A Pew Research Center Study on What
Americans Know About Religion includes some very disappointing results for
Catholics. The July 23rd report reveals
that only 31% of American Catholics believe that the Eucharist is really the Body
and Blood of Christ. Equally disturbing,
65% of American Catholics believe that the Eucharist is only a symbol of Christ’s
presence, comprised of 22% who understand the Church’s teaching on the
Eucharist but still believe that it’s only a symbol, and 43% who believe that
the Catholic Church actually teaches that the Eucharist is only a symbol. The rest just don’t know.[1] It seems that the divisions that Jesus warns
about in our Gospel continue to this day.
It seems that we need a better understanding of Christ’s real presence.
Today’s readings present the stark
reality that following God’s ways causes division. Poor Jeremiah is tossed into a well and left to
die for delivering God’s unpopular message that the Israelites must submit
themselves to the invading Babylonian army.
In our Gospel, Jesus pulls no punches about the divisive impact of
Christian discipleship: “A household of five will be divided three against two
and two against three.” It may seem
crazy that the Prince of Peace would foster discord, but the reason behind these
divisions is pretty simple: God’s real presence
in a sinful world upsets the status quo.
Some people just don’t like it, because God’s presence demands a
response. It challenges us to conform
our ways to God’s ways.
Let’s take this point a little
deeper. At the very beginning of our
Gospel, Jesus says, “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it
were already blazing!” No, Jesus isn’t a
pyromaniac. “In the Hebrew Scriptures,
divine fire represents the presence of God,”[2] as we see in God’s appearance to Moses in the burning
bush; in Ezekiel’s vision of a burning figure seated on the celestial throne; and,
of course, in the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost in “tongues as of
fire.” Jesus is telling us that he has
come to consume the earth with God’s fiery presence. God became man to dwell among us, to purify us
like fire-tried gold, and to fan the flames of faith among his people so that
we may remain in God’s loving presence forever. By dwelling among us, Jesus showed us that it’s
possible to live as God intends for us to live, if only we would change our
ways. “God’s presence always demands a
transformation and a response.”[3]
Christ’s mission is all about presence, God’s real presence among us, which
brings us back to the Eucharist. Catholics
believe that in the Eucharist, “Christ himself, living and glorious, is present
in a true, real, and substantial manner: his Body and his Blood, with his soul
and divinity.”[4] This doctrine may be hard to swallow, so to
speak, but it flows directly from Scripture, it has been believed and transmitted
through sacred tradition and the sacraments of the Church since the time of the
Apostles, and it makes sense. Allow me
to explain.
In John’s Gospel, chapter 6, Jesus says, “I am the living bread that came
down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever” (John 6: 51). This teaching challenged Jesus’ followers, to
say the least. In fact, they were disgusted
by it, but Jesus didn’t back down. After
he’s confronted with the crowd’s disgust, he ups the ante. When he next says, “Whoever eats my flesh and
drinks my blood has eternal life” (John 6: 54), he changes his verb from one
that means simply “to eat” (phagein in the original Greek) to one that
means “to gnaw on” (trogein in the original Greek). And the result? Division.
Jesus had the opportunity to soften his message, to tell people that he
was only speaking metaphorically, that the flesh and blood image was just a
symbol, but he didn’t. There was division,
and people left.
Now let’s fast forward to the Last Supper, where Jesus presents his
body and blood to us in the form of bread and wine. Again, his words are clear, “This is
my Body;” “This is my Blood;” “Do this in memory of me” (Luke 22:
19-20). Knowing how difficult it would
be for us to consume flesh and drink blood, he presents himself to us in the
forms of common food and drink. He meets
us where we are and accommodates our weaknesses. He stays with us in the Eucharist to help
us make the changes we need to make to remain in God’s loving presence forever.
So how does the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ
while it still looks and tastes like bread and wine? We can thank Saint Thomas Aquinas for the
answer. Every material item has a
substance and a form. Tulips and roses
are both flowers, but they look quite different. The material or essential components that
make them both flowers are their substance; their outward appearance (color,
shape of petals, etc.) is their form. Fr. Mike and I are both men in substance, but one
of us is blessed with youthful good looks, and the other looks like Fr. Mike –
different forms. The Church believes,
then, that in the consecration at Mass, the substance of the bread and
wine change to the substance of the Body and Blood of Christ while
remaining in the form of bread and wine.[5] Transubstantiation
is a miracle that isn’t easy to grasp, but it makes sense.
The Eucharist is Christ’s great gift
of his continued presence among us, not just spiritually, but tangibly as well. Through the Eucharist, Jesus continues to
challenge us to conform our ways to God’s ways, to console us in difficult
times, to inspire us to serve our brothers and sisters, and to strengthen us to
carry out our Christian mission. It’s no
symbol; it’s a wonderful gift of Jesus’ real presence.
So how did we end up in a place where only 31% of Catholics believe that
Jesus is really present in the Eucharist?
In my opinion, the Church’s failure to properly catechize the faithful
has led to the very divisions that Jesus talks about in our Gospel. By failing to ground the faithful in philosophy
and theology, science has become the exclusive means for understanding our world,
and faith is viewed as suspect. Faith is
divided against reason. Likewise, by emphasizing
good works over doctrine, Catholics have become unable to understand and
explain what we believe and why we bother to do good works in the first place. Doctrine is viewed as archaic. Doctrine is divided against good works.
We need to heal these divisions.
We need to engage Catholics in solid intellectual and spiritual
formation in the faith, trusting that great “cloud of witnesses” – the Saints whose
inspiring lives were grounded in their firm belief in Christ’s real presence in
the Eucharist. We need to unite as one,
holy, catholic and apostolic Church to heal all wounds of division by rediscovering
that all healing begins and ends with Christ’s real presence.
[1] Pew Research Center, “What Americans Know
About Religion,” July 23, 2019, https://www.pewforum.org/2019/07/23/what-americans-know-about-religion/.
[2] Michael J. Simone, “Send Down Your Fire,” America,
vol. 221, no. 3 (August 5, 2019), p. 45.
[3] Id.
[4] Catechism of the Catholic Church 1413.
[5] Catechism of the Catholic Church 1376.
