregunta a nosotros, los sacerdotes, qué hacer para profundizar en su vida espiritual. A todos se nos ocurren respuestas diferentes y, ciertamente, hay muchos caminos para una mayor vida espiritual. Hay, sin embargo, un método más probado que ha ayudado a muchos cristianos católicos a estar en la vía rápida de la santidad y a comprender mejor la vida espiritual. Es la consagración total al Corazón Inmaculado de María, o como propuso originalmente San Luis Grignon de Montfort allá por el siglo XVII, la Consagración Total a Jesús por María. Después de San Luis hubo muchos otros que siguieron sus pasos. Entre algunos de los santos más conocidos se encuentran el Papa Pío X, San Maximiliano Kolbe y San Juan Pablo II. Estos santos reconocieron que María desempeñó un papel vital en la vida de la Iglesia primitiva y que la Santísima Madre sigue desempeñando un papel importante en la Iglesia de nuestros tiempos.

From Pastor’s Desk on the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, year C

By Anthony Aruanna • February 6, 2025
Often people ask us, priests, what to do in order to deepen their spiritual life. We all can come up with different answers and there are certainly many ways to greater spiritual life. There is, however, a more proven method that has helped many Christian Catholics to be on the fast track to holiness and to better understanding of spiritual life. It is the total consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, or as originally proposed by Saint Luis Grignon de Montfort back in the XVII century, the Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary. After St. Luis there were many others that followed in his footsteps. Among some of the most known saints were Pope Pius X, St. Maximilian Kolbe, and St. John Paul II. These saints recognized that Mary played a vital role in the life of the early Church and that the Blessed Mother still plays an important role in the Church of our times.

Del Escritorio del Párroco en el 2º Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario, Año C

By Anthony Aruanna • January 26, 2025
Estoy seguro de que todos estamos atónitos y horrorizados por los incendios forestales del sur de California que afectan ya a cientos de miles de sus habitantes. La velocidad y la ferocidad del fuego sólo demuestran lo frágiles que somos como seres humanos individuales y como humanidad en general. Muchos californianos pueden estar dudando de su fe en estos momentos; muchos se plantearán preguntas: ¿Dónde está Dios? ¿Por qué permite Dios catástrofes tan terribles? Ciertamente, muchos de nosotros nos haríamos las mismas preguntas. Si Dios está detrás o no, no lo sabemos. Sin embargo, sí sabemos que vivimos en un mundo creado que tiene su propio ritmo y ciclos que se dan en la naturaleza. Las cosas suceden con y sin interrupción humana. Algunas cosas las podemos controlar (muy poco, de hecho), y muchas otras no. Lo que sí podemos reconocer es que las catástrofes naturales son una forma de llamada a la conversión y a una mayor confianza en Dios. También es una llamada a la acción para hacer la tierra más acogedora, de modo que las personas puedan prosperar en ella.

From pastor’s desk on the 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, year C

By Anthony Aruanna • January 26, 2025
I am sure that all of us are stunned and horrified by the wildfires in Southern California impacting now hundreds of thousands of its inhabitants. The speed and ferocity of fire only proves how fragile we are as individual human beings and as humanity by and large. Many Californians may be doubting his or her faith at this moment; many will pose questions: Where is God? Why does God permit such terrible disasters? Certainly, many of us would ask the same questions. Whether God is behind it or not, we do not know. However, we do know that we live in a created world that has its own rhythm and cycles that occur in nature. Things happen with and without human interruption. Some things we can control (very little, in fact), and many things we can’t. What we can recognize is that natural disasters are a form of a call to conversion and to greater trust in God. It is also a call to action to make the earth more hospitable so that people can prosper in it.

From pastor’s desk on 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, year, B

By Anthony Aruanna • October 19, 2024
Last July over 50 thousand Catholics gathered in Indianapolis for the 10th National Eucharistic Congress. Obviously, the central theme of the gathering was the Eucharist. One of the key speakers at the Eucharistic Congress, Monsignor James Shea, said:

Del Escritorio del Párroco el 29 Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario

By Anthony Aruanna • October 19, 2024
El pasado mes de julio, más de 50.000 católicos se reunieron en Indianápolis con ocasión del 10º Congreso Eucarístico Nacional. Obviamente, el tema central del encuentro fue la Eucaristía. Uno de los principales oradores del Congreso Eucarístico, Monseñor James Shea, dijo: