The Eucharist (1 part)
THE EUCHARIST (1 part)
Jesus Christ is now glorious in Heaven and in the tabernacle.
Jesus Christ is true God and true Man. As God is everywhere. As a Man he is only in Heaven and in the tabernacle, in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the ultimate proof of God’s love for men.
To love is to give: God has given us everything with CREATION.
To love is to communicate: God has communicated to us with REVELATION.
To love is to become similar to the beloved: God has become one of us in the INCARNATION.
To love is to sacrifice oneself for the beloved: God has given us his life in REDEMPTION.
To love is to give to the loved one: God gives us the supreme good of SALVATION.
To love is to accompany the loved one: God has remained, forever, by our side in the EUCHARIST.
The tabernacle is the main part of the church; although sometimes it is not on the main altar. The tabernacle is a kind of little house, with its door and its key. There is Jesus Christ, and for that reason, next to it there is a light on. Whenever we pass by, we must put our right knee on the ground, as a sign of adoration, whether it is reserved or exposed.
The images deserve our veneration and respect because they stand in the place of the Lord, the Virgin and the Saints, whom they represent. They are his portraits, his statues. But what is in the tabernacle is not a portrait or statue of Jesus Christ, but Jesus Christ himself, alive, but glorious: as he is now in heaven.
Images are not adored, they are venerated. To worship is to put an idol in the place of God, replacing him. Worship is only for God. To venerate is to recognize the value that someone or something has for me, for which they deserve our respect. I venerate my parents and my country, but that’s not why I adore them. I worship only God.
We only adore Jesus Christ in the tabernacle. Worship consists in rendering to a person or thing honors of God. It is called the cult of latra. It differs from the cult of dula, which consists of the veneration paid to everything that is not God, but is related to him (images, relics, etc.).
The saints are given the cult of dula, as intercessors before God. Worship is paid only to God. That is why, in the Roman Empire, many Christians were martyred for not wanting to worship idols.
Bending the knee has different meanings, depending on the will of the person doing it: before the Eucharist it is adoration, before an image it is veneration, before kings it is reverence.
The veneration of images is not directed at the material from which they are made (stone, wood, canvas or paper) but at the person they represent. When you kiss the photo of your mother, your kiss is not directed at the photographic paper but at your mother in person. Idolatry addresses the image itself as a god. The Second Council of Nicaea says: the honor paid to the image is directed to whoever is represented in it.
The texts of the New Testament that speak of idols refer to authentic idols worshiped by pagans, but not to simple images.
That is why the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in the year 787 justified the cult of sacred images.
Jehovah’s Witnesses, even saluting the national flag consider it an act of idolatry. This is absurd.
It is very important that you consider Jesus Christ in the tabernacle, not as a thing, but as a Person who feels, who loves, who is waiting for you.
Jesus Christ is in the tabernacle, wishing that we go to visit him. We must go often to tell him of our sorrows and needs, and ask him for comfort and help. It is a very good custom to enter to greet Jesus Christ when passing in front of a church, at least once a day. Even if briefly.
No matter how much of a hurry you’re in, you can come in for a moment and say:
Sir:
I believe that you are here present in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist.
I adore you with all my heart, as the only true God.
I love you above everything else.
I thank You for all the benefits that I have received from You.
I ask you for all my intentions.
I beg you to help me in everything I need. Amen.
You didn’t take a minute. And if you have time, Fr. Jess María Granero YES. He suggests that you say: “Lord, I need everything; but I’m not asking you for anything. I come to be with you.”
Sometimes, the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament is made. The faithful kneel before him to worship the Lord, thank him for his love, and ask for his help.
At the end of the exposition, the blessing with the Blessed Sacrament is given to the faithful: then, it is Christ himself who blesses them and pours out his graces upon them.
JESUS CHRIST IS REALLY AND TRULY PRESENT IN THE THRILL, ALTHOUGH COVERED UNDER APPEARANCES OF BREAD, IN THE CONSECRATED HOST.
JESUS CHRIST IS ALSO COVERED UNDER APPEARANCES OF WINE IN THE CONSECRATED CHLIC.
In the Eucharist the smell, color and taste of bread and wine remain; but his substance has become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
This conversion is called transubstantiation. It is the transition from one thing to another. The substances of bread and wine cease because the body and blood of Christ succeed in their place.
Transubstantiation is a miraculous and singular conversion, different from natural conversions. Because in it, both the matter and the form of bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ. Only the accidents remain unchanged: we continue to see the bread and wine but substantially they are no longer, because in them is really the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ.
Substance is that by which something is what it is. What is permanent in being, for which it subsists. Not what is transitory and accidental, that is not essential and constant, and that needs a substance to reside in: such as color, smell, and taste.
Christ is present in the sacrament of the altar by transubstantiating all the substance of bread in his body, and all the substance of wine in his blood.
The Host, before the Consecration, is wheat bread. The Host, after the Consecration, is the Body of Jesus Christ, with his Blood, his Soul and his Divinity.
Of the bread only the appearances remain, which are called sacramental species.
In the chalice, before the Consecration, there is grape wine. In the chalice, after the Consecration, is the Blood of Christ, with his Body, his Soul and his Divinity.
Only the appearances of wine remain, which are called sacramental species.
Jesus Christ, by reason of his unique Person, is whole in each of the two sacramental species; therefore, to receive it, it is not necessary to receive communion under the two species of bread and wine: either of the two is enough to receive it whole.
The Greek word “soma”, in Hebrew anthropology, means “body” in its entirety; not in opposition to the blood. Similarly, the word “airna” (blood) means what is the man in its entirety.
Christ repeats the same idea to confirm it, to clinch it. It is a so-called climatic parallelism that is very frequent in the Hebrew way of speaking.
Christ in the Eucharist is alive, risen. It is not a question of a venerable relic, as will be the dead body of Christ; but of the living Jesus as Saint John says living bread. And therefore exhilarating. Eating the living and resurrected body of Jesus will lead us to the final glorious resurrection. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day.
Author of the text: Fr. Jorge Loring
Next, we can read some reflections of Fray Antonio Corredor:
THE EUCHARIST…
It’s mystery
It is sacrament.
It is sacrifice.
As a mystery, it is believed.
As a sacrament, it is received.
As a sacrifice, it is offered.
It is proposed to the understanding as a mystery.
It is given to the soul as food.
It is offered to God as homage.
As a mystery, it amazes.
As a sacrament, it feeds.
As sacrifice, redeem.
As a sacrament, strive.
As a sacrifice, rescue.
As a mystery, it is admirable.
As a sacrament, it is delightful.
As a sacrifice, it is ineffable.
As a mystery, it is a portent.
As a sacrament, it is a companion.
As a sacrifice, it feeds.
As a mystery, it is impenetrable.
As a sacrament, it is very tasty.
As a sacrifice, it is invaluable.
As a mystery… I must meditate on it.
As a sacrament… I must taste it.
As a sacrifice… I must cherish it above all
It is a mystery of faith. I must believe it.
It is a sacrament of love. I must love it.
It is a sacrifice of a God. I must trust him.
As a mystery, it hides… It is the tabernacle.
As a sacrament, it nourishes… It is a treat… It is communion.
As a sacrifice, he immolates himself… He is a victim… It is the Holy Mass.
OH ADORABLE MYSTERY! The tabernacle will be my refuge.
OH MOST SWEET SACRAMENT! Communion be my greatest wish.
OH SUPERB SACRIFICE! The mass will be my first devotion.
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