The Deacon's Dialogue

On Holy Thursday of this year, Pope John Paul II issued his most recent Encyclical Letter, ECCLESIA DE EUCHARISTIA: On The Eucharist and Its Relationship To The Church. This encyclical is one of the most stirring writings on the Eucharist I have read. The deep love of the Eucharist is evident in the words of the pope and the place of the Eucharist in the life of the Church is made clear and precise. "The Church draws her life from the Eucharist." Echoing the Second Vatican Council, John Paul restates that the Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life." Although the Church was born at Pentecost with the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, she is, in reality, born of the Paschal Triduum; those three days beginning with the Last Supper and ending with the Resurrection on Easter Sunday. Through the Eucharist, instituted by Jesus himself while he celebrated that last Passover with his disciples, we are brought into the very action of the Paschal Mystery. We do not simply recall those days but the Eucharist makes those days present to us. Through this letter, the pope hopes to rekindle the Eucharistic "amazement" within the hearts of all believers. Acknowledging the great contributions of the Second Vatican Council in its liturgical reforms, especially in creating "a more conscious, active and fruitful participation in the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar on the part of the faithful," the Holy Father also laments the "shadows" that have caused an abandoning in some places of Eucharistic adoration as well as other abuses, even to the denial of the necessity of the priesthood itself. Says the pope: "It is my hope that the present Encyclical Letter will effectively help to banish the dark clouds of unacceptable doctrine and practice, so that the Eucharist will continue to shine forth in all its radiant mystery."

Along these lines, the pope reemphasized the sacrificial nature of the Liturgy. Jesus did not just give us his Body and Blood as real food and real drink, he intended this sacrament to make present his sacrifice on the cross and unite us to that sacrifice. The pope also reiterates the definition of the Council of Trent on the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist as "transubstantiation." The boundaries of all theological discussion and explanation begin with this definition. The presence of Jesus in the species of bread and wine is "real" and not merely metaphorical. This presence of Jesus in the sacred species continues as long as the species of bread and wine themselves remain. This reality calls forth the "inestimable value" of worshiping the Eucharist outside of Mass through Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament as well as prayer before the Eucharist. The Eucharist comes down to us through the ministry of the Apostles and their successors. For this reason, only validly ordained priests may preside at Mass and recite the Eucharistic Prayer.

In addressing other abuses and negligence concerning the Eucharist, the pope alludes to the well-intentioned but misguided attempt to use the Eucharist as a beginning point for ecumenical activities. Because the Eucharist makes us one and marks that oneness, offering Communion to those not one with us in fact, would presuppose a communion that does not yet exist. "Precisely because the Church’s unity, which the Eucharist brings about through the Lord’s sacrifice and by communion in his body and blood, absolutely requires full communion in the bonds of the profession of faith, the sacraments and ecclesiastical governance, it is not possible to celebrate together the same Eucharistic liturgy until those bonds are fully re-established." The opposite is also retained, Catholics may not receive communion from other denominations which lack valid Holy Orders. Also included in addressing abuses in the celebration of the Eucharist are those resulting from a reaction against formalism that has led some to consider the "forms" and rubrics "chosen by the Church’s great liturgical tradition and her Magisterium as non-binding." This has caused much suffering in the faithful a by introducing "unauthorized innovations which are often completely inappropriate." The Liturgy is never to be treated as anyone’s private property, not of the priest nor of the community gathered. "I consider it my duty, therefore, to appeal urgently that the liturgical norms for the celebration of the Eucharist be observed with great fidelity. These norms are a concrete expression of the authentically ecclesial nature of the Eucharist; this is their deepest meaning." The forms and norms the pope alludes to are contained in the new Instruction on the Roman Missal and other official liturgical documents. Because of these abuses, the pope alludes to a document to come which will address many of the abuses specifically.

Finally, in this year of the Rosary, the pope calls for all the faithful to "Stand at the school of Mary, woman of the Eucharist. Certainly Mary was present as the infant Church first obeyed the command of Jesus to "do this in memory of me." Moreover, Mary was the first "tabernacle" of Christ as she carried him in her whom for nine months. She nurtured him and gave him strength as his mother. Who better than to learn devotion to the Eucharist than she who first gave substance to the body and blood of Christ. We learn from Mary, especially in the Mysteries of Light of the Rosary, true devotion to Christ in the Eucharist and enter, with her, into his Passion and death, entering finally into his resurrection.