It began as an ordinary conversation at a Sunday afternoon parish social function.
I was chatting with one of the ladies who had arranged the festivities, and the subject came around to Mass that morning. “Oh, we didn’t go;” she quipped, “we felt like having a lazy morning, so we slept in.”
I was taken aback by her casual admission.
Since she and her husband were very active in the parish, surely they knew that deliberately missing Sunday Mass was a mortal sin.
I shamefully admit I was too dumbfounded to say anything. Instead, the conversation took another turn and ended shortly thereafter.
A couple of weeks later, I happened to visit one of the religious sisters whose community was situated within our parish.
I mentioned the incident, hoping perhaps she might be able to give me some suggestions on how to handle such a situation tactfully.
However, she seemed unperturbed, remarking airily, “Oh well, perhaps they found some other way of Being Eucharist that day.”
I wanted to retort, “What in blazes is that supposed to mean?”But perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised.
I had encountered similar theology at a youth retreat, during a talk given by a sister who belonged to the same order. It was all part of “claiming” our faith.
We were enjoined to move beyond merely ‘receiving’ the sacraments, and instead learn to “Be Sacrament.”
Just how we were to accomplish this was never explained, but it was important to feel truly sincere, especially about our own positive attributes.
I encountered a similar sentiment while reading a short commentary on Corpus Christi Sunday in the Novalis missal (Canadian publication).
It began, “today’s readings invite us to develop a mature faith in the flesh and blood presence of Christ.” (Funny how “mature” often ends up as a euphemism for ‘heterodox’.)
However, the author did not discuss the theology of the Real Presence. Rather, he wrote, “It is we who are called to be the flesh and blood presence of Christ to our children, our friends, our enemies, our world. For we are the body and blood of Christ.”
True, of course, but only to a point, and only under certain conditions.
Unfortunately, those conditions weren’t even hinted at. Wishful thinking does not an evangeliser make.
Just what does it take to “Be Sacrament”? How exactly do we “become” the Body and Blood of Christ? First of all, we need to know what the Church teaches regarding the Eucharist. We must believe it, live it, and proclaim it.
Quoting Sacrosanctum Concilium, The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life.”
The CCC continues: “The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the Blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself…”
The next step, and undoubtedly most difficult, is putting that faith into practice.
And that includes (among other things) participating in Holy Mass on Sunday, even when you don’t feel like it.
The Eucharist is not just a “family meal,” as some children’s catechism books claim.
It commemorates Jesus’ sacrifice on Calvary, and represents the offering of our own lives to the Lord.
It is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ, the spiritual food without which our souls will die.
The Mass is the Church’s greatest prayer, for which there is no substitute.
Lounging in your bathrobe and watching cartoons with the kids, no matter how lovingly undertaken, will not substitute.
Nor will praying in the car on the way to your son’s hockey tournament, or taking your wife out for a really nice breakfast, nor even, I’m sorry to say, attending the Sunday service at your non-Catholic in-laws’ church.
My story does not end happily, for our friends eventually left the Catholic Church, opting for an evangelical community with more exciting social activities and Sunday service at a later (more sleep-in-friendly) time slot.
I’d like to blame the couple’s ignorance, poor catechesis, an inadequate RCIA program, lacklustre homilies – anything at all.
But one possibility can’t be overlooked: with my supposedly more mature faith and superior knowledge, I was not “Being Eucharist” to these people. Mea maxima culpa.