WE usually associate miracles with very rare
and out-of-the
ordinary cures or some uncommon phenomenal happenings in the
environment. They invariably elicit amazement, awe and other strong
emotions.
But there’s actually a miracle that happens every day and,
in fact, many times during the day. And it happens all over the world.
To top it all, compared with the other miracles, this one, in fact, is
infinitely far greater, with effects that can last forever and that
can lead us to our eternal life. All the other miracles are
subordinated to this one great miracle.
I am referring to the miracle of the Holy Eucharist when
with mere bread and wine, we ‘produce’ nothing less or no one less
than Jesus Christ himself. Not only that, with the Holy Eucharist, we
bring to the present the whole drama of Christ’s redemptive work that
ended with his passion, death and resurrection, and the merits he
derived from his Father for this sacrifice are abundantly showered on
us.
In other words, with the Holy Eucharist the whole reality of
who Christ is and what he does for us—that is to say, the whole
Christological and soteriological dimensions of Jesus—is made present
right under our very noses. Do you think there can be a more
impressive miracle than this?
And this miracle happens because Christ himself said so, and
it’s meant for all time. “This is my body…This is the chalice of my
blood…Do this in memory of me…” These words, spoken by one who is both
God and man and with the view of our redemption, can only be true no
matter how unbelievable they are if taken only with our senses,
instincts, and reasoning sans faith.
Let’s remember that Christ as God can only speak words that
have eternal value and effectiveness. They can never be words that can
become obsolete over time. When he said, “Do this in memory of me,” he
meant that what took place at a certain point of time will take place,
is made present, once what was commanded is carried out.
That’s why we need to enliven our faith if we want to feel
the whole impact of this tremendous miracle that happens to us every
time Mass is celebrated, or holy communion is received, or an
adoration and visit to the Blessed Sacrament is made.
If our faith is functional enough, we actually cannot help
but be overwhelmed by the reality of this miracle, discerning how much
God through Christ loves us to madness, how Christ makes himself
completely available to us even at the expense of doing away the
limitations of space, time and our other material and earthly
conditions just to be with us and to save us.
Of course, human as we are who want to understand mysteries,
we try to explain this phenomenon by coming out with the concept of
“transubstantiation.” It’s a concept that refers to the reality of how
each material being is composed—that is, that they are made of
substance (what the thing is) and accidents (qualities and other
properties that inhere in the substance, like color, taste, size,
etc.)
We actually do not see the substance. What we see are the
accidents, but from them we can discern the substance.
In transubstantiation, what happens is a substantial change
while the accidents remain the same. There are no changes in the
quality, size, taste, color, etc. When Christ said over the bread and
wine that “this is my body” and “this is the cup of my blood,” then
the bread and wine cease being bread and wine substantially, though
the accidents of bread and wine remain.
The substance of the bread and wine is now changed into the
body and blood of Christ, or Christ himself, the second person of the
Blessed Trinity who became man to save us, “born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried, and
on the third day, rose from the death.”
This tremendous event of the transubstantiation is what
happens in the consecration at the Holy Mass, when the priest,
conformed sacramentally to Christ, repeats the words of Christ and
carries out what Christ told the apostles to “do this in memory of
me.”
Again we can perceive this great miracle only if our faith
is alive and working. And if so, then that faith will lead us also to
correspond with that madness of love that God has for us by loving him
in return also with madness.
Oh, if we only realize what we have in the Holy Eucharist!
ordinary cures or some uncommon phenomenal happenings in the
environment. They invariably elicit amazement, awe and other strong
emotions.
But there’s actually a miracle that happens every day and,
in fact, many times during the day. And it happens all over the world.
To top it all, compared with the other miracles, this one, in fact, is
infinitely far greater, with effects that can last forever and that
can lead us to our eternal life. All the other miracles are
subordinated to this one great miracle.
I am referring to the miracle of the Holy Eucharist when
with mere bread and wine, we ‘produce’ nothing less or no one less
than Jesus Christ himself. Not only that, with the Holy Eucharist, we
bring to the present the whole drama of Christ’s redemptive work that
ended with his passion, death and resurrection, and the merits he
derived from his Father for this sacrifice are abundantly showered on
us.
In other words, with the Holy Eucharist the whole reality of
who Christ is and what he does for us—that is to say, the whole
Christological and soteriological dimensions of Jesus—is made present
right under our very noses. Do you think there can be a more
impressive miracle than this?
And this miracle happens because Christ himself said so, and
it’s meant for all time. “This is my body…This is the chalice of my
blood…Do this in memory of me…” These words, spoken by one who is both
God and man and with the view of our redemption, can only be true no
matter how unbelievable they are if taken only with our senses,
instincts, and reasoning sans faith.
Let’s remember that Christ as God can only speak words that
have eternal value and effectiveness. They can never be words that can
become obsolete over time. When he said, “Do this in memory of me,” he
meant that what took place at a certain point of time will take place,
is made present, once what was commanded is carried out.
That’s why we need to enliven our faith if we want to feel
the whole impact of this tremendous miracle that happens to us every
time Mass is celebrated, or holy communion is received, or an
adoration and visit to the Blessed Sacrament is made.
If our faith is functional enough, we actually cannot help
but be overwhelmed by the reality of this miracle, discerning how much
God through Christ loves us to madness, how Christ makes himself
completely available to us even at the expense of doing away the
limitations of space, time and our other material and earthly
conditions just to be with us and to save us.
Of course, human as we are who want to understand mysteries,
we try to explain this phenomenon by coming out with the concept of
“transubstantiation.” It’s a concept that refers to the reality of how
each material being is composed—that is, that they are made of
substance (what the thing is) and accidents (qualities and other
properties that inhere in the substance, like color, taste, size,
etc.)
We actually do not see the substance. What we see are the
accidents, but from them we can discern the substance.
In transubstantiation, what happens is a substantial change
while the accidents remain the same. There are no changes in the
quality, size, taste, color, etc. When Christ said over the bread and
wine that “this is my body” and “this is the cup of my blood,” then
the bread and wine cease being bread and wine substantially, though
the accidents of bread and wine remain.
The substance of the bread and wine is now changed into the
body and blood of Christ, or Christ himself, the second person of the
Blessed Trinity who became man to save us, “born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried, and
on the third day, rose from the death.”
This tremendous event of the transubstantiation is what
happens in the consecration at the Holy Mass, when the priest,
conformed sacramentally to Christ, repeats the words of Christ and
carries out what Christ told the apostles to “do this in memory of
me.”
Again we can perceive this great miracle only if our faith
is alive and working. And if so, then that faith will lead us also to
correspond with that madness of love that God has for us by loving him
in return also with madness.
Oh, if we only realize what we have in the Holy Eucharist!
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