The Sacrament of Matrimony

We conclude our series tonight on the seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church, as we discuss the final Sacrament, the beautiful Sacrament of Matrimony.  It, along with Holy Orders, constitute the two Sacraments of Service, or Sacraments at the Service of Communion.   As we stated last time, one receives these two Sacraments not directly for his or her own good (although it can and should still wind up being beneficial for the recipient), but rather, for the good of a greater community.

First off, I have written a few previous posts on marriage, and the links to them are below.  These posts were more about the state of marriage in the world today, not specifically on marriage as a Sacrament, which this post will be about.

http://jimscatholicblog.blogspot.com/2015/07/marriage.html

http://jimscatholicblog.blogspot.com/2015/09/marriage-revisited.html

The Bible, overall, one could say, is the story of God’s passionate love for us, which is reflected in the love between husband and wife.  In the beginning of the Bible, we see the creation of man and woman.  Then, almost at the end, in one of the last chapters of the last book of the Bible (Revelation), we hear about the “marriage feast of the Lamb”, what the apostle John sees being celebrated in his vision of heaven. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready (Revelation 19:7) This “marriage” is typically interpreted as the marriage between Christ and His Church, which we have alluded to a few times recently, in the last post on Holy Orders, and in the recent post entitled “The Bride of Christ”.    And of course, throughout Sacred Scripture, there are numerous other accounts of, and lessons on, nuptial love.

The Church indeed teaches that the sacrament of Matrimony signifies the union of Christ and the Church. (Catechism, p.1661).  “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her," adding at once: "'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one. This is a great mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ and the Church." (Ephesians 5:25-26, 31-32)

However, before marriage was raised to the dignity of a Sacrament by Christ, it was already in existence in the natural order.  Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” (Genesis 2:18)   We read in the Catechism (p.1603) "The intimate community of life and love which constitutes the married state has been established by the Creator and endowed by him with its own proper laws. . . . God himself is the author of marriage.”  The vocation to marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came from the hand of the Creator. Marriage is not a purely human institution despite the many variations it may have undergone through the centuries in different cultures, social structures, and spiritual attitudes. These differences should not cause us to forget its common and permanent characteristics. Although the dignity of this institution is not transparent everywhere with the same clarity, some sense of the greatness of the matrimonial union exists in all cultures. "The well-being of the individual person and of both human and Christian society is closely bound up with the healthy state of conjugal and family life.” 

It is saying that there are truths about marriage in the natural order, ordered by God.  No man is free to redefine marriage however he wants.  Marriage is something written in the human heart by his creator, God.    Marriage is an image of the love God has for us.  Through marriage, we participate in the act of creation, and master creation 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it. (Genesis 1:28).  Marriage is a good.  Any problems with marriage throughout the course of history, up to today are a result of sin, not because of the state of marriage itself. 

In the Sacrament of Matrimony, however, God takes this natural good and raises it to an even higher level.  Our Lord’s first miracle was at a wedding feast, when he turned water into wine at Cana (John 2:1-11).  We read in the Catechism (p.1613) The Church attaches great importance to Jesus' presence at the wedding at Cana. She sees in it the confirmation of the goodness of marriage and the proclamation that thenceforth marriage will be an efficacious sign of Christ's presence.    Jesus takes marriage from just being a natural good to being something supernatural.   Henceforth, marriage will not just be an image of God’s love as it was before, but rather, it will be, as the Catechism says, an efficacious sign of grace.  This means it actually communicates grace, and through that, actualizes God, not just images him (good as that is), an important distinction.

Christ desires marriage to be a sign of His love for his Bride, the Church, a love that is total, unending, faithful, and bears fruit.    This is why the Church teaches what she does about marriage: that it is forever, that it is exclusive, and that it needs to be open to life.   Marriage is indeed not easy.  Our Lord definitely suffered for the Church, and the Church suffers for him.  The graces are available, however, to overcome these challenges.  What kind of grace does the Sacrament of Matrimony convey?   The Catechism (p.1662) states: It gives spouses the grace to love each other with the love with which Christ has loved his Church; the grace of the sacrament thus perfects the human love of the spouses, strengthens their indissoluble unity, and sanctifies them on the way to eternal life.   Who is the source of this grace?  We read in paragraph 1642: Christ is the source of this grace….Christ dwells with them, gives them the strength to take up their crosses and so follow him, to rise again after they have fallen, to forgive one another, to bear one another's burdens, to "be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ,"¹and to love one another with supernatural, tender, and fruitful love. In the joys of their love and family life he gives them here on earth a foretaste of the wedding feast of the Lamb.”   

The Sacrament draws the husband and wife into heaven!   It gives them a taste of what it is like, and will be like, in heaven, where the wedding feast will never end.  So beyond just giving them the grace to overcome the challenges of trying to live marriage in a fallen human world, it gives them so much more!  Anyone getting married today should want to receive these great graces for themselves and their partner! As long as you are have received the Sacrament of Baptism, you can, although it is recommended that in addition to Baptism, that the other Sacraments of Initiation, as well as Penance, be received prior to Matrimony.

It is normative for a Catholic wedding to take place in the context of Holy Mass since the Eucharist is the re-presenting of the ratification (the Paschal Mystery) of the new covenant by which Christ committed himself to the Church, which Matrimony points to.   Even if it is not celebrated at Mass, it is celebrated as a liturgy, a public work of the Church, for all the reasons we have stated. Witnesses are asked to be present, for certainty on the part of the Church and the couple that the Sacrament did indeed happen.  The husband and wife confer this Sacrament on each other; the presider is merely a witness.  The specific moment when the Sacrament is conferred is when they give their consent (“I take you to be my husband/my wife”),  but then this consent must be consummated by the man and woman coming together so that they are truly “one flesh”, or else it is invalid.  

So, let’s seek out this wonderful Sacrament!   If you are married, but have not had your marriage blessed, look into it.   If you are thinking of getting married, think about this aspect of marriage, and be sure to incorporate all these realities into your preparation for it, and get ready to be uplifted to heaven by the graces of the Sacrament of Matrimony.

I thank you for joining me for this series on the seven Sacraments.  A lot more can be said about each one, these posts have just scratched the surface.   The Sacraments, like everything else, are great gifts, but also great mysteries.  We can never stop pondering them in their riches.   Thank God everyday for the gift of each of these seven Sacraments, and let’s ensure our spiritual lives are nourished regularly by frequenting the ones we can and should receive often (Eucharist and Penance).  May we also regularly ask the Holy Spirit to renew the graces that we have received in the Sacraments we can receive only once (Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Orders, and Matrimony).    Finally, when we do become seriously ill, or in possible danger of death, let’s seek out the Anointing of the Sick.  

Learning to love the Sacraments will only deepen your love of God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.   They will make you thirst and desire heaven more and more  each day, and keep you from going in the other direction.  Above all, devout reception of them, alongside cooperation with the respected graces imparted, can and will make us saints.

The Sacrament of Holy Orders

So far in this series on the seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church, we have covered the three Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist), and the two Sacraments of Healing (Penance, and Anointing of the Sick).  Now, we will cover the Sacraments of Service, of which there are two, Holy Orders and Matrimony.  Tonight, we will cover Holy Orders.

The three Sacraments of Initiation, and the two Sacraments of Healing, are directed towards the salvation of the person who receives the Sacrament.   The two Sacraments of Service, however, are directed towards the salvation of others.   (They can help the person who receives them on the path to personal salvation, but only through the service of others.)

Why is this Sacrament called “Holy Orders”?   The word “order” in Roman times designated a governing body.    The word “ordination” means incorporation into an order.

The ordained ministry has its origins in the Old Testament. One of the 12 tribes of Israel, the Levite tribe, was set aside for liturgical functions.    They offered gifts and sacrifices to God on behalf of the people in atonement for sins.    Christ, in turn, set 12 men apart to be apostles, giving them power he did not give to everyone (i.e. to forgive sins, to confect the Eucharist).  So, there is plenty of evidence throughout the course of Divine Revelation that God willed certain men be “set apart” or “consecrated” for a special mission.

What is this mission, what distinguishes it from the common mission of all the baptized?   The Catechism explains it well in paragraph 1547:   The ministerial or hierarchical priesthood of bishops and priests, and the common priesthood of all the faithful participate, "each in its own proper way, in the one priesthood of Christ." While being "ordered one to another," they differ essentially.   In what sense? While the common priesthood of the faithful is exercised by the unfolding of baptismal grace --a life of faith, hope, and charity, a life according to the Spirit--, the ministerial priesthood is at the service of the common priesthood. It is directed at the unfolding of the baptismal grace of all Christians. The ministerial priesthood is a means by which Christ unceasingly builds up and leads his Church. For this reason it is transmitted by its own sacrament, the sacrament of Holy Orders.

Lay people exercise what is known as the common priesthood of the Baptized through the unfolding of their Baptismal grace, in sacrificial acts of faith, hope, and love.  The ordained ministerial priesthood, on the other hand, is at the service of the common priesthood.   Since it is a separate mission from the normal mission of the lay Catholic, it is fitting it have its own Sacrament to confer this mission, and that is the Sacrament of Holy Orders.

We must keep in mind that there is only one priest, Jesus Christ. He alone is the Savior of the world, and it his sacrifice, that brings salvation, not the sacrifice of Father Joe or Father Tom.  However, the one priesthood of Jesus Christ is made present through Father Joe and Father Tom.

So, the ordained priesthood is at the service of the common priesthood.   What else distinguishes the ministerial priesthood from that of the lay priesthood?  There are two other things.

1)      Only in in the ministerial priesthood is “Christ himself who is present to his Church as Head of his Body, Shepherd of his flock, high priest of the redemptive sacrifice, Teacher of Truth. This is what the Church means by saying that the priest, by virtue of the sacrament of Holy Orders, acts in persona Christi Capitis.”  (Catechism, paragraph 1548).  Lay people do not make present this particular aspect of the reality of Christ.

2)      Only in the ministerial priesthood is someone empowered to “act in the name of the whole Church when presenting to God the prayer of the Church, and above all when offering the Eucharistic sacrifice.”  (Catechism, paragraph 1552).  A priest is not just “another Christ."  He also, when celebrating the liturgy, acts in the name of the whole Church, something a layman cannot do.   (Now, people may think of the whole Church based on our words and deeds, so it is important we act in virtuous way, but in no official, efficacious way can we act on behalf of the whole Church.  Only those ordained can do that.)

Because only they are configured to Christ as head of the Church, and only they have the authority to act in the name of the whole Church, only those in Holy Orders have the authority to teach, lead worship, and govern in the Church.   With today’s shortages of priests, it seems sometimes lay people are doing some of this, but in reality, they are only relaying the teaching and the authority of those in Holy Orders, they are not teaching or governing proper themselves in the name of Christ and His Church.

There are three degrees of participation in the Sacrament of Holy Orders.

1)      Bishops receive the fullness of the Sacrament, and in receiving such, become successors to the apostles, and share responsibility, as heads of particular churches, with the Holy Father in the governing of the entire Universal church.   They, together, exercise full and final authority to teach, govern, and sanctify the faithful.   This order is called the episcopacy.

2)      Priests share in the Bishops ministry, but seeing their ministry is totally dependent on that of the Bishop, it is not quite the fullness of the Sacrament.    They represent the Bishop in the different parishes of that Bishop’s particular church.   This order is called the presbyterate.

3)      Deacons do not share in the ministerial priesthood, like Bishops and priests do.  They cannot offer sacrifice in persona Christi as do Bishops and priests.  However, they are ordained for service to the Church in other ways, and therefore, still receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders.  This order is called the diaconate.

This Sacrament is celebrated by the entire local Church, at a Cathedral, since one being ordained is usually ordained for service for a specific local Church.  The moment of grace in the Eucharistic liturgy where this Sacrament is actually conferred is the laying on of hands, followed before and/or after by a specific consecratory prayer by the Bishop.   This follows tradition that started with the first apostles, who realizing they were not going to be around forever, began the laying on of hands as a way to impart what they received from Christ so that the Church could continue. "I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands" (2 Tim 1:6),

Only a baptized male can receive this Sacrament since, in the words of the Catechism “The Lord Jesus chose men (viri) to form the college of the twelve apostles, and the apostles did the same when they chose collaborators to succeed them in their ministry.  The college of bishops, with whom the priests are united in the priesthood, makes the college of the twelve an ever-present and ever-active reality until Christ's return. The Church recognizes herself to be bound by this choice made by the Lord himself. For this reason the ordination of women is not possible (p.  1577). This has been, and will forever be the case. 

The effect of this Sacrament is two-fold a) an indelible character, and b) a special grace of the Holy Spirit , both of which serve to configure a man to Christ as Head of the Church, which involves sanctifying through the Sacraments, teaching through his homilies and other liturgical moments, and pastoring, or governing, his flock.

It is an awesome privilege and grace to be a priest.  While one may feel a call inside to pursue the priesthood, the ultimate grace that is the Sacrament of Holy Orders come from the outside (which is the case with all the Sacraments)   Listen to these beautiful words from the Catechism:   No one has a right to receive the sacrament of Holy Orders. Indeed no one claims this office for himself; he is called to it by God.  Anyone who thinks he recognizes the signs of God's call to the ordained ministry must humbly submit his desire to the authority of the Church, who has the responsibility and right to call someone to receive orders. Like every grace this sacrament can be received only as an unmerited gift. (p.1578)

The priesthood is not about the worthiness of the man receiving it.  He is not better or more holy than anyone else.   He can go to heaven or hell like anyone else.   But through this Sacrament, a man goes to a place with Our Lord, to a kinship with Christ, which perhaps is surpassed only by the Saintliest of Saints.  He first goes to seminary, which is meant to be a time of learning and growing to know and love the Lord,  in the spirit of the three years the Lord had journeying with His disciples.  In those early formation days, and then throughout his priesthood, he goes to the Upper Room with the disciples.  He goes to the foot of the Cross with the beloved John, and then is present with the disciples when he appears after His Resurrection.    He gives his whole life to the Church, for the sake of the Lord whom he loves.    He, like Our Lord, pours out his soul for His Bride, the Church.   He “weds” himself to the Church, so to speak, like Jesus did.

Perhaps this is why in the Latin Church, only celibate men can enter the ministerial priesthood, while married men can be deacons.   (In the Eastern Church, married men can be priests, too, but they must pledge to not enter into marriage again. )   The celibacy requirement is something that could be changed (evidence is strong some of the early Bishops were married)    The values of celibacy is probably a topic for a separate post, but I think you get a taste here why it is appropriate for priests to not be married to someone, for being in persona Christi, they are "married" truly, in a deep, mystical way, to the Church, like Our Lord.

The Sacrament of Holy Orders is beautiful.  It is unique.  It confers a special, special grace.   Because it is so unique, is not for everyone, and we do not see it celebrated often,  these are all probably reasons why of all the Sacraments, we may think we encounter this one the least in our daily lives as Catholics. But every time we go to Mass, and the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ, we see it.   Every time we get our sins forgiven in the Sacrament of Penance, we see it.  Every time we hear a homily or read an encyclical or a pastoral letter, we see it.  Every time we are given direction or permission to do something in the Church, we see it.   Without the grace of the Sacrament of Holy Orders, none of this happens.   Praise God for this great grace!   Let more men be given the desire to receive this Sacrament, and come forward and humbly place that desire at the governing office of the Church, who will discern the authenticity of the call, and act appropriately. 

Joseph, protector of Holy Church, pray for us.

The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation

We continue our series tonight on the seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church.   We have done four so far, in order; the Anointing of the Sick, Confirmation, Baptism, and the Holy Eucharist.  Tonight, we will do the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, which like the Anointing of the Sick, is what is known as a Sacrament of Healing.

First off, you may recall, I have done a few posts already on this Sacrament.   You may wish to re-read one or more of them after you read this post.  Here are the links to them:

https://jimscatholicblog.blogspot.com/2015/08/confession.html  (which includes a discussion of the availability of Confession at Saint Joseph the Worker Shrine)

https://jimscatholicblog.blogspot.com/2017/04/preparing-for-confession.ht

https://jimscatholicblog.blogspot.com/2017/04/making-good-confession.html

The Catechism does a good job linking the Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist) to the Sacraments of Healing:

1420 Through the sacraments of Christian initiation, man receives the new life of Christ. Now we carry this life "in earthen vessels," and it remains "hidden with Christ in God." We are still in our "earthly tent," subject to suffering, illness, and death. This new life as a child of God can be weakened and even lost by sin.

1421 The Lord Jesus Christ, physician of our souls and bodies, who forgave the sins of the paralytic and restored him to bodily health, has willed that his Church continue, in the power of the Holy Spirit, his work of healing and salvation, even among her own members. This is the purpose of the two sacraments of healing: the sacrament of Penance and the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick.

You may have noticed I referred to this Sacrament by a different name (Confession) in my previous blog posts on this topic.  Indeed, there are different titles for this great Sacrament.   Again, it is wise to let the Catechism speak for itself here in paragraph 1423:

It is called the sacrament of conversion because it makes sacramentally present Jesus' call to conversion, the first step in returning to the Father⁵ from whom one has strayed by sin.

It is called the sacrament of Penance, since it consecrates the Christian sinner's personal and ecclesial steps of conversion, penance, and satisfaction.

It is called the sacrament of confession, since the disclosure or confession of sins to a priest is an essential element of this sacrament. In a profound sense it is also a "confession" - acknowledgment and praise - of the holiness of God and of his mercy toward sinful man.

It is called the sacrament of forgiveness, since by the priest's sacramental absolution God grants the penitent "pardon and peace."

It is called the sacrament of Reconciliation, because it imparts to the sinner the love of God who reconciles: "Be reconciled to God."⁷He who lives by God's merciful love is ready to respond to the Lord's call: "Go; first be reconciled to your brother."

The fact that this Sacrament can be called different things reveals that a lot goes on in the Sacrament, and it is very rich, indeed.

Since I have spoken about this Sacrament already, I will make just a few points here, and then close.

1)      We do receive forgiveness of sins at Baptism, yes, but the effects of original sin remain, our concupiscence, or inclination to sin, remains, and we have to continue to fight against that, even after Baptism.  This Sacrament provides the grace to do that.  We need grace to overcome the power of sin.

2)      If we commit serious sin after Baptism, then we fall out of a state of grace, and receiving the Sacrament is then necessary to get back into a state of grace.  If one dies without being in a state of grace, one goes to hell.   When you think about it, this is all that matters in the end, dying in a state of grace.   We need this Sacrament as much as we need sun, food, and water.

3)      The Sacrament is also strongly recommended even when we have not seriously sinned, but only venially sinned.   (See my blog post on the difference between mortal and venial sin for more on this topic.  I think we commit mortal sin more than we think! https://jimscatholicblog.blogspot.com/2016/05/mortal-and-venial-sin.html 

4)   Some object to having to confess their sins to a fellow human being, that they should only have to confess their sins to God.  Well, we can say in response that we do confess our sins to God when we confess them to the priest, and they are forgiven by God through the actions of the priest.  We can also say that Jesus gave some people (his apostles ) the authority to forgive sins.   Jesus is God, so that means God gave some people the authority to forgive sins.  Recall this beautiful scene  from the Gospel of John which took place after the Resurrection:  “When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’   After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.  Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’  When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” (John 20:19-23)  It is God’s will that his mercy flow through the Church to the world through the ministry of his Bishops, the successors of these first apostles, who in turn have their ministry shared by their priests in their respective Dioceses (more on this when we discuss the Sacrament of Holy Orders.)

5)    Does this mean God cannot forgive sins in other ways?  No.  As it is said, God has bound himself, to the Sacraments, but God himself is not bound to the Sacraments.  It is possible he can forgive outside this Sacrament.  God is all powerful.   However, what we have spoken of tonight is the only way he has revealed that he forgives sins.  Furthermore, we know for sure, because of what Our Lord said above, that when we confess our sins to a priest and are truly sorry for them, we are guaranteed to be forgiven.   When we, on the other hand, ask God for forgiveness outside the Sacrament, how can we be sure he forgives?  Do we have special insight into the mind of God?  Do we know for sure our sins are forgiven?  No, I would not want to take my chances by going down another route for forgiveness of my sins besides the one he has revealed, the path he has made known, with a guarantee of forgiveness.  I urge none of you to take your chances, either.   Go to this Sacrament before it is too late!

In closing, I will again turn to the Catechism (p. 1496) for a summary of the effects of this Sacrament.

The spiritual effects of the sacrament of Penance are:
- reconciliation with God by which the penitent recovers grace;
- reconciliation with the Church;
- remission of the eternal punishment incurred by mortal sins;
- remission, at least in part, of temporal punishments resulting from sin;
- peace and serenity of conscience, and spiritual consolation;
- an increase of spiritual strength for the Christian battle.

Peace.  We hear it in those words we just read from the Catechism, and we heard it from the Lord in the passage we quoted earlier.   That is what this Sacrament gives.   It gives us peace.   It gives peace of body, peace of mind, and peace of soul.   It can truly give peace to the world if more of us would avail ourselves regularly of this great treasure of the Church.

Joseph, lover of poverty, pray for us.

 

The Sacrament of the Eucharist

We continue today our series on the seven Sacraments of the Church.  Last night, we discussed the Sacrament of Baptism.  We have now discussed two of the three what are called “Sacraments of Initiation”; Baptism, and Confirmation.  This morning, we will begin our discussion of the third, the Sacrament of the Eucharist.  After today, we will have discussed four of the seven Sacraments overall.

The “Sacraments on Initiation” are called that because they lay the foundation of the Catholic Christian life.   The life begins at our “rebirth” in our Baptism, it is then fortified and strengthened in Confirmation, and in the Eucharist, we receive the food that sustains this life.   The Eucharist, however, goes beyond just being the third Sacrament of Initiation.  It is also not just one of the seven.   It is more.  It is the “source and summit of Christian life”, all the other Sacraments are oriented towards it, and finally, it contains all the spiritual good of the Church.

Let’s take each of those remarkable statements one by one.  How is it the source and summit of Christian life?  It is the source because it makes present the Paschal Mystery.   Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday are all re-presented at Mass.   Nowhere else in the world, or even in the Church, is this done.   Other Sacraments give grace (and so does this one) but no other Sacrament makes present the Paschal Mystery.  This Paschal Mystery is what gives life to all the other Sacraments, and to all the other graces of the Christian life.   So that is how we can say it is the source.   It is the summit because our lives are geared towards the end that it presents: the banquet of the Lord, heaven, which will never end, where we will feast on all good things for all eternity.

How can we say all the other Sacraments are oriented towards it?   Well, the divine life begun at Baptism, and strengthened at Confirmation, lead us to desire to participate in the Paschal Mystery,  eat and drink of the Body and Blood of Christ, and to sit down at the banquet of heaven.  We do all at Mass.   When we sin, we cannot receive the Eucharist, and so Penance, which forgives sin, allows us to receive this great gift.   Holy Orders (which we will discuss in an upcoming post in this series) is conferred upon men who will confect the Eucharist.   In Matrimony, the husband and wife reflect the nuptial love of Christ and His Church, which is demonstrated by the Body and Blood he shed for her, the Eucharist.   Finally, Communion as Viaticum is often given after the Anointing of the Sick as “food for the journey” to the next life.   One prepares for the journey by receiving the Anointing of the Sick; the Eucharist serves as the food for that journey.

Finally, how does the Eucharist contain all the spiritual good of the Church?  This is the most simple.  It alone contains the fullest presence of Christ Himself; the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Our Lord.

So the Eucharist is not just another Sacrament.  It is not just a beginning, like Baptism.  It is not just a strengthening, like Confirmation.  It is not just a healing, like Penance and Anointing of the Sick.  It is not just something that can inspire us to service, like Matrimony and Holy Orders.  It can do all these things, and more.  In it, we find not just strength for the journey, not just something which leads us to serve others, not just healing for venial sins, but we find the end of all things we strive for.  We find the person of Jesus Christ.  We participate in his Paschal Mystery.  We find heaven!  And because we find all these things, we come back over and over again to this Sacrament more than any other, and rightly so.

Our Lord, at the Last Supper, said “Do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19)  This goes beyond just remembering him.  We are commanded to do something in his memory, and that is, make his sacrifice present.   It is not simply remembering him; it is doing something in his memory, a very important distinction.   How do we carry out this command?  The Catechism explains in paragraphs 1357 and 1358, and in doing so, tells us three ways we need to say the Eucharist is.

We carry out this command of the Lord by celebrating the memorial of his sacrifice. In so doing, we offer to the Father what he has himself given us: the gifts of his creation, bread and wine which, by the power of the Holy Spirit and by the words of Christ, have become the body and blood of Christ. Christ is thus really and mysteriously made present.

We must therefore consider the Eucharist as:

- thanksgiving and praise to the Father;
- the sacrificial memorial of Christ and his Body;
- the presence of Christ by the power of his word and of his Spirit.

The Eucharist is thanksgiving and praise to the Father because it is the offering of the perfect sacrifice to the Father on behalf of all humanity, his own Son.  The word “Eucharist” actually means “thanksgiving”.

 It is the sacrificial memorial of Christ and his Body because it not just remembers, but it makes present the Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, and applies the fruits of it to today.  The Catechism has some beautiful quotes on this aspect of the Eucharist.  Paragraphs 1365-1367 are worth quoting in their entirety:

Because it is the memorial of Christ's Passover, the Eucharist is also a sacrifice. 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."

The Eucharist is thus a sacrifice because it re-presents (makes present) the sacrifice of the cross, because it is its memorial and because it applies its fruit:

[Christ], our Lord and God, was once and for all to offer himself to God the Father by his death on the altar of the cross, to accomplish there an everlasting redemption. But because his priesthood was not to end with his death, at the Last Supper "on the night when he was betrayed," [he wanted] to leave to his beloved spouse the Church a visible sacrifice (as the nature of man demands) by which the bloody sacrifice which he was to accomplish once for all on the cross would be re-presented, its memory perpetuated until the end of the world, and its salutary power be applied to the forgiveness of the sins we daily commit.

The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice: "The victim is one and the same: the same now offers through the ministry of priests, who then offered himself on the cross; only the manner of offering is different." "And since in this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner. . . this sacrifice is truly propitiatory."

These are some truly some high, exalted words on what happens at Mass!

Finally, we say that the Eucharist is the presence of Christ by the power of his word and of his Spirit.   This refers to the true, real, and substantial presence of Christ in the Eucharist after the words of consecration.  Again here, we will quote paragraphs from the Catechism in their entirety because the words are so beautiful:

The mode of Christ's presence under the Eucharistic species is unique. It raises the Eucharist above all the sacraments as "the perfection of the spiritual life and the end to which all the sacraments tend." In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist "the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained." "This presence is called 'real' - by which is not intended to exclude the other types of presence as if they could not be 'real' too, but because it is presence in the fullest sense: that is to say, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present.”

It is by the conversion of the bread and wine into Christ's body and blood that Christ becomes present in this sacrament. The Church Fathers strongly affirmed the faith of the Church in the efficacy of the Word of Christ and of the action of the Holy Spirit to bring about this conversion. Thus St. John Chrysostom declares:

It is not man that causes the things offered to become the Body and Blood of Christ, but he who was crucified for us, Christ himself. The priest, in the role of Christ, pronounces these words, but their power and grace are God's. This is my body, he says. This word transforms the things offered.

And St. Ambrose says about this conversion:

Be convinced that this is not what nature has formed, but what the blessing has consecrated. The power of the blessing prevails over that of nature, because by the blessing nature itself is changed. . . . Could not Christ's word, which can make from nothing what did not exist, change existing things into what they were not before? It is no less a feat to give things their original nature than to change their nature.

The Council of Trent summarizes the Catholic faith by declaring: "Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy Council now declares again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation."

The Eucharistic presence of Christ begins at the moment of the consecration and endures as long as the Eucharistic species subsist. Christ is present whole and entire in each of the species and whole and entire in each of their parts, in such a way that the breaking of the bread does not divide Christ.

When we eat this Body and Blood of the Lord, we join in the heavenly banquet.   This is why we can say the Eucharist is “heaven on Earth”. 

So the Eucharist is thanksgiving, praise, sacrifice, and presence.

Now, you may think of other words besides the Eucharist when it comes to this Sacrament.  Indeed, there are several other words that can refer to it.   The Lord’s Supper is one, because the Paschal Mystery is made present through a remembering of the Last Supper.   The Holy Sacrifice is another, because it, as we have said, makes present the One Sacrifice of Christ for our salvation.   Holy Communion is another, because we share in the Body and Blood of Christ, and become one body with him.  Finally, there is the one many of us are familiar with, Mass.   This refers to the mission (which means “sending forth”) that occurs at the end of every celebration, as those who participate in the Sacrifice and receive His Body and Blood are equipped to go out into the world, and proclaim and live this mystery in their own lives, and fulfill God’s will in imitation of Christ who laid down his life for us, giving His Body and His Blood.

Wow, there is a lot here, and there is a lot more that can be said, but even more, I think, that remains in mystery.  The fact that there are different aspects to this, different words used to refer to this Sacrament, and the fact that this remains something unique and above all the other Sacraments leads one to conclude that this is the most special of them all.  And, as Our Lord reminds us, it is not just “nice to have”, but it is necessary for salvation : “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." (John 6:53)

I did a blog post on Holy Communion last year in which I spoke about the specific fruits of Holy Communion, and the necessity to receive it.   The link to it is just below, and it might be good to reread this after having read this to get a more complete picture on this beautiful Sacrament of Sacraments.

https://jimscatholicblog.blogspot.com/2016/05/holy-communion.html

If any of us have stopped going to Mass weekly, and receiving the Eucharist, then please, come back and do so.  Please keep in mind the Eucharist is for those in a state of grace, it is not geared towards the forgiveness of serious sins.  Therefore, if you have not been to church for some time, you will need to go to Confession first before receiving Communion.  If you have not been baptized, you will need to receive that Sacrament first.  However, one is always welcome to come to Mass and at least see the Sacrament being celebrated, even if you are unable to receive Communion just yet.    I would love to see everyone I love in church this weekend!

We have now completed four of the seven Sacraments.  Three remain: one, a Sacrament of Healing (like the Anointing of the Sick is), and two Sacraments of Service.  Do you know what they are? I look forward to discussing them with you at some point.

Joseph, protector of Holy Church, pray for us.