After being slow on writing for a while, I thought I would get back into the groove by describing my experiences during the purchase of our family’s first home, which we moved into a couple of months ago. The words I wrote, however, seemed to veer off in a different direction. While thinking of all the questions I asked both God and myself while going through the home-buying process, I realized that the central point I pondered would make no sense apart from some background. So, I ended up writing pretty extensively on this one topic that I believe forms the foundation of everything else I write about. To understand clearly the school of spirituality I went through in buying a home—as well as the things I write about in the future–it is vital to understand the way I see this one aspect of faith, my greatest source of spiritual energy.
The Eucharist.
I am Catholic, though I haven’t always been. And I believe that the Eucharist is the summit of the Christian life, though I haven’t always believed that either. For any non-Catholics reading this, some simple background may be needed. The Eucharist is commonly synonymous with what Protestants call ‘The Lord’s Supper’, but they are not one-and-the-same. The Catholic Church teaches that more than a memorial, more than a symbol, the bread and wine of communion literally become the body and blood of Jesus. This Catholic understanding hearkens back to the Last Supper narratives (see Mark 14:22-24), Jesus’ words to his followers (see John 6), and Paul’s instruction to Early Christians (see 1 Corinthians 11:23-29) among other sources. The Catholic Church takes Jesus literally when he says, “This is my body”. While many Protestant Christians see symbolic bread and wine, cognizant Catholics see Jesus–the Risen Lord, a Person.
Now many volumes could be written on these points alone, as many have been already. There is no way I can exhaust the background and understanding of what the Eucharist has been historically and is now. But I can at least begin with a firm assertion: true Catholics believe that devotion to the Eucharist is devotion to Christ, the Mystery of mysteries. Nominal—or “only in name” — Catholics see this same Eucharist the same way most Protestants see their version of ‘The Lord’s Supper’: nothing more than a quaint memorial, symbol, or a ‘spiritual presence’ at best.
With that background, the Christian divide becomes clear. If you believe the Eucharist is truly Jesus’ body and blood, then everything else makes sense—its power, its allure, the adoration it receives; to put it more correctly, the ‘it’ is really a ‘He’. If the Eucharist is just a hoax or a myth, then it is the greatest idolatry in the world today. However if Jesus is really present within, then the ramifications are epic. It means that Jesus is in our midst every day, welcoming us to unite his physical body with ours, consummating the spiritual marriage each time we receive communion. This question of the reality of the Eucharist is of immense importance to all Christians.
To make things even more confusing for those unfamiliar with the Catholic view of the Eucharist is the intense devotion to the Sacrament itself. It definitely was irritable to my mind the first time it was explained to me. I felt scandalized when I saw people bowing down and praying in front of this seemingly plain wafer of bread. But as I converted to the Catholic faith, the most prominent force that drew me in was my discovery of this reality of the Eucharist. I slowly began to see it to be a humble source of intense energy and life; as Jesus himself. It was only through open contemplation, dogged prayer, curious study, and many Masses that I began to see and understand the bread and wine as the authentic Body and Blood of Jesus.
Yet I still don’t understand how it can be. The Church teaches that through a process of mystery, the bread and wine (or “species” as the theologians call them) retain their natural physical characteristics during transformation; they still look, feel, smell, and taste like bread and wine. But despite their sensory characteristics, the fullness of the humanity and divinity of Jesus dwells within these simple items. In some ways this is easy to understand, as even some children recognize Jesus in the Eucharist without issue. In other ways this is monumentally difficult—even impossible—to fully grasp. The “faith of children” and the “faith without seeing” that Jesus encouraged surely are required here.
The Eucharist seems to be one of the most divisive beliefs within Christianity today, which I suppose is appropriate; us Catholics believe the Eucharist is Jesus and He divided more sharply than any other in history. But I also believe that the Eucharist is just as divisive within Catholicism itself, but more subtly. There is a distinct spiritual separation within the Catholic Church between those who see the Eucharist as a mere symbol and those who believe that ‘what’ enters them in Communion is really a ‘Who’. The gap is visible not only in the body of language of those waiting in the communion line to receive Him, but in the relative priority many Catholics place on celebrating Mass.
I firmly believe that most problems of spiritual dryness in the Catholic Church would be cured if all Catholics recognized and harnessed the intense, creative life-force of God crammed into simple pieces of bread and cups of wine. I believe the Church would not have to mandate Sunday Mass attendance if everyone believed that Jesus himself was waiting at the altar for them.
The complete Christ is present in the Eucharist–body, blood, soul, and divinity—whether we recognize or not. But throughout history it has been those who have recognized Him in the Eucharist who have been transformed most deeply into holiness; those who accepted the reality of His presence had lives most energized by Him.
I became confronted with the plain fact that the most holy people to have ever lived–particularly the Saints–seem to have been those most devoted to the Presence of Jesus in this Sacrament. Why was that? There must be something to it.
This is something most Protestants would have a difficult time answering: if the Eucharist is merely a symbol–which would make Catholics the worst of idolaters–then how can you explain that transcendent spirituality seen in all of the great mystics and Saints? How come these were the most holy, the most self-aware, and the most intimate lovers of Jesus?
It was one thing I could not avoid when I was diving into the lives of my greatest heroes; Pope John Paul II, Mother Teresa, and Dorothy Day all claimed to be grounded, energized, and based in this one practice. Also, if they were right in so many other areas, could they be completely off on this major issue?
It took much study, prayer, and—understandably—time to understand the Eucharist the way I do today; not to convince me, but to enlighten me. As a Protestant, I was completely unaware that this literal interpretation of the Last Supper existed, much less that it was the interpretation accepted and undisputed by all Christians for the first 700 years after Christ’s Resurrection. I was unaware that through consecration, a Presence could bloom into a Person.
I’m sure many of these words sound terribly grating to the ears of many Protestants who are unfamiliar or in disagreement with these understandings. I get that. But I thought they at least needed to be articulated, for an understanding of the Eucharist as the foundation of the spiritual life is at the core of all else I believe. Much of my future writing will be greatly illuminated by these insights. If you are Protestant, soak in the Presence of God each time you celebrate communion in your church; sink deeper into Him. If you are Catholic, embrace the Eucharist not as a thing or as simple food but as a Person. Jesus in front of you, Jesus in your hands, Jesus into your body. Either way, bring your entire mind, heart, and soul into this act that was so prioritized by Jesus himself.