6 minute read
Readings Between the Lines
Father Glenn LeCompte
In my February 2020 article I referred to the Pew Research study which drew attention to a strikingly low percentage of Catholics who believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. I suggested that one possible cause of this phenomenon could be a mindset posed by the scientific worldview that if something is not tangible and measurable it cannot be proven to exist. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that when the bread and wine are consecrated at Mass a change of “substance,” the underlying nature of the elements of bread and wine, occurs even though the elements retain the sensible properties of bread and wine. But can we believe in such a change of substance if substance is not tangible to the senses?
In my January article I also quoted liturgist, Rev. Msgr. Kevin Irwin, who asserts that we should not have to choose between saying that Christ is really present in the Eucharist and the Eucharist is a “sign” of Christ’s presence. At this point, I want to explore the idea of the “sign-quality” of the Eucharist.
Signs are tangible things which point to what is nonetheless real, but beyond the experience of the senses. Even with a scientific worldview we still accept the reality of abstract things such as justice. The online Merriam Webster Dictionary defines justice as “the maintenance or administration of what is just especially by the impartial adjustment of conflicting claims or the assignment of merited rewards or punishments” (https://www. merriam-webster.com/ dictionary/justice). When, for example, a property or monetary settlement is made between two parties the distribution of the property or money is not justice, but the sign of justice. Justice is the condition that exists because people have been given what is due them. The situation that was out of balance has been returned to a state of equilibrium. In this case we have a sign, which we can experience with the senses, the distribution of money or property, which points to an abstract reality of justice.
The real presence of Christ in the Eucharist can be understood in a similar way to the relationship between justice and its signs. On a very fundamental level we would say that the sign of Christ’s presence is the consecrated bread and wine. That the sign used to represent the presence of Christ is bread and wine says something in particular about that presence. Christ is present in the Eucharist as food that both gives and sustains our spiritual lives.
But the sign is really more than the consecrated bread and wine. The sign includes the action of offering the Eucharistic Prayer, including the words of consecration, and then the act of the liturgical assembly approaching the altar together and partaking of the sacred elements. By sharing this sacred meal together, we symbolize that we are Christ’s Body.
The idea of the visible sign and the hidden reality to which it points is rooted in Scripture, especially in the Gospel of John. Between chapters 2 and 11 Jesus performs several “signs.” For example, he changes water to wine at a wedding in Cana (2:1-11) and he feeds
a multitude with a meager amount of bread and fish (6:1-15). These acts of Jesus are signs that point to an abstract reality, his true identity. Jews practiced certain washing rituals to remedy spiritual impurity. Jesus’ change of the water to wine symbolizes that he is the source of true ritual purity. Done in the context of a wedding, the sign Jesus performs is meant to connote that in his presence in the world the time of the Messiah has come. What the feeding of the multitude points to is explained in Jesus’ dialog with the crowd which follows his performance of the sign (6:22-59). Whereas the crowd’s ancestors fed on manna provided by God in the desert, but they died, Jesus is the true bread which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world (6:32-33). Therefore, Jesus’ feeding of the multitude points to another aspect of his identity: he himself is food for eternal life. Again, we have an example of a visible sign (physical feeding of the multitude) which points to an abstract reality (Jesus is food for eternal life). Through our partaking of the eucharistic bread and wine, with an underlying faith that Christ is food for eternal life, we begin to experience such life here and now.
My point in this study is that even in our everyday world we accept the reality of a “sign-system.” Signs, which can be experienced through the senses, point to a deeper reality, which is a
not readily accessible by the senses. There are some arbitrary symbols in our world which are given meaning. Why, for example, does the red traffic light mean “stop” and the green one mean “go”? Could not other colors have been chosen? Certainly they could have, but the meaning of the red and green lights has significance for us because the reality to which they point (stopping or going) are commonly accepted and understood universally by people.
Other symbols are natural symbols. By their very nature they point to what they represent. For example, if you came home and saw smoke billowing from your house’s windows and doors you would probably correctly conclude that your house is on fire! The sacraments make use of natural symbols, which by their very nature readily point to a reality that is not readily evident. If you are feeling hungry as you drive down the road and see a sign
displaying a hamburger, you know that there is a good chance you are coming to a place where your hunger can be satisfied. In Jesus’ culture, bread and wine represented the staples of life, food which is necessary for human survival. In the eucharistic celebration, bread and wine, which already suggest nourishment, are used to point us to nourishment of a more significant kind, nourishment for eternal life. We must eat food to live. When we partake of the eucharistic banquet we are sharing in food that is necessary to sustain the eternal life into which we began to participate in baptism. The bread and wine, which on one level represent physical nourishment, are used sacramentally to represent sustenance for eternal life. John 6:54 reflects this idea when Jesus says, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life ... .”
Having reflected on the sign-quality of the Eucharist, in my next article I
will specifically explore Paul’s recalling for the Corinthians Jesus’ command to his followers to gather and share a meal in his memory. BC
Reflection Questions
v What are the “signs” (or symbols) of love between two people? Why is love something that transcends words, physical actions and emotions? v What are some other examples of sensible things that represent or point to things that we accept as real, but cannot experience with our senses? v Without resorting to the argument that we just “accept it on faith,” how would you explain to others that it is reasonable to believe that Jesus Christ makes his saving presence available to us in the Eucharist?
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