Category Archives: Last Supper

Fully Praying the Mass

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Dear Folks,
Today is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. When we talk about the hope that the Catholic Church in America flourishes in the future, how much we flourish will revolve around how we respond to the Eucharist. The Second Vatican council has
given us some principles:
1. We are called to understand: Jesus is uniquely present, and makes present His one sacrifice on the cross (which happened once in history, but whose power is eternal, see Revelation 5). We are called to participate and be incorporated into that sacrifice,
that we can become an offering to God.
2. We are called to participate internally: The faithful are called to offer the Divine Victim not only through the priest, but together with him, and in so doing offer our own lives. We offer our work, our struggles, our suffering, our joys and sorrows, all the
aspects of our walking with God through the week.
3. We are called to participate externally: This expresses and strengthens our internal participation and encourages those around us to participate more fully (we are responsible for supporting each other). We are called to sing or say the words and do the actions that the liturgy gives us to do and do it like we mean it. There is no need to add a bunch of other things that the liturgy does not call us to do; we can focus on doing our part with all our minds and all our hearts. That will be challenge enough.
4. We are called to live out the meaning of what we celebrate in the rest of our lives that week. Think of how a bride and groom give themselves to each other in their marriage vows at their wedding and give themselves to each other is living out those vows
in their lives. The sacrament and the living out the sacrament form one act of selfgiving and each gives meaning and strength to the other.
Having someone who cares for us personally is unlike anything else in reality. I hear people are developing robots with artificial intelligence and the ability to mimic human expressions. They can be programmed to tell us how much they love us and how wonderful we are. Someone might fool themselves for a while with such a toy, but ultimately it is empty. What matters is encountering someone who truly loves us. No one loves us more than the Lord, and this most intimate encounter in the Eucharist is more precious than anything the earth can offer. Many people leave the Church or stop coming to Mass because they forget this or never were taught in the first place. If we realized what a great gift it is, how could we leave? What on earth could make us stop coming?
As I have said before, if we want a better church, if we want a better world, the first step is to fall more deeply in love with Jesus. One thing we can all do is ask: do I respond to the call to the Eucharist like I really believe in it?
Blessings,

Eucharist: Looking Beyond Appearances

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Dear Folks,

The is the Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. You have heard a good deal (I hope) about the Eucharistic revival. We have heard about the majority of those who call

themselves Catholic who don’t believe in the Church’s teaching on the Real Presence. I consider this to be a part of a larger problem of so many Catholics being led to believe that the Catholic faith is much, much less than it really is. Given that, it should not surprise us that so many people stop going to church. Without much profound reason to come, a bad experience or just apathy can trigger a departure. I would suggest a lack of Catholic belief in the Eucharist has three causes: casual practice, careless talk, and mushy teaching. Many of us are trying to build a greater sense of reverence in our practice and how we talk about the mysteries, and today I want to address what we are taught.

Many people’s formation so emphasized Mass as our family meal, there was not much talk about what made it different from other meals, and how it is so much, much more than a meal.

Some of our Evangelical brothers and sisters say that we are mistaken in our belief and claim that Jesus was speaking metaphorically when He spoke of eating His body and drinking His

blood. They point to other times that Jesus used metaphors and say that this teaching follows that pattern. Since most Catholics (including priests) are not prepared to respond, that is often the

last word on the subject, and the skeptics feel confirmed, and the Catholics feel insecure. It is time for that to end. We can look closer at the Biblical text (something I’m always in favor of) and see how Jesus’ talk about the Eucharist is very, very different from His use of metaphors.

When Jesus used metaphors, they were in line with the Old Testament imagery. “I am the good shepherd (John 10; see Ezekiel 34 and also Psalm 95). “Rivers of living water (John 4; John 7;

Ezekiel 47; Psalm 1; Jeremiah 17).” “I am the vine; you are the branches (John 15:1-10; Isaiah 5).” By Contrast, the metaphor of eating someone’s flesh in the Old Testament is not about

believing in someone but conquering and destroying them. “When evildoers come at me to devour my flesh, these my enemies and foes stumble and fall (Psalm 27:2; see also Zechariah 9:15 and Ezekiel 39:17-20).” Jesus built His teaching on the Old Testament; he did not toss it out and start from scratch. Foreshadowing of the Eucharist can be found in the manna in the desert and the eating of the Passover lamb, and these are not metaphors but realities that meant life or death.

When there was confusion about Jesus’ figures of speech, either He or the Gospel writer would clarify. “Lazarus is dead (John 11:14).” “He was speaking of the temple of His body (John 2:21).” When Jesus speaks of giving living water (John 4 and John 7) it is clarified that “He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive (John 7:39a).”

Jesus never said, “I am this vine” or “I am this door” but He did say, “this is my Body” while holding it is His hands “Matt 26:26-28; Mark 14: 22-24; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:24- 25).

None of the instances’ of Jesus metaphors lead to most of His followers who believed in Him walking away and not coming back (John 6:66). There is no parallel of disciples walking away

saying “This nut thinks he’s a sheepgate.”

The Bread of life discourse in John 6 bears closer examination. The guts of the talk is in two sections vv. 35-47 and vv. 48-58. The first emphasizes belief, and if that were all there was, I would say a case could be made that “I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall not thirst (v. 35)” is a metaphor for believing in Jesus. The second section, however, responds to their skepticism by doubling down, and does not talk about belief but eating His flesh and drinking His blood (the blood came out of nowhere). He says, “My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.” (These two sections echo the liturgy of the Word and the liturgy of the Eucharist.). If one is still skeptical, I would ask, what could Jesus have said that would convince you that He really meant it?

It really is the Body and Blood of Jesus, as Bishop Barron teaches, not in “a reductive physicalist sense (we’re not talking about a piece of meat here)” but a more Jewish framework, in which the flesh and the blood are the person (hence Catholic teaching that every particle of the Eucharist is the complete Jesus, body, blood, soul, and divinity). We, of course, remember that Jesus is Jewish and not Greek.

Given how unique this teaching is, the price Jesus paid is losing most of His followers, and how it is referred to in all four Gospels and Paul, how important was it to Jesus? How important was it to the early Church? How seriously should we take it? What should our response be?

Blessings,

Fr. Jim

Praying the Eucharistic Prayer

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Dear Folks,

Our readings today talk about the power of prayer. We know that praying better is not about building technique to be able to manipulate God (an unworthy enterprise that always fails

anyway), but about bringing more and more of ourselves to God, that we may be all His. Part of that is understanding and being more conscious of what we are praying. The Mass, of course, is

our central prayer, and it is good to understand it more and more. Today I’m going to unpack the third Eucharistic prayer. We pray it very often, but perhaps most people don’t give a lot of thought to what we are really saying.

The liturgy of the Eucharist begins with gathering and bringing forward the gifts which represent all we have done with what God has given us. As the bread and wine are placed on the altar, we

intentionally offer ourselves with them, that we may be consecrated.

We pray the prayer over the gifts, then there is the preface, with praises God for His gifts to us. Then comes the Holy, Holy, the hymn with which we unite with the heavenly liturgy (see Isaiah

6 and Revelation 4).

Then we start the Eucharistic prayer proper, and number three begins with praising God for His holiness and the work of creation, and then says how creation is meant to praise Him. God

gathers us to Himself so that “from the rising of the sun to its setting a pure sacrifice may be offered to your name (see Malachi 1:11).”

Then we ask for the Holy Spirit to “graciously make holy these gifts we have brought to you for consecration, that they may become the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is called the “epiclesis” the calling upon, and it is worthy of extra note.

Then we get to the words of institution, recounting what Jesus said and did at the Last Supper, giving Himself sacramentally as He would give Himself on the Cross. This is worthy of extra

special note, and we respond to the moment with proclaiming the mystery of faith.

Next, we speak of celebrating the memorial of the pascal mystery by which we are saved. We remember that in the Bible, remembering means something stronger than we are used to:

making a past event present and effective. (If you read Genesis 8:1; 1Samuel 1:19; Jeremiah 31:34; Luke 1:54 and 72 in that light, I think it will make sense). And we gratefully offer “this holy and living sacrifice.” Jesus died once and will never die again, but His sacrifice has an eternal power, and He allows us to unite ourselves to that sacrifice that we “make become one body, one spirit in Christ.” As we asked for the Holy Spirit to transform the bread and wine into

the body and blood of Christ, so we ask the Holy Spirit to transform us into the body of Christ (see 1 Corinthians 12; Romans 12; and Ephesians 4:1-16). We seek to be ever more perfectly the Body of Christ, and the body that is offered to the Father (see John 17: 20-21; and perhaps 1Corinthians 15:25-28). We ask, “May he make of us an eternal offering to you so that we may obtain an inheritance with your elect” and we mention the saints. Heaven is receiving God’s love and loving Him in return brought to infinity, and that is being an eternal offering to Him. “May this Sacrifice of our reconciliation, we pray, O Lord, advance the peace and salvation of

all the world,” and we pray that the power of Jesus’ Sacrifice continue to transform the people of the world, both those gathered and those scattered throughout the world. Then we pray for those

who have died. Finally comes the doxology: “Through him, and with him, and in him, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, for ever and ever.”

Responding with the Great Amen, the people join in saying the whole prayer. We offer all to the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit.

This is our faith: God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, gathers a sinful people to Himself by the power of Jesus’ sacrifice, and makes us a part of that union of self-gift, which is heaven

for all eternity, and we want everyone to share in it. To quote an old beer commercial, “It doesn’t get any better than this.”

Blessings

Fr. Jim

Being Present

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Businesswoman reprimanding man holding paperwork, close-up

Being present to another

One of the key factors in any friendship, in any love relationship, is how we are present to each other. What is it like to have someone give you their full attention, to act like you are important to them, that they are focusing on you? We also know what it is like to have someone act like they are barely aware of you, that their minds are elsewhere, that they are just doing what they need to do to get on to something else. It makes a big difference. And let’s be honest, there might have been some times when we were dealing with someone that we didn’t want to deal with, and we let it show.  How did we act then? When we are with someone who is precious to us, how do we act.

Some moments are more crucial than others.  Sometimes we might be doing different things, but generally aware of the other person, and that is good. Two guys in the same boat fishing, not speaking, not looking at each other, letting their minds drift, but it’s okay. It’s good to be together, but don’t need to do much. If, on the other hand, someone important to you comes and says, “After what has just happened, I’ll never be the same.”  This is not a good time to say, “Go ahead, I can listen and watch TV at the same time.”  A couple can be sitting in the same room, one reading a book, one catching up on the news, but if they are doing that during their wedding, there is a problem. Sometimes people are chattering for the joy of it, and what they talk about is not that important.  Sometimes people are sharing their most precious secrets, thing close to their hearts, and it takes a lot of trust to do that.  Then it is most important to be especially attentive.  To do that poorly with harm the relationship, but to do it well can strengthen the relationship a great deal.

God is always reaching out to us, but very often we don’t respond well. “I was ready to respond to those who did not ask, to be found by those who did not seek me. I said: here I am! Here I am! To a nation that did not invoke my name. I have stretched out my hands all day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own designs (Isaiah 65:1-2).”

“After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. Then Peter said to Jesus in replay, ‘Lord it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.’ When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Rise, and do not be afraid.’ And when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone (Matthew 17:1-8).” We get a rare moment in which the Father speaks from heaven, and His message is the importance of listening to Jesus.  Of course, these were Jesus’ disciples, and the inner circle of His disciples at that. They probably thought they were already listening, and that this message should be for others (fortunately, they had the sense not to argue).  I would suggest that we often do not listen as well as we think we do.  It is something we can grow in.

During the agony in the garden (Matthew 26:36-46), Jesus brings His closest friends, Peter, James and John, and asks them to keep watch and pray.  They fall asleep. Jesus didn’t need them to do anything except be present and attentive.  He was having a really difficult time, and needed some friends’ support.  I’m sure it hurt that they failed, and it will be remembered until the end of time how they failed.

At the Last Supper, and during the celebration of the Eucharist ever since, Jesus is sharing Himself most intimately, Who He really is, body, blood, soul, divinity. He draws us into His death and resurrection, His ultimate sacrifice of love. During this time in which people are separated from the Mass, we may want to reflect on how we tend to respond to God’s gift. It is almost a universal problem that our minds wander during Mass, but within the limits of our fallen human ability, how do we treat this holiest of moments? How might we grow in our response?