Greetings, friends. These little talks are intended to be short and pedestrian in content; they do not do justice to the gravity of the theological truth contained in the Sacramental Faith of The Catholic Church. I refer you to the esteemed theologians of Church History for more on them. If you are a new reader of the blog or a follower of the Sioux Falls Diocese where this talk was posted (https://youtu.be/eRrPltaAp7I?si=vhx3255vaqrzF3wj), you may desire to read about my journey into The Catholic Church. You may find that in the site menu below my photo to the left of this post (Category: My Journey into the Catholic Church).
This Sunday, we celebrate The Solemnity/Feast of Corpus Christi or The Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. On this specific day, we display our belief and gratitude for what we do every day at Mass, but with more pomp and circumstance, hence the designation Solemnity and Feast. We solemnly remember Christ’s Passion for us while we feast on the food of our salvation–His Word to us in the Liturgy of the Word and His Body in the Liturgy of the Eucharist–his Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity-the Whole Grain Bread of Life, so to speak. That is how The Church has done it since its establishment by Christ 2,000 years ago.
Dress Rehearsal:
The best description I have heard of Mass worship is that it is the dress rehearsal for heaven. So why are so many people skipping out on rehearsal? I wonder. I delayed participating in this dress rehearsal for 56 years, 133 days, and 20 hours! You see, my husband and I converted to The Roman Catholic Church, but we are zealous Johnny-come-lately, true neophytes in all things Catholic.
Journey:
We were committed to Christ and his church as we knew it as Protestant Christians; we even served as “pastor and wife” for 34 years. We knew the Sacred Scriptures inside and out because they were the sole source of our doctrine of belief. Therefore, we thought we knew the whole of the Theology of God passed down from our particular 500-year-old protestant movement, which seemed solid enough then. We didn’t know what we didn’t know! We didn’t know that we hadn’t received the entirety of the Truth of Christ and His Church was held intact since Christ instituted His Church in her 2,000+ years of history. But that’s another story for another time.
On my long intellectual journey from 1996 to Easter Vigil 2015, I worked hard to wrap my brain around the Early Church theology I had not been taught. At first, I relied on the writings of the Saints and The Early Church Fathers–what integrity! And how mind-blowing and life-giving it was to read Church History as it was rather than how I was trained to read it. It wasn’t long before my questions about what I had been taught and what I was observing in the Protestant movement demanded answers, so I studied the Catholic Church’s Catechism over and over again. I recognized the theology that the protestant movement took with it when it left home and departed from our Mother Church’s teachings, but I discovered there was so much that was left behind.
Grappling:
In particular, I grappled with The Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, The Four Dogmas of Our Blessed Mother, and The Sacrament of Reconciliation. I often felt like I had been thrown down on a wrestling mat, and the only way to stand back up again was to surrender my misunderstanding and ignorance to the authority of God and His Church. I can’t tell you all about that today right now. Today, I would like to share how the Holy Spirit guided my thinking to surrender to the entire truth of The Eucharist. Suffice it to say that I slowly moved from Communion with Christ as an excellent idea wrapped in a symbol to the firm understanding that the entirety of my mind, soul, and spirit depends on the Real Presence of Christ in The Eucharist in the Worship of the Mass.
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Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. Because of it the ancients were well attested.
Hebrews 11:1-2
We look not to what is seen but to what is unseen, for what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal.
II Corinthians 4:18
The Big Questions:
I’m an “If/Then” thinker, so I explored the teachings of the Eucharist by asking myself many questions.
- If I put my faith in and believed God’s Word created the cosmos, and then his Word descended in the miracle of The Incarnation of Jesus–a virgin and the Spirit of God make the Son of God. Say, what?… If I put my faith in and I believed that Jesus, The Word Made Flesh, was the once and for-all fulfillment of God’s plan for our atonement from sin. Christ was dead, then he was alive—stone-cold DEAD, THEN ALIVE!!!
- Then why couldn’t I put my faith in and believe that the sacrificial teachings of Salvation History in the Sacred Scriptures were exactly fulfilled in Christ’s Passion and Sacrifice on The Cross?
- Why couldn’t I accept that what appears to me as bread and wine miraculously become Christ’s Flesh, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Liturgy of The Eucharist through the Holy Spirit’s power in the Prayer of Consecration said by a priest? I didn’t argue with any other of Christ’s words when He said, “Be healed!” or when he took a meager amount of bread and fish from a boy, blessed it with His words, and distributed it to thousands of hungry people. I didn’t argue that at His Word, “Come,” Peter could walk on water where He was standing ON WATER!
- Over 163 miraculous events are recorded in the Old and New Testaments of the Sacred Scriptures. Why did I come to a full stop about this miracle that Christ’s words declared about his flesh and blood? (St. John 6) Why couldn’t I accept that what appears to me as bread and wine miraculously become Christ’s actual flesh and blood, soul, and divinity in the Liturgy of The Eucharist through the Prayer of Consecration? I didn’t argue with anything else Christ said. Why this miracle in particular? One reason is that I had been taught one thing about this particular miracle that opposed the truth of the matter for 2,000 years.
- That led me to this question: Would God still be God if I could comprehend the ways and means of God? What would I be worshipping? The answer finally came with a loud bang—God is God, and I am not. His ways and means are beyond my human understanding; Faith is a mystery that is intended to be beyond my human limitations,
I Get It, Kind Of:
Doctor of The Church, St. Anselm, wrote, “I do not seek to understand in order that I may believe; I believe in order to understand.… I believe that unless I believe, I shall not understand.” I began to pray, I believe, Lord, but help my unbelief. And sure enough, he did! Then, I asked myself another question. If I believe that the entire purpose of my life is to be transformed into the image of Christ and live with him forever, then why am I relying on the boundaries of human understanding to limit my progress?
Flesh and Blood:
The Holy Spirit reminded me of a reality in my life to grant me insight and understanding into the power of blood. My mother was born with a chronic disease that eventually led to her untimely death. The lifelong disease preceded her eventual death, but because of many, many blood transfusions over the years, it kept her alive and prolonged our years with her. Now, the hematologist could explain how the thrombocytes acted on her blood platelets and make promises based on that scientific knowledge; they could tell her that the transfusions would save the life of her flesh. The transfusions would work whether or not my mother believed in the doctors’ promises; the cure wasn’t dependent on my mother’s understanding of the process. The truth the doctors spoke only depended on one thing: my mother’s permission to receive the life-giving blood.
Spiritual Transfusion:
We are all born with a disease named Original Sin, and if not treated, we slowly die a spiritual death that deteriorates into eternal death. Consider what God said to his people in the Old Testament, “…The life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement on the altar for yourselves because it is the blood that makes atonement [for one’s life].” (Leviticus 17:11) Friends, our lives depend on the transfusion of Christ’s Body and Blood, Soul, and Divinity! His sacrifice atones for us forever, like the transfusions atoned for my mother’s life temporarily. His Body and Blood—his essence, the cells of his being—infuse us and heal us completely; it is the spiritual transfusion for abundant life here on earth and in eternity, whether or not we understand or believe it doesn’t matter, but what matters is that we must humble our humanity and receive Him to have this life.
What Difference Does it Make?:
When we regularly worship Christ in the Mass, we are transfused with life through Christ’s very lifeblood, his very essence, in The Eucharist! His Body and Blood infuse us with his very nature, and we are transformed into his image in part and finally perfected in eternity. Worshipping in the Mass is not about how well the priest delivers the homily or the appeal of the music. It’s not about how I feel during worship. It is solely about Christ’s Sacrifice on the Cross and His Resurrection from the dead. I can go elsewhere to hear self-improvement tips. I can go elsewhere to listen to the music I prefer. But when I worship in the Mass, I enter Heaven here on earth to participate in the eternal Mass of Heaven. It takes a lifetime of dress rehearsals to prepare for The Wedding Feast of The Lamb, Christ himself, in eternity. Regular worship in The Mass keeps my wedding clothes clean, without spots or wrinkles, and I keep oil in my lamp! (Ephesians 5:27; Matthew 25:1-13)
Conclusion:
Moses said to God’s Chosen People; I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity… Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him, for that means life to you and length of days… Friends, our very lives–quality and quantity–depend on us choosing life! Why wouldn’t we worship Christ in the Mass? Why wouldn’t we crawl to the altar in humble adoration to consume LIFE?!
The Maiden Warrior 