The Eucharist as the Hound of Heaven

By Andrew M. Greenwell, Esq.
8/21/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Rightly do we sing at benediction:

I suppose my first encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist in a Benediction service was in a manner of speaking a "blind date." My brother invited me to a Benediction Service at St. Mary's in Austin, Texas. Like most blind dates, I did not really know what I was getting into. Indeed, I do not remember much of the actual service itself--it happened many years ago--but I will never forget what Feet followed my feet out of the Church.

Facebook Delicous MySpace

Twitter Stumble Digg

More Destinations

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX (Catholic Online) - The Eucharist, says the Catechism of the Catholic Church, is the "source and summit of the Christian life," and the "heart and the summit of the Church's life."

One of the central truths and mysteries of the Faith the Lord delivered to his apostles is that when a validly ordained priest consecrates the elements of bread and wine, the substance of the bread and wine--that is the reality behind the species of bread and wine--becomes something else entirely.

The elements become really and truly the Body and Blood of Christ, which is to say "Christ himself, living and glorious, is present in a true, real, and substantial manner . . . with his soul and divinity."

The Catechism merely states in another way the clear and unambiguous meaning of Jesus' words of promise in the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John. These are the promises by Jesus that he would give us Living Bread, that his Flesh was this Living Bread, that this Flesh-Bread, like the God-Man he was, was the life of the world, and finally that he who eats of this Flesh shall live forever. (Cf. John 6:51-52).

These words of the Lord were brought into partial fulfillment in the Upper Room at Jerusalem when the Lord, anticipating his Crucifixion, celebrated during the Jewish Passover, the Last Supper and the first Mass. "Lo! o'er ancient forms departing, newer rites of grace prevail."

This First Mass reached its apex and full manifestation when the Victim Lord suffered and died on the altar of the Cross offering himself as the great High Priest, though not before referring to Psalm 21 which promised that the "poor shall eat and be filled: and they shall praise the Lord that seek him: their hearts shall live for ever and ever," a virtual reference to his teachings in the Gospel of John.

What happens when the Eucharistic elements are confected is extraordinary, and this change in the substance of the bread and wine demands a response from us. We cannot be lukewarm. "Because Christ himself is present in the sacrament of the altar, he is to be honored with the worship of adoration," states the Catechism.

In other words, the Eucharist is to be worshiped as God.

It would be wrong to adore--with the adoration due God alone known as latreia--the bread and wine before the consecration. It would be idolatry.

It would be wrong not to adore--with the adoration due God alone--the consecrated elements after their consecration. It would be sacrilege. Rightly do we sing at benediction: "Down in adoration falling, Lo! the sacred Host we hail."

To be sure, this is a truth unseen. It is a truth believed. "Faith for all defects supplying, where the feeble senses fail."

Nowhere is the Church's doctrine of transubstantiation brought home in a more forceful manner than in a Benediction service, a service which is only intelligible if the Church's teaching regarding transubstantiation is true.

The Benediction service is unintelligible if the Sacrament of the Eucharist is only a symbol, or only a sign, and the rite of confection of the Eucharist only a drama. If there is no transubstantiation, the rite of Benediction is anomalous, even blasphemous. As Flannery O'Connor said in another context, if the Eucharist is only a symbol, then to hell with it.

A Benediction service is an example of the ancient formula lex orandi lex credendi. You pray how you believe. The Benediction Service is a service about the Real Presence.

I say all this by way of background because--for me in a very literal way--Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament was like the poet Francis Thompson's "Hound of Heaven." Jesus' Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist pursued me like a hound of heaven, and by the time this Divine Suitor caught up with me, I was smitten and in love.

I suppose my first encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist in a Benediction service was in a manner of speaking a "blind date." My brother invited me to a Benediction Service at St. Mary's in Austin, Texas. Like most blind dates, I did not really know what I was getting into. Indeed, I do not remember much of the actual service itself--it happened many years ago--but I will never forget what Feet followed my feet out of the Church.

From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.
But with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbed pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
They beat--and a Voice beat
More instant than the Feet--

From the time I left the Benediction service, everywhere I seemed to walk I kept hearing within me--with "uhurrying ...

1 | 2 Next Page

Rate This Article

Was this helpful to you? Very Helpful Somewhat Helpful Not Helpful at All

Would you be interested in more articles like this? Yes, I am Interested No, I am not Interested

Rate Article

1 - 7 of 7 Comments

Celia
9 months ago
A great article but with the many changes done to the Mass there is a lack of understanding & respect in the church nowadays. Sometimes it seems more like a marketplace than a church, with all the yapping, phones ringing, rock music etc. No respect for those who want to pray & meditate.

I read an interesting article on how this all came about if anyone is interested in reading it.

The New Mass:
A Flavor of Protestantism

Marian T. Horvat
Linda Smith
9 months ago
My favorite devotion is the Novena of Holy Communions which I do at each Mass I attend. I do these for the intentions of Our Blessed Mother as I have done the St. Louis De Montfort Total Consecration. I started doing this in 2000 and plan to continue to do it as long as it is possible for me to do it.
Michelle
9 months ago
Oh, I understand, I get it. So beautiful, nothing can compare. I'm glad you shared this!!
Andrew Greenwell
9 months ago
@mikem:
You are absolutely right in mentioning the other half of the Eucharistic miracle: the transformation the Eucharist makes in the communicant, a transformation which is subject to the law of gradualism. In other words, to become Christlike through communion takes time, effort, and grace. We don't become saints in one day. This transformation is something that is incomprehensible to reason; it is not self-exertion. It is accessible only by faith, and the result of yielding to Christ and the Holy Spirit, allowing the infused virtues to bear fruit, and the gifts to make themselves manifest. It is this Eucharistic transformation that St. Ignatius so beautifully expresses in his prayer, the Anima Christi:
Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from the side of Christ, wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within thy wounds hide me
Permit me not to be separated from thee
From the wicked foe defend me
At the hour of my death call me
And bid me come to thee
That with thy saints I may praise thee
For ever and ever. Amen.
God bless your efforts at striving to be more like the Eucharistic Lord.
mikem
9 months ago

thanks you for this personal statement. St. Peter Julian Eymard's book
(complied from his homilies) called simply "Holy Communion" (whose feast
day was the other day!) explains the ramifications of the reality of
transubstantiation of the bread and wine. Two miracles take place. One
is the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Bread and Wine,
Jesus Himself, as you describe in the article you wrote; the other miracle
is when we eat OF this Bread and drink OF this Wine - we become
transformed. Certainly our Catholic population is a transformed people,
ie. mild, thoughtful, committed to work and vowed to each other in
marriage, suffering the indignites of the world of the "goy", the pagans.
Now, we are more a militant church than we were, more evangelistic too.
The Democrats' campaign has called Eucharistic adoration "wafer madness" -
and I supppose it is ! "Blood of Christ INTOXICATE me." But the power of
consecrating the host into the Host is given to the priest through
ordination by a bishop, the power of Christ. It is what holds the
Catholic Church together, and keeps it going. It is the lifeBlood of the
hierarchy, the cup bearers. If the priest in his mind with the full
consent of his will decides to NOT consecrate the Eucharist while saying
the words, there is not a consecration, not a transubstantiation. This is
how the power of Christ works - doing the will of God by conformity of our
will to His. So bad am I, such a sinner, that I have worked out an
agreement with God...my OVERwill is to do God's will, and I give Him full
permission to OVERride my feeble will (doing sin) with HIs Eternal Will,
and so complete my own transformation into a saint. :-) So, far it's
working, but too slowly, and too fitfully due to the continued
misapplication of my own cooperation. Slapping me around, helps, but I
can't take too much of it, so I pray to be slowly bent, like bread broken.
We definitely need our priests and our modern liturgy to better venerate
and adore the Eucharist during Mass. ty for your flag, maybe someone will
see it, and be moved
abey
9 months ago
It is not the Will of God that He remain a mystery forever, unlike the evil ones, for He is God most open, to the words of Jesus " I taught nothing in secret" and when by faith one stands before Him to be In Him, the Mystery of the The Faith ceases to be a Mystery anymore.
Martha
9 months ago
Beautiful.

Comments submitted must be civil, remain on-topic and not violate any laws including copyright. We reserve the right to delete any comments which are abusive, inappropriate or not constructive to the discussion.

Though we invite robust discussion, we reserve the right to not publish any comment which denigrates the human person, undermines marriage and the family, or advocates for positions which openly oppose the teaching of the Catholic Church.

This is a supervised forum and the Editors of Catholic Online retain the right to direct it.

We also reserve the right to block any commenter for repeated violations. Your email address is required to post, but it will not be published on the site.

We ask that you NOT post your comment more than once. Catholic Online is growing and our ability to review all comments sometimes results in a delay in their publication.

Name *

Email *

Comment *

Send me important information from Catholic Online and it's partners. See Sample

Post Comment