The Year of the Eucharist –
The Eucharist and Eucharistic Devotion
By Fr. Vincent Gluc, OFM Conv.

A survey was done several years ago, polling Catholics on their belief in the Eucharist.  The results of that survey surprisingly indicated that a large percentage of Catholics did not seem to believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.  They seemed to believe that the bread and wine at Communion were only signs, symbols, or reminders of Jesus but failed to understand that the Eucharist is, in fact, the Body and Blood of Christ, and that when we receive Communion, we are truly receiving our living and resurrected Lord.

In reviewing the questions and how they were presented, those who know the science of such polls judged that the survey itself was poorly worded and confusing and thus, not accurate in its findings.  Subsequently, two recent studies: CARA (Center for Applied Research on the Apostolate) in 2001 and another by the University of Notre Dame in 2003 have confirmed that the vast majority of American Catholics believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharistic elements of bread and wine.  In the 2003 study, eighty percent of respondents affirmed this belief.

As we celebrate The Year of the Eucharist, care must be taken to always keep a balance in our understanding of the Eucharist; it is possible to overemphasize one aspect over another and find ourselves out of synch with Church teaching.  This balance is also necessary in our understanding of the two great commandments (love of God and neighbor) and in the mystery of Jesus in His incarnation (that He is equally God and man).  Not to stay in the middle and to emphasize one side of the equation over the other distorts a healthy and balanced theology.

Since Vatican II, the Church has worked hard to regain the balance.  Over the last 40 years, we have grown in our appreciation and understanding of the Eucharist.  We have come to a greater appreciation for the presence of the Jesus in proclamation of His word and in sacrament; His presence within the assembly at Mass and in the person of the priest at the altar.  We have come to appreciate that as we eat the Body and Blood of the Lord, we become the Body of Christ, His Church, His presence in the world...and we believe that we are sent forth from Mass as disciples to do the work of God by washing one another’s feet.  We have come to appreciate that we not only become one with Christ in Communion, but also one with each other in Christ because we share of the one bread and the one cup.

The Gathering Space in our Church is a testimony to that belief and to our commitment to one another as the Body of Christ.  The time we spend greeting one another in that space, sharing our lives, and asking for one another’s prayers before and after Mass is a sign and an expression of our communion in Christ.  Our level of participation in the life of our parish and the kind of relationship we personally have with one another is a measure of our communion in Christ.

The common gestures and actions of the Mass, the common prayers we recite and songs that we sing, and the common faith that brings us together are signs of that communion in Christ.  That “communio” is especially evident as we walk in the Communion line TOGETHER, singing a common Communion song TOGETHER, returning to our seats and continuing to sing while the rest of the community is “still on its way.”  These are all signs of what receiving and being the Body of Christ is all about.  It’s certainly not meant to be a “me and God” experience.  Time for personal mediation, thanksgiving and silent prayer follow the Communion song once all have received Communion.  To stop the community sung prayer (that’s what the Communion song is!) and to go into “private” prayer, is to abandon the community still on the journey to Communion.  Processions in our liturgical celebrations have theological significance.  Even to routinely arrive after the Entrance Procession at the beginning of Mass, or to leave church before the priest and ministers have processed down the aisle at the end of Mass, is at the very least a sign of disrespect to the entire community and demonstrates a lack of understanding and appreciation for what our communion in Christ means.

More “traditional” Catholics might tend to lean more toward one side of a healthy Eucharistic theology, seeing the real presence as a “me and Jesus” experience; paying more attention to the reserved sacrament than those who are one with them in Christ.  More “liberal” Catholics might lean more to the other side of the coin by seeing the Mass as simply a fraternal meal and failing to appreciate the sacramental presence of Jesus who promised to be with us always.

Virtue, as always, is in the middle where true orthodoxy is found.  So, let’s try to keep the balance!  In the end, the fullest experience and expression of the presence of Jesus among us is found at our Eucharistic celebration.  It is at Mass where we gather like grains of wheat, as an assembly of faith, and enter into the mystery of Jesus’ dying and rising in word, sacrament, ritual and sign, prayer and song, and where we receive and are renewed as the Body of Christ.  Amen.