Celebrate, honor Jesus in Eucharist

God's love for us is poured out in the sacrament of the Eucharist where he is truly present for us, giving us life and healing. The Eucharist is the central mystery for our Catholic faith. "Lumen Gentium," one of the major documents of the Second Vatican Council referred to the Eucharist as "the source and summit of the Christian life."

We have compared the Eucharist to a magnificent cut diamond which must be studied from many angles to appreciate its beauty. It is a divine mystery beyond our understanding and yet we believe that Jesus is truly present in the consecrated bread and wine. The church has constantly held fast to the belief in the real presence and the practice of reserving the Blessed Sacrament, adoration of this outside of Mass, taking the sacrament to the sick and dying as well as honoring Christ present with processions, benediction, etc. This is unique among Christian Churches. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that Jesus Christ is present in many ways to his church, "but he is present...most especially in the Euchartistic species. The mode of Christ's presence under the Eucharistic species is unique. It raises the Eucharist above all the sacraments as 'the perfection of the spiritual life and the end to which all the sacraments tend' (St. Thomas Aquinas). In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist 'the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really and substantially contained'" (Council of Trent). "This presence is called real - by which is not intended to exclude the other types of presence as if they could not be real too, but because it is presence in the fullest sense: that is to say, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present" (Pope Paul VI).

That quote states the core belief of the church in the mystery of the Eucharist. Because, like a diamond with many facets that cannot be taken in all at once, each International Eucharistic Congress celebrates the mystery of the Eucharist under a different theme for a full week with different emphasis each day of the week. The theme of this 49th Congress in Quebec City, Canada, next June is "The Eucharist, Gift of God for the Life of the World." The Catechism of the Catholic Church itself indicates how much of a mystery the Eucharist is by listing the many titles which the church calls the Eucharist to express its inexhaustible richness.

Because it is an action of thanksgiving the Greek word eucharistein is the most common title used for this sacrament. "The Lord's Supper" is used to indicate that it is the same sacred meal which the Lord took with his disciples that night before he died. The first Christians designate their Eucharist assemblies as "The Breaking of Bread" to express how they recognize Jesus after his resurrection. Other names used are "Eucharistic Assembly, Memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection, Holy Sacrifice, Divine Liturgy, Sacred Mysteries, Holy Communion and Holy Mass" (because it concludes with the sending forth or missioning of the faithful).

There are three principle activities in which the church celebrates, honors Jesus present and worships him in the Eucharist. The first is the liturgical action of the Mass. In this action, under the species of bread and wine, Jesus Christ is contained, body and blood, soul and divinity, to be offered in sacrifice and to be received in Holy Communion. The Eucharist is a sacrificial act of offering the most perfect gift of Jesus to the father, the same sacrifice as he offered on the cross of Calvary. It is a sacrifice of offering the gift of Jesus to the father to which the faithful unite their lives, their prayers, joys, sufferings and work, to "make up for what is wanting in the sacrifice of Christ" as St. Paul writes in Colossians (1:24). At first glance that seems arrogant and like a sacrilegious statement. However, this is so, not because the sacrifice of Calvary is lacking anything, but simply because Christ wills that we unite our lives to his one perfect sacrifice. What a privilege God offers us each time Mass is offered.

Secondly, we celebrate, honor and worship Jesus because we are invited to partake in the sacrificial meal or sacred banquet by receiving Holy Communion. "The altar, around which the church is gathered in the celebration of the Eucharist, represents the two aspects of the same mystery: the altar of the sacrifice and the table of the Lord." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1383) The Lord addresses an invitation to us, urging us to receive him in Holy Communion: "Truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." (John 6:53) To respond to this invitation we must prepare ourselves for so great and holy a moment. St. Paul urges us to examine our conscience because: "Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord." (1 Cor. 11:27) Anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of reconciliation before coming to communion. The Eucharistic Congress celebrates Mass with Communions each day in many different settings and manners with different types of music, gift processions, languages and environments to express the universal nature of the church celebrating the one Christ and our one faith.

Finally, there is the unique aspect of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist resulting in what theologians call transubstantiation. They use this term to indicate what happens at the words of consecration at each Mass. Catholics believe that the substance of what begins as simple bread and wine is changed into the substance of the body and blood of the living Christ by the action of the Holy Spirit and words of consecration as Jesus commanded the apostles at the Last Supper to "do this in memory of me." That is the abiding presence of Jesus in the species as long as the accidents of the bread and wine remain. This allows the Blessed Sacrament to be reserved in our tabernacles for adoration, benediction, procession and to distribute to the sick and dying.

This abiding presence, too, is celebrated, honored and worshiped in benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and by taking the Eucharist procession with the people through the city. Each congress will celebrate the Eucharist with a special procession at least once a day where all the people will be able to walk with Jesus in procession, sing the praises of the Blessed Sacrament and be blessed by the Lord in his abiding presence. The church has a rich repertoire of hymns to express faith in the real presence and to praise God for this great gift. Classic hymns were composed by St. Thomas Acquinas (1225 1274) when the feast of Corpus Christi was instituted by Pope Urban IV. We still use his Pange Lingua (sung at benediction and during the procession of the Eucharist to the altar of repose on Holy Thursday night), O Sacrum Convivium ("O Sacred Banquet"), Adoro Te Devote and Laude Sion. Each International Eucharistic Congress holds a contest for musicians to create a new hymn to express the theme of the congress. The popular English hymn, "Gift of Finest Wheat" was written for the 1976 congress held in Philadelphia. Guadalajara, Mexico composed "Luz y Vida del Nuevo Milenio" and French Canada has a new tri-lingual hymn titled "Don de Dieu" ("Gift of God") as the official hymn for the 49th International Eucharistic Congress is Quebec City.

The congress is a wonderful Catholic celebration of the universal church. I invite you to consider joining the Sioux City Diocesan Pilgrimage to celebrate with the Catholic world this great gift from June 15 to 22. Canada has set deadlines for commitments: Feb. 1 ends the discount and March 5 is the deadline to be assured housing. Contact Star Destinations or Father LeRoy L. Seuntjens for registration.