A Sign of Abundance

REV. JAMES MORGAN ’22, ARCHDIOCESE OF WASHINGTON

About a year ago, I was sitting in one of our lounges with some other men from my archdiocese talking about what the NAC was like before the pandemic. In particular, the first and second-year men, who had never experienced our liturgies with the distribution of the Precious Blood. This caused us to wonder when or even if Communion from the chalice would return.

One man remarked, “If you believe in the true presence in the Eucharist, then you shouldn’t want the practice to return.” He was referring to a Church teaching called concomitance. The understanding that Christ is fully present in each of the Eucharistic species—the bread and the wine. We don’t receive any more grace from receiving Communion under bother species. Yes, I do believe in that teaching, but I also believe Jesus instituted the Eucharist under both species, choosing bread and wine for a reason. Researching this topic became the groundwork for my tesina—the final paper to conclude my STL degree before I return to America.

A few months later, Pope Francis delivered his most recent apostolic letter on the importance of the liturgy and liturgical formation: Desiderio Desideravi. One significant part was his call for us to reclaim our understanding of the signs and symbols present in our liturgical celebrations. This speaks to the primary reason for Communion under both species, which is the fullness of the sign of the Eucharistic banquet. While Christ is literally present in each species, he also communicates himself through both Eucharistic symbols—the bread and the wine.

Reception of the Blood of Christ communicates a wealth of symbolic language that enriches our celebration of the Eucharist. For instance, the Precious Blood comes to us appearing as wine, which is a sign of the abundance of God’s mercy and goodness. Christ’s first miracle produced an abundance of wine at the wedding feast of Cana.

Receiving Christ in the form of wine communicates to us this abundance of grace that comes from the Eucharist.

Likewise, the Body of Christ we receive, which appears as bread, also communicates through signs. Shortly before we receive communion at Mass, we pray the Our Father together and ask God for “our daily bread.” Christ coming to us in the form of bread signals to us that he is truly the daily sustenance that we need. Both species together remind us that God provides for us abundantly—both in our daily needs and beyond what we can imagine. There is a complementary nature between the two substances under which Christ humbly chose to be present to us.

Responding to the call of Pope Francis to deepen our understanding of the symbolic language in Mass and other liturgical celebrations has already enriched my young priesthood. I feel a deeper connection to the Paschal Mystery when I say the words of consecration over the bread and wine, which become the Body and Blood of Christ. n