May 22, 2009
The Christian Journey
Experiencing the presence of Christ
BY FATHER JIM SAUER
When the “Why Catholic?” renewal effort began in our diocese I had just begun my sabbatical in 2007, so I was completely unfamiliar with its contents and process. It was encouraging to learn that Renew International sends a presenter to the diocese after every semester to bring together “Why Catholic” participants and other Catholics to reflect on a particular aspect of our faith.
Unfortunately, my schedule did not permit me to participate in any of Father Abraham’s recent presentations on the Eucharist. Many people who had attended commented how impressed they were with both his content and his vitality. I was thankful to read Mary Ann Hughes’s article in the May 15 issue of the Message that Father Abraham approached Christ’s presence according to Vatican II teaching: 1) Christ is present in his Church (“where two or three come together”), 2) Christ is present in the presider acting in the person of the risen Christ, 3) Christ is present in his Word (the same Word he spoke 2,000 years ago), and 4) Christ is present in the Eucharist.
These are not four different presences of Christ for Christ cannot be divided up into “lesser” and “greater” experiences. Saints have an uncanny ability to recognize this unity as Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta showed the world in her love of Christ in the poor. After her adoration of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, she instructed her sisters that they must then go and love Christ in the poor. (Matthew 25 proclaims the same truth.) He is the one and same Christ. Did Jesus say to Saul purposefully, “Saul, why are you persecuting me?” when he could have easily said, “Saul, why are you persecuting my people?” We are so closely united to Christ in baptism and the outpouring of his Spirit that Christ dwells within us. This is a great mystery not to be “figured out,” but to be contemplated. The saints can guide us to this.
The Word of God, especially the Gospel, is another experience of Christ’s presence. It is the same presence as Christ in the Eucharist. Christ is not divided. Christ is Christ, who comes to us in various ways. Vatican II renews this ancient belief when the bishops proclaim that: “The Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures just as she venerates the body of the Lord, since from the table of both the word of God and of the body of Christ she unceasingly receives and offers to the faithful the bread of life, especially in the sacred liturgy” (paragraph 21, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, Vatican II). This may be quite a change in thinking for Catholics today, but remember the story of the two disciples on the way to Emmaus who said, “Were not our hearts burning within us as he explained the Scriptures to us?” Christ is present in his Word just as he is present in his Body and Blood. We cannot divide Christ’s presence.
As Catholics, we most definitely believe that the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ by the invocation of the Holy Spirit and the words of institution. The bread and wine are not a mere symbol of Christ from the past — they can never be for Christ is risen, alive and with us. Just as he took flesh in the Virgin Mary, the bread and wine are now changed by the power of the Holy Spirit into the Body and blood of the Lord.
All four experiences together form a beautiful tapestry of the Lord’s presence.