(CORPUS CHRISTI) [Solemnity]

First Reading: Dt 8:2-3.14b-16a; Psalm: 147. R. v. 12a; Second Reading: 1Cor 10:16-17; Gospel: Jn 6:51-58

THE TRUE PRESENCE OF JESUS CHRIST IN THE HOLY EUCHARIST

BY FR VALENTINE NNAMDI EGBUONU, MSP

On August 18, 1996, Father Alejandro Pezet was celebrating Holy Mass in a Catholic Church in Buenos Aires, Argentina. After distributing Holy Communion, a woman informed him that she found a discarded host on a candleholder behind the church. Father Alejandro hurried and fetched the host; and since he cannot consume it, placed it in a container of water and reposed it in the tabernacle. Eight days later, on August 26, when Fr Alejandro opened the tabernacle, he discovered that the host had turned to a bloody substance. He quickly informed his Bishop, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio (presently Pope Francis) who instructed that the bloody host be kept safe and photographed.

Three years on, on October 5, 1999, Cardinal Bergoglio decided to scientifically examine the unspoiled bloody substance in far away New York without disclosing to the scientists where it was sourced from. Upon examination, the scientist, Dr Zugiba reported that the substance was real flesh and blood with human DNA. And that it is a fragment of the heart muscle found in the wall of the left ventricle close to the valves. The doctor also analysed that the heart was alive since it contains white blood cells. And that this white blood cells had penetrated the tissue indicating that the heart had been under severe stress as if the owner had been severely beaten about the chest. When the scientists were eventually told the source of the bloody substance, they couldn’t understand how the altar bread suddenly turned to human flesh.

This Eucharistic miracle reveals several truths about the Eucharist. Firstly, that the consecrated specie is real human flesh and blood. Secondly, that the unspoiled nature of the bloody substance till date as scientifically proven in the miracle reveals that there is something supernatural and divine about the Eucharist. Thirdly, that the mystery of ‘transubstantiation’ is a reality as against the false teaching on ‘consubstantiation.’ And finally, that the Eucharist is sourced from an agonizing body which points to the agony of Christ and his sacrifice on the cross; the reality of which the sacrament is a sign.

The Catholic Church teaches that the Holy Eucharist is the true Body and Blood of Jesus Christ together with his soul and divinity, under the appearances of bread and wine. We shall be reflecting on this definition drawing from the revelations highlighted above from the Buenos Aires’ Eucharistic miracle.

The first revelation of this Eucharistic miracle was that the Holy Eucharist is truly human flesh and blood. This explains that the human nature of Christ is truly and fully present in the Eucharist. And when we speak of the Eucharist as the true Body and Blood of Christ, we speak of it as the living Body of Christ with his soul and not as his dead flesh. And as revealed in the scientific analysis of Dr Zugiba, the fleshy substance from the consecrated bread was a living flesh and not a dead one. What we receive in the Eucharist is the living body of Christ with his soul.

We do not only receive the Body and Blood of Christ together with his soul but also together with his divinity. And this underscores the second revelation of the Buenos Aires’ Eucharistic miracle. The unspoiled nature of the flesh from the consecrated bread from inception till date reveals something supernatural and divine about the Eucharist. When we receive the consecrated species, we receive both the human and divine nature of Christ present in the Eucharist by way of concomitance. Not that the person of Christ (human and divine) co-exists with the substance of the bread and wine; but that the substance of the bread and wine ceases and becomes the living Christ, human and divine. And this takes us to the mystery of ‘Transubstantiation’ as against ‘Consubstantiation.’

The Catholic Church believes in the mystery of Transubstantiation. By ‘Transubstantiation’ we believe that the substance of the bread and wine (their invisible essential elements) changes into the Body and Blood of Christ by the words of consecration while their external appearances remain unchanged. The bread remains bread but substantially the Body of Christ and the wine remains wine but substantially the Blood of Christ. And they perpetually remain so. This is unlike the Lutheran belief in ‘consubstantiation’ that teaches that the Body and Blood of Christ only co-exists with the substance of the bread and wine and ceases to co-exist after the celebration of the Eucharist. But the Buenos Aires’ Eucharistic miracle disproves this theology in that the miracle happened several days after the Holy Mass; hence revealing that Christ does not co-exist with the substance of the sacred species but is perpetually present in the Holy Eucharist.

The scientific analysis of the Buenos Aires’ Eucharistic miracle also proves that the flesh from the consecrated bread was from the human heart that had undergone severe stress as if the owner had been severely beaten about the chest. This says to us what we receive every day at Mass. The Eucharist offered to us every day at Mass is the sacrificial Body of Christ that underwent severe pain out of love for sinful humanity. ‘“The sacrificial character of the Eucharist is manifested in the very words of institution: “This is my body which is given for you” and “This cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my blood.” In the Eucharist Christ gives us the very body which he gave up for us on the cross, the very blood which he “poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins”’ (CCC 1365).

What we receive in the Eucharist therefore is the life of Christ offered that we may have life. It is Christ giving us his own life whole and entire that we may live. So when we receive Christ in the Eucharist, we are called also to offer our lives as sacrifices to better the lives of others through selfless service. Offering our lives in service to others is a sacrifice in view of the fact that it will have to cost us something. Because any service offered without the pain of losing something valuable to the benefit of the one who is served is really not a sacrifice.   

The Eucharist draws us to Christ and to one another which is why it is also called Holy Communion. As St Paul recounted; the cup of blessing that we share and the bread that we break are all a participation in the Blood and Body of Christ. The Eucharist therefore unites us in Christ and makes us one in him because we all share in the one Body of Christ. What this implies is that we all have become one family in Christ such that the joy and pain of any member of the church becomes the joy and pain of all. If we have not reached this point in our lives, then we have not allowed Christ that we receive in the Eucharist to transform us.

The Eucharist is the food from heaven. Jesus himself said that he is the living bread that came down from heaven; and that whoever eats this bread will live forever. Heaven is the home for the saints; so those who qualify to eat this heavenly food are only those in the state of grace. These are the people that Jesus promises eternal life. But to those who receive it unworthily, receives condemnation upon themselves. (1Cor 11:27, 29).  

As we gather every day at Mass to participate in the Eucharistic meal, we need to understand the mystery we celebrate and receive. Over familiarity should not lead to the contempt of the Eucharist. This is why the church dedicates this day to reflect and deepen our faith in the mystery we celebrate and receive so that our reverence for the Holy Eucharist may not wilt. Soon, we shall proceed to the second part of this Mass which is the highest point of the Mass and the mystery we celebrate today. May the Holy Spirit lead and deepen our faith in this mystery so that we may receive the blessings it promises. Amen.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY

Lord Jesus Christ, deepen our faith in the sacrament of your Body and Blood. Amen.