.JPG)
This photo is cool, look at the glass facade of the hospital in the background and you can make out the spires of St. Joseph Church being reflected!
.JPG)
In some parts of the world including those places that will celebrate the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, today is Corpus Christi. The emphasis is not only on the Mass celebrated either today or when transferred to this coming Sunday, but also on adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament exposed in the monstrance. The word monstrance comes from our English word "demonstrate." You can see and understand the similarities.
Many liturgists over the years, but thankfully less so today, have decried adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament as a devotional that only came into being when Catholics felt so on worthy to receive Holy Communion at Mass that they seldom if ever did. They preferred to look at the Eucharistic elements in adoration often with head and body bowed in humble adoration. Modern liturgists see this as a grave abuse.
Others would say that adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament is a logical extension of Catholic devotion given what the Church teaches and believes to be true about the Most Blessed Sacrament, that ordinary bread and wine become by the power of the Holy Spirit and the liturgical ministry of the priest acting in the Person of Christ the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Risen Lord. This is what is called "transubstantiation." The substance of the the bread and wine becomes our Lord's Risen Body and Blood, but the "accidents" the visual look, taste, feel,and smell of the bread and wine remain the same.
Without in any way questioning the reality of transubstantiation, I do believe that we can look at the "accidents" that remain after consecration as a simile or metaphor for Whom it is we actually receive. In a sense, we can say that Jesus becomes Bread for the hungry soul starving for salvation. Jesus becomes Wine for the soul in search of eternal happiness and joy and the warmth that communion with Him brings to the heart. Jesus is the Wine that heals the sin sick soul. So in a sense we can say that Jesus is like bread and He is like wine in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Or we can say Jesus is Bread and Jesus is Wine in the Most Blessed Sacrament and explore all the ramifications of the symbol of bread and wine as it pertains to the real and substantial presence of our Risen Lord.
So without denying transubstantiation, we can say that the bread and wine are symbols for Christ which even an atheist or an agnostic would have to accept. But it takes no faith to believe that Jesus is symbolically present in these elements, therefore an atheist would agree to the elements being symbols. But it does take faith to believe that the bread and wine actually and substantially become the Risen Body and Blood of our Lord. An atheist or agnostic or non Christian would not agree to that or else they would become believers and thus convert to the Catholic Faith.
Press the following for the link to a more scholarly and historical understanding of Transubstantiation:
MINISTRY OF PRIESTS AND TRANSUBSTANTIATION
5 comments:
"Monstrance" and "demonstrate" derive from the Latin "mostrare" meaing "to show."
Last year's procession was wonderful. I was hoping we could even lengthen our procession this year, so you can imagine my disappointment when it was cancelled.
Might I inquire why it was canceled this year?
I also was quite disappointed that it was canceled.
Last year I could not participate, but this year I could've and was really looking forward to it.
However, I suspect that Father is equally disappointed and I'm certain that it must have been canceled only for a very good reason.
One good thing, we get to have the EF Mass still.:)
There are several problems with this year. Fr. Justin is away on vacation, Deacon Don is away on vacation, Deacon Pat has moved to Florida and we have the 2:00 PM EF Mass and I'm alone this weekend as Msgr. Cuddy is filling in at Holy Spirit. Make sure your sons, if you have any, become priests!
The procession was a wonderful thing to do. Perhaps we can expand our route next time or have it on a weekday around Corpus Christi...the flock, both within the fold and out, need reminding. When people observe such a silent and powerful witness, at least some of them begin to wonder or ask questions. The Holy Spirit has to start somewhere. Thank you, Fr., for availing yourself (and us) of these devotional opportunities in which the Holy Catholic Church is so rich. It is a shame that so many lie dormant in the Sacramental closet, as it were, of the so-called reformed Catholic Church.
Post a Comment