(Address at Eucharistic Congress in the Basilica of the Immaculate
Conception in Washington, D.C., on 25th September, 2004)
The mystery of the Holy Eucharist has brought us together. Our faith
in sacramental celebration of the sacrifice which our beloved Saviour
Jesus Christ offered of himself and then enabled the Church to
continue till the end of time is manifesting itself in many ways in
these two days of grace. We all thank the Council of Major Superiors
of Women Religious in the United States of America for the excellent
arrangements they have made for this Eucharistic Congress.
In these two days of our faith celebration and manifestation we
celebrate the Eucharistic sacrifice; we are fed with the Body and
Blood of Christ, and we have ample opportunity to adore Jesus in the
Blessed Sacrament. Moreover, we have read and listened to Sacred
Scripture, picked up books on the Holy Eucharist, and reflected,
contemplated and prayed. We have praised God in the Liturgy of the
Hours. After the concluding Mass this evening, we are going to honour
our Eucharistic Lord in solemn procession.
Reflecting on the theme of this Eucharistic Congress, “Heaven unites
with Earth” we see the Holy Eucharist as the mystery of faith in which
Christ is the High Priest. This sacrifice and sacrament brings
creation together and offers it to God. The Apocalypse, or the Book of
Revelation, as it also known, presents a striking imagery of the
heavenly liturgy and helps us appreciate how the Eucharistic
celebration, as it were, looks heavenward. At the same time, the
Eucharist commits us to do our part to make this world a better place
in which to live. Indeed, the Eucharist unites heaven and earth and
calls for our active faith response. These will now form the points
for our reflection.
The Holy Eucharist is a great mystery of our faith. Around it are
centered many of the mysteries of redemption.
After original sin, God did not abandon humanity in its sad state. He
promised a Saviour. In the fullness of time the Eternal Father who is
rich in mercy sent his Only-begotten Son. For love of us and for our
salvation the Son of God took on human nature. He did the work of our
salvation by his entire life, but especially by the paschal mystery of
his suffering, death and resurrection.
The night before he freely gave his life for us in the sacrifice of
the Cross, Jesus at the Last Supper gave to the Church the wonderful
sacrifice and sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. He turned bread and
wine into his Body and Blood. He gave the Apostles power to do the
same: “Do this in remembrance of me” (Lk 22:19). And he gave them his
Body to eat and his Blood to drink. Thus, the Council of Trent
(1545-1563) teaches us, Jesus 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” (Council of Trent, DS 1740; cf also 1 Cor 11:23;
Heb 7:24, 27; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1366; Eccl.
De Euch., 11, 12).
As sacrament, the Holy Eucharist is the body and blood, together with
the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the
whole Christ who is truly, really and substantially present (cf
Council of Trent: DS 1651). We receive him in Holy Communion.
The Eucharistic celebration, this ritual sacramental celebration of
the paschal mystery of Christ, also called the sacrifice of the Mass,
is the supreme act of the public worship of the Church. It is “the
fount and apex of the whole Christian life” (Lumen Gentium,
10). It is an action that involves the whole Church on earth, in
heaven and in purgatory. And it has Jesus Christ as its Chief Priest
and Victim. Indeed, it is he who through the Eucharistic mystery links
earth to heaven, as the rest of this paper will strive to show.
If the Eucharist unites heaven and earth, it is mainly thanks to Jesus
Christ. “The word became flesh, he lived among us” (Jn 1:14). In the
incarnation, heaven comes down to earth. As the Church sings in the
first Christmas preface, “In the wonder of the incarnation your
eternal Word has brought to the eyes of faith a new and radiant vision
of your glory. In him we see our God made visible and so are caught up
in love of the God we cannot see” (Roman Missal).
On earth as the Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ lifts earth to heaven by
himself being the victim and the priest in his redemptive sacrifice.
He was already symbolized by the paschal lamb in the exodus (cf Exod
12:21-23). John the Baptist pointed him out: “Look, there is the lamb
of God that takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:28). Jesus himself
was later to declare that he was freely giving his life for us: “The
Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up
again. No one takes it from me” (Jn 10:17). The Apocalypse pays Christ
tribute: “Worthy is the Lamb that was sacrificed to receive power,
riches, wisdom, strength, honour, glory and blessing” (Rev 5:12).
In the Eucharistic sacrifice, Christ offers to his beloved bride, the
Church, the possibility to be associated with him in offering to the
Eternal Father a perfect sacrifice of adoration for the sins of
humanity and eloquent petition in the name of Christ. Since he has
taken our nature, Jesus associates us with himself in this august
mystery. In himself he summarizes, recapitulates and in a sense takes
with him all humanity in this supreme act of worship.
In the Eucharist as sacrament, Jesus gives us a pledge of eternal
life, a ticket for heaven. We have his own guarantee: “This is the
bread which comes down from heaven, so that a person may eat it and
not die. I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone
who eats this bread will live for ever, and the bread that I shall
give is my flesh for the life of the world” (Jn 6:50-51).
One dimension of the Holy Eucharist that should not escape our
attention is that Jesus associates with himself not only all humanity
but also all creation, and offers all to his Eternal Father in the
unity of the Holy Spirit.
The Son of God became man “to gather together into one the scattered
children of God” (Jn 11:52). By the paschal mystery of his passion,
death and resurrection he redeemed humanity.
But the work of redemption goes beyond human beings in its effects and
involves all creation. Original sin had turned many created things
against man. And man was not always honouring God with them, as he
should. The whole creation has been awaiting its own redemption,
“groaning in labour pains”, as St. Paul puts it (Rm 8:22). “The whole
creation is waiting with eagerness for the children of God to be
revealed” (Rm 8:19).
Pope John Paul II testifies that as he in his ministry as priest,
Bishop and Pope has celebrated the Holy Eucharist in chapels, parish
churches, basilicas, lakeshores, seacoasts, public squares and stadia,
he has experienced the Eucharist as always in some way celebrated on
the altar of the world. The Eucharist embraces and permeates all
creation. “The Son of God became man in order to restore all creation,
in one supreme act of praise, to the One who made it from nothing. He,
the Eternal High Priest who by the blood of his Cross entered the
eternal sanctuary, thus gives back to the Creator and Father all
creation redeemed” (Eccl. De Euch., 8).
St. Paul already told the Colossians that the Incarnate Word is the
first-born of all creation and that “God wanted all fullness to be
found in him, and through him to reconcile all things to him,
everything in heaven and everything on earth, by making peace through
his death on the cross” (Col 1:15, 19-20).
And the second Christmas preface says of Christ: “He has come to lift
up all things to himself, to restore unity to creation, and to lead
mankind from exile into your (the Father’s) heavenly kingdom” (Roman
Missal).
Christ entrusts the celebration of this Eucharistic sacrifice, with
its cosmic dimension, to his Church. At Mass therefore humanity,
associating with it all creation, offers the supreme act of adoration,
praise and thanksgiving, through Christ, with Christ and in Christ to
the Eternal Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit.
The Book of Revelation speaks in prophetic and apocalyptic language
with the Jerusalem temple worship as background. But it also speaks of
the Church beginning to spread in the world and presents Jesus Christ
as the Gospel Lamb, the King of the universe, the High Priest, the
Lord of history and the immaculate Victim on his throne.
In the Apocalypse, divine worship is praise of heaven begun on earth.
The cult images are powerful and clearly liturgical. Examples are
adoration of the immolated Lamb on his throne, hymns and canticles,
acclamations of the crowds of the elect dressed in white, descent of
the Church of heaven on earth, the Jerusalem of which the Lord Jesus
is the temple. And the people are a priestly and royal one. The
visions recall many cult elements: seven candlesticks, the long white
robe of the Son of Man, the white dress of the old men and of the
Saints, the altar, the Amen and the exultant Alleluia.
At the same time the Book of Revelation also describes the
exasperation of the fight between hell and the faithful of Christ,
between the Woman and her children and the Beast, the false prophet
who would do all in his power to seduce the inhabitants of the world.
The Eucharist is linked with this heavenly liturgy and, if well
celebrated and lived on earth, will inaugurate the reign of God and
dismiss the Devil and his angels.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church speaks of “the celebrants of the
heavenly liturgy”.
Christ crucified and risen is the Lamb “standing as though it had been
slain”. He is the one high priest of the true sanctuary. The river of
the water of life from the throne of God and of the Lamb is a symbol
of the Holy Spirit.
“Recapitulated in Christ”, these are the participants in the service
of the praise of God, in the heavenly liturgy: the heavenly powers,
all creation (the four living beings), the servants of the Old and New
Covenants (the twenty-four elders), the new People of God (the
144,000), especially the martyrs slain for the word of God, and the
all-holy Mother of God (the Woman), the Bride of the Lamb, and finally
a great multitude which no one could number, from every nation, from
all tribes, and peoples and tongues (cf CCC, 1137, 1138; Rev. passim).
“What you have come to is Mount Zion and the city of the living God,
the heavenly Jerusalem where the millions of angels have gathered for
the festival, with the whole Church of first-born sons, enrolled as
citizens of heaven” (Heb. 12:22-23).
Let us now look further into how the Holy Eucharist celebrated here on
earth shows its awareness of its link with the heavenly liturgy.
The Church in celebrating the Eucharistic sacrifice is very aware of
doing so in union with the heavenly host. One Eucharist Prayer after
another confesses: “In union with the whole Church we honour Mary, the
ever-virgin Mother of Jesus Christ our Lord and God” (Roman Missal
Euch. Prayer I). Then the following are named: St. Joseph, the
Apostles, the Martyrs, the confessors, the virgins and all the Saints.
“May their merits and prayers”, the Church prays, “gain us your
constant help and protection” (ibid.). The Eastern Rite
Anaphoras, or Eucharistic prayers, do the same.
The Angels are given special mention in the preface. Here are
examples. “And so with all choirs of angels in heaven we proclaim your
glory and join in their unending hymn of praise” (Advent I). “In our
unending joy we echo on earth the song of the angels in heaven as they
praise your glory for ever” (II Sunday of Lent). “With thankful
praise, in company with the angels, we glorify the wonders of your
power” (III Sunday of Lent). These references to the angels are only
natural, as the cry “Holy, Holy, Holy” that we make our own
immediately afterwards is attributed by Scripture to them (cf Is 6:2;
Rev 4:8).
The Church suffering in purgatory is not forgotten. The Eucharistic
sacrifice is also offered for the faithful departed who “have died in
Christ but are not yet wholly purified” (Council of Trent: DS 1743),
so that they may be able to enter into the light and peace of Christ (cf
CCC, 1371).
It follows therefore that at the Mass “our union with the Church in
heaven is put into effect in the noblest manner when with common
rejoicing we celebrate together the praise of the divine Majesty” (Lumen
Gentium, 50). “In the earthly liturgy, by way of foretaste, we
share in that heavenly liturgy which is celebrated in the holy city of
Jerusalem toward which we journey as pilgrims” (Sacrosanctum
Concilium, 8; cf also I Cor 15:28; CCC 1090, 1326).
The Holy Eucharist brings us to tend towards the life to come. “When
you eat this bread, then, and drink this cup, you are proclaiming the
Lord’s death until he comes”, St. Paul tells the Corinthians (I Cor
11:26). Christ promised his Apostles his own joy so that their joy may
be complete (cf Jn 15:11). The Eucharist is a foretaste of this joy.
It is a confident waiting “in joyful hope for the coming of our
Saviour, Jesus Christ” (Roman Missal: Embolism after the Lord’s
Prayer).
When we receive Jesus in Holy Communion one of the results is that we
get a pledge of eternal life, of our bodily resurrection, since Jesus
promised that those who so receive him in this sacrament have eternal
life and he will raise them up at the last day (cf Jn 6:54). Therefore
St. Ignatius of Antioch called Holy Communion “a medicine of
immortality, and antidote of death” (Ad Ephesios, 20: PG 5,
661; quoted in Eccl. De Euch., 18; cf also Sacrosanctum
Concilium, 47).
When, therefore, the priest says to us before the Preface: “Lift up
your hearts”, let us also think of the future life, of heaven, where
the Eucharist is bringing us. Pope John Paul II has put it
beautifully: “The Eucharist is really a glimpse of heaven appearing on
earth. It is a glorious ray of the heavenly Jerusalem which pierces
the clouds of our history and lights up our journey” (Eccl. De Euch.,
19). “Come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20). “The Spirit and the Bride say,
‘Come!’ Let everyone who listens answer, ‘Come’” (Rev. 22:17).
The fact that the Eucharist brings us to long for, to strain or tend
towards the world to come, must not be interpreted to imply a
diminishing of interest in the improvement of this present world on
earth. Quite the contrary.
At the end of Mass the deacon or priest says to us: “Ite, Missa est”.
“Go, our celebration is ended. You are now sent to go and live what we
have prayed, and sung and heard. Go to serve God and your neighbour”.
The Second Vatican Council is clear on this commitment to improve the
earth: “The expectation of a new earth must not weaken but rather
stimulate our concern for cultivating this one. For here grows the
body of a new human family, a body which even now is able to give some
kind of foreshadowing of the new age. Earthly progress must be
carefully distinguished from the growth of Christ’s kingdom.
Nevertheless, to the extent that the former can contribute to the
better ordering of human society, it is of vital concern to the
kingdom of God” (Gaudium et Spes, 39).
Therefore the Holy Eucharist commits us to undertake initiatives to
promote development, justice and peace. Solidarity and cooperation
should replace competition and domination. Oppression, repression or
exploitation of individ-uals or of the poorer minorities or countries
should be eliminated. The Christian who is exiting from the
Eucharistic celebration should examine his or her conscience on what
can or should be done for the poor, the sick, the handicapped and the
needy in general.
Christ washed the feet of his Apostles to teach them that the Holy
Eucharist sends us to actively love our neighbour (cf Jn 13). St. Paul
tells the Corinthians that their participation in the Holy Eucharist
is defective if they are indifferent towards the poor (cf I Cor
11:17-22, 27-34). The recent Instruction of the Congregation for
Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments stresses this
dimension of our participation in the Eucharistic celebration: “The
offerings that Christ’s faithful are accustomed to present for the
Liturgy of the Eucharist in Holy Mass are not necessarily limited to
bread and wine for the eucharistic celebration, but may also include
gifts given by the faithful in the form of money or other things for
the sake of charity toward the poor. Moreover, external gifts must
always be a visible expression of that true gift that God expects from
us: a contrite heart, the love of God and neighbour by which we are
conformed to the sacrifice of Christ, who offered himself for us.” (Redemptionis
Sacramentum, 70). There is no doubt that the Holy Eucharist
commits us to strive to make this world a better place in which to
live (cf Eccl. De Euch., 70).
As we seek to conclude these reflections, we adore and thank our Lord
Jesus Christ who has given us the honour and the possibility of being
associated with him in the offering of the Eucharistic sacrifice.
We pray him to teach us to offer ourselves at Mass through him and
with him, to make of us an everlasting gift to God the Father (cf
Roman Missal: Euch. Prayer III). Then the Eucharistic sacrifice
becomes for each of us the center of our day and our week, which will
all be like an offertory procession. The Eucharist teaches the Church
to offer herself. As St. Augustine says: “The Church continues to
reproduce this sacrifice in the sacrament of the altar so well-known
to believers wherein it is evident to them that in what she offers she
herself is offered ” (De Civ. Dei, 10, 6: PL 41, 283; CCC,
1372).
The Holy Eucharist calls on us human beings to be the voice of
creation in offering it all to God. The family, work, science and
culture, politics and government, the mass media and recreation, plus
sun, moon, trees, rivers and all created things, should all be offered
to God. All creation, redeemed by Christ, should be symbolically
offered to God in the Eucharistic sacrifice.
We celebrate the Mass in union with the Blessed Virgin Mary, the
Angels and the Saints. We pray for the souls suffering in purgatory.
We look heaven-wards to the time when all those redeemed by Christ
will be together to sing for eternity the praises of the Father, the
Son and the Holy Spirit.
Today we pray for the abundant blessings of the Eucharistic Jesus on
the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious and all the members
of their religious institutes or congregations. By their consecrated
lives they are without words witnessing to Christ and proclaiming
“that the kingdom of God and its over mastering necessities are
superior to all earthly considerations” (Lumen Gentium, 44).
May the Holy Eucharist be the center of their lives, their hopes,
their joys.
To Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist be honour and glory now and
forever.
Francis Card. Arinze
25th September 2004
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