America,
like the Roman Church, has known its martyrs for the
Eucharist: John Paul II, in Brazil, recalled the layman,
Matias Moreira, who in 1645 was insulted and beaten because
he would not deny his faith in the Eucharist. He allowed his
heart to be torn out, crying: "Praised be the Most Blessed
Sacrament!"
Missionaries have always understood
evangelization as the endeavor to establish the Kingdom of
Christ and to render it present, not only by spectacular
feats - I think of Jacques Cartier planting the Cross next
to the flag to take possession of Canada in the name of
France - but also by making Him present in the daily
existence of all human societies. It was natural, then, for
the missionaries to strive to render Him present, on the
altar of Sacrifice, in a temple which would be the house of
God and also the house of His People. They knew how to
communicate their love for the Eucharist to the artists
whose works continue to be the most precious treasure of our
hemisphere. The magnificent colonial churches, both great
and small, are so many books that speak of the Eucharistic
faith and devotion of their builders.
John Paul II expressed this truth:
"Missionary activity does not fully attain its objective
until it gathers ecclesial communities to proclaim their
faith in the celebration of the Eucharist" (L' Osservatore
Romano, November 7, 1991. Audience with the Pontifical
Committee for Eucharistic Congresses and the National
Delegates). What has always distinguished a Catholic church
from a Protestant one is the presence of Christ in the
Tabernacle. As the Pope said, during his 1991 trip to
Brazil: "Leaving the Upper Room on Pentecost, the Apostles
went throughout the whole world proclaiming that 'Jesus is
Lord' (Rom. 10:9); they handed on to us the Gospel and the
Eucharist" (October 13, 1991).
Evangelization and the
Eucharist: Statements of the Magisterium
The encyclical Evangelii Nuntiandi,
a synthesis of the deliberations of the Bishops during the
Synod of 1974, continues to be the fundamental document
regarding the theme of Evangelization. In this document,
Paul VI did not wish to give a definition of evangelization,
a reality too complex for such a treatment-but rather a
concrete description of the complementary elements of which
it is composed. Its goal, he said, is to bring to life a
relationship of faith and love between Christ in His
redemptive mystery and the person who receives the Gospel.
This supposes that, listening to the Word, we recognize with
gratitude the gift that the Father bestows on us in Christ;
it also implies an inner conversion so as to live by the
Spirit of Christ with a renewed conscience. God created man
to live in society, and, therefore, Christ came to save us,
not only individually, but as members of the Church.
Evangelization is realized in communities which remain
united in hearing the same Word and sharing in the same
sacraments, which are "memorial, actuation, and prophecy" of
the same mystery of salvation, and offering to the Holy
Trinity the same words of praise.
When the Vatican II Council speaks
in various documents about these constitutive elements of
Evangelization, it emphasizes constantly their essential
connection with the Eucharist. The texts almost form a
litany: "The most blessed Eucharist contains the Church's
entire spiritual wealth . . . The Eucharist shows itself to
be the source and apex of the whole proclamation of the
Gospel. The other sacraments, as well as every ministry of
the Church and every work of the apostolate, are linked with
the Holy Eucharist and are directed toward it (P.O., no. 5).
It is in the mystery of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, where the
priests fulfill their chief duty, that the work of our
redemption is continuously realized" (P.O., no. 13, cf. L.G.,
no. 28; A.G., no. 39).
"The Eucharistic Sacrifice . . . is
the fount and apex of the whole Christian life . . . (L.G.,
no. 11). It is the center and summit of the celebration of
the sacraments because it brings about the presence of
Christ, the Author of Salvation (A.G., no. 9). It
communicates and nourishes that charity toward God and man
which is the soul of the entire apostolate (L.G., no. 33).
By the Eucharist the Church constantly lives and grows (L.G.,
no. 26. cf: U.R., no. 15; D.V., no. 26). By reason of the
Eucharistic Sacrifice, the Christian community ceaselessly
walks with Christ towards the Father, "in an offering of all
that we are (A.G., no. 15, citing L.G., no. 10 & no. 34).
Recalling that the most important Good News is that of our
calling to eternal life, Lumen Gentium says that celebrating
the Eucharistic sacrifice . . . we are most closely united
to the worshiping Church in heaven . . ." (L.G., no. 50).
The General Instruction on the
Roman Missal repeats conciliar statements when it says: "The
celebration of Mass is the action of Christ and of the
people of God hierarchically assembled. For both the
universal and the local Church, and for each person, it is
the center of the whole Christian life" (G.I.R.M., ch.1.1).
Without engaging in doctrinal
considerations, it might be useful to reflect on the present
state of Eucharistic worship in its relation to
evangelization. It can be done by following an outline-the
Eucharist as truth that has to be announced, the Eucharistic
worship as the privileged moment for evangelization, and the
influence of the Eucharist in the life of Christians.
The Eucharist as Object of
Evangelization
The Eucharist is at the center of
the Gospel that Christ has revealed and which the Church has
never ceased to teach as a synthesis of the Mystery of
Christ who lives and works in the Church (Roman Ritual, De
Sacra Communione, n. III). The doctrine of the Eucharist has
been proclaimed with clarity in many declarations of the
Magisterium throughout the centuries. The Credo of Paul VI
expressed this doctrine without leaving room for either
doubt or error:
We believe that the Mass, which is
celebrated by the priest representing the Person of Christ,
in virtue of the power received in the Sacrament of Orders,
and which is offered by him in the name of Christ and of the
members of His Mystical Body, is really the Sacrifice of
Calvary, which becomes present sacramentally on our altars.
We believe that, as the bread and wine consecrated by the
Lord at the Last Supper were changed into His Body and Blood
which were offered for us on the Cross, so likewise are the
bread and wine consecrated by the priest changed into the
Body and Blood of Christ now enthroned in glory in heaven.
We believe that the mysterious presence of the Lord under
the appearance of those things which, as far as our senses
are concerned, remain unchanged, is a true, real, and
substantial presence. (cf. S.C., no. 4).
Recent statistics from regions
where, officially, there is relatively widespread religious
instruction, reveal that comparatively few Catholics
appreciate the gift which the Lord gives to us in the
Sacrament of the Eucharist. Sunday attendance at Mass
continues to diminish. "In a recent survey in a large
diocese, seventy-nine percent of the answers agreed in
considering private prayer and participation in the Mass as
practically equivalent" (Tena, 1992).
It would only be fair to ask
ourselves if we have given enough attention to expounding
and explaining the doctrine of the Eucharist, at least in
its essential elements; if we have helped catechists to
situate this doctrine within a serious Christology; and if,
on our part-I speak now of bishops and others who hold
positions of responsibility-we have watched over the faith
of the "poor ones of the Lord," exercising our authority or
at least fraternal correction, with regard to those who sow
doubt and confusion.
When I was a bishop in Canada, a
religious community had invited one of the "Periti" of the
Council to direct their spiritual exercises. This man
crossed the chapel, observed by five hundred religious, sat
down with his back to the tabernacle, and said, "You will
have noted that I did not genuflect or make any other sign
of adoration: this is because I do not believe in the
presence of Christ in the Host outside the celebration of
the Mass." The Superior General stood up in her place at the
back of the chapel and said in a loud voice: "Father, if
that is so, the retreat is over."
The doctrine of the Eucharist must
be presented in all its parts. As the Pope said before the
Congress of Lourdes: "We may not neglect any aspect of the
participation in the Eucharist" (1980).
By insisting exclusively on the
presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and giving more
solemnity to other forms of devotion than to the Mass
itself, we might have failed to relate such presence with
the act which renders Christ present, an act in which His
painful death and His saving resurrection are renewed.
By emphasizing the Eucharist as the
moment of fraternal community, we might have sometimes
deserved the accusation of leaving in the dark the Sacrifice
itself, with its propitiation and reparation meaning.
In the words of the consecration,
we bishops and priests say with Jesus that His Body and His
Blood are offered for the forgiveness of sins and
re-establishment of the covenant between God and the world.
However, in our pastoral efforts we are not always coherent.
In various audiences with the bishops, both Paul VI and John
Paul II insisted that the practice of not admitting children
to confession before First Communion should be corrected.
They prefer to listen to their specialists who say that a
whole year is necessary for catechesis for the Eucharist,
and another year for catechesis for the Sacrament of
Penance. But how can you speak of the Eucharist for a whole
year without explaining the words of the Consecration, with
their reference to the forgiveness of sins, and without
saying that in our Lord's plan the forgiveness of sins comes
through the Sacrament of Penance? And is not the object of
our catechesis the Person of Christ, whom we cannot divide
in two-the Lord who gives Himself as nourishment and the God
who pardons? And then we are surprised that people receive
Communion without having asked pardon for their sins and
without the dispositions of contrition and good intention.
We also reduce the meaning of the
Eucharistic mystery when we follow the Protestants in not
giving due importance to adoration during Mass and to the
worship of the Consecrated Species. The teaching of the
Church has never changed regarding the effect of the words
of Consecration, i.e., the transformation of the bread and
wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, and the Real
Presence of Christ under the appearances of bread and wine,
both during the holy Mass and after it.
There would be too many texts here
to cite, both ancient and modern. It is the tradition of the
Church to offer the worship of adoration to the Sacrament of
the Eucharist, "guarding the Consecrated Hosts with the
greatest care, offering them to adoration of the faithful,
carrying them in procession amidst the jubilation of the
whole people" (M.F., no. 56). Let us hope we will never
again witness the scandal which has occurred in certain
large congregations of the faithful, when the Hosts left
over after the distribution of Communion were thrown into
the trash. Many of the laity in all parts of the world have
asked their priests to re-establish Holy Hours, the Forty
Hours devotion, First Friday adoration, and perpetual or
night adoration. The faithful would like to see their
priests in silent (and, I would say, willing) adoration
before the Blessed Sacrament, for the priest who spends time
in adoration celebrates Mass with more piety and with more
edification of the faith of the people. This is seen in the
impression made by John Paul II on all who have seen him
before Mass, during the celebration of the Mass, and in the
long hours he spends at the foot of the Tabernacle, even
during his most demanding pilgrimages. As Mysterium Fidei
said: "Visits to the Blessed Sacrament are a proof of
gratitude, a pledge of love, and an expression of the
adoration due to the Lord." (M.F., no. 19).
It is not true that the Council has
invited priests to abandon the daily visit to the Blessed
Sacrament. It invites them, rather, to "prize daily
conversation with Christ the Lord in visits of personal
devotion to the most Holy Eucharist" (P.O., no. 18). Bishop
J. P. Motte says: "the piety which leads the faithful to the
practice of adoration brings them to a deeper participation
in the Paschal Mystery" (Acts of the Congress of Lourdes,
vol. 4, 11, p. 10, quoted by Poupard, pp. 44-45 and p. 69,
citing St. Augustine).
The Eucharistic Celebration
Which is Evangelization
Celebrating and adoring the
Eucharist is an essential and primary form of
evangelization. The texts which we have cited have said this
already. However, it would not be fruitless to consider in
what sense this statement should be understood and under
what conditions it reveals itself to be true.
The Eucharist, both in the
celebration of the Sacrifice and, under certain conditions,
in the extra missam (outside of Mass) forms of worship, is
the Word of God.
The Eucharist evangelizes when we
listen to the readings of the Gospel and other parts of the
New Testament, but also to the texts of the Old Testament,
where the inspired authors testify to how much it cost the
Father, Lord of History, to plan the coming of His Son in
order to save us. Sacred Scripture reveals to us the plan of
love by which God prepares and realizes the great gift of
our salvation by Christ and our calling to the heavenly
banquet. The Eucharist also evangelizes when the texts of
the Ordinary of the Mass teach us in the orations how to
praise the Lord and how to ask Him for the help we need to
live as His sons and as disciples of Christ.
Indeed, the deepest goals of
evangelization are achieved primarily through what occurs
mysteriously upon the altar and in the praying community, by
means of the words of the priest and their conscious
reception by the participant (who in this moment above all
fulfills his role as a priestly people). "In the Eucharist
the Christian has the experience of being not only a
faithful hearer of the Word, but also an active participant
in what is the table of the Lord-and capable, therefore, of
a witness to the Gospel" (Tena, 1992).
The Holy Father himself devotes
some very eloquent pages of his encyclical Redemptor Hominis
to the great reality that occurs in the Eucharistic
Sacrifice:
The Eucharist is the sacrament in
which our new being is most completely expressed and in
which Christ Himself unceasingly and in an ever new manner
"bears witness" in the Holy Spirit to our spirit that each
of us, as a sharer in the mystery of the Redemption has
access to the fruits of the filial reconciliation with God
that He Himself actuated and continually actuates among us
by means of the Church's ministry.
The Eucharist builds ever anew this
community and unity, ever building and regenerating it on
the basis of the sacrifice of Christ, since it commemorates
His death on the cross, the price by which He redeemed us.
Accordingly, in the Eucharist we touch in a way the very
mystery of the body and blood of the Lord, as is attested by
the very words used at its institution, the words that,
because of that institution, have become the words with
which those called to this ministry in the Church
unceasingly celebrate the Eucharist.
There is much that needs to be done
to correct certain omissions or deviations in our conduct
with relation to the Eucharist. I was recently sent a letter
from a young man to a newspaper in Oregon, in the United
States. He had decided not to return to Mass, after having
gone to all the churches in his city, hoping to hear and to
find the beauties that his parents and his first teachers
had recounted to him. Instead, he had seen unconvincing
theatrical scenes and had heard sermons which did not show
that the purpose of life is to adore the Lord and obey His
commandments. What he heard and saw seemed to imply that it
is enough to practice love in its horizontal dimension.
There was never an allusion to the Eucharist as the free
gift of the Father and the pledge of eternal life.
It does not surprise me. Years ago
when I went to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation, I
would try beforehand to go to the classrooms and speak with
the children that I was going to confirm. I would propose to
them Jesus' promise at the Last Supper: "If you keep my
words, my Father and I will come to you, and will bring you
the Holy Spirit." When I proposed to them the question, "Do
you know some of the words of Jesus?", almost always, their
answer would be, "Love one another." It was a surprise to
them that the words of the Our Father and the words of the
Consecration were also the words of Jesus. Confirmation had
been presented to them not as the act of love of the Father
bestowing the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but rather as the
confirmation which they themselves gave to the promises made
by their parents at the moment of baptism.
In an address given to the clergy
of Siena, Archbishop Capovilla, the former secretary of John
XXIII, lamented that nothing had been done to substitute the
old norms of the ceremonial of the bishop which contributed
to creating an atmosphere for the Celebration of the
Eucharist: the arrival of the bishop duly clothed, the
extended adoration at the altar of the Blessed Sacrament,
and so forth; the same for the prayers indicated for the
priest before and after Mass. It was thought that norms were
not necessary for us to continue to approach the sacred
realities with the respect and "admiratio" which they
deserve. We arrive in a hurry, we chat, we dress ourselves
quickly, and at the end we escape without stopping to thank
God. The faithful are attentive to these details, and have a
good intuition of the value which we attribute to the
Sacrifice and to the presence of the Lord.
The importance of certain things
can never be stressed enough to future priests: namely, the
way in which they prepare for the Celebration, and the way
in which they offer the Mass in communion of spirit with the
Lord and with the community of the faithful. It is certainly
of no help to depreciate prayer before the Blessed Sacrament
outside of Mass, or Holy Hours, or devotion to the Sacred
Heart, or meditation on the mysteries of the Rosary. These
are all practices which help us to value more the love which
inspired the whole life of Christ and which is summarized in
the Eucharist.
Cardinal Poupard has spoken of the
danger of trivializing the Eucharist. Do we not fall into
this danger when we so easily admit to the Eucharist those
who are living in sin? Perhaps we no longer deny church
burial and Mass to public sinners. However, it is only
counter-evangelization to give a panegyric of such people,
or, in the homily, to give the impression that all will be
saved; without using the occasion to say that in the Mass
Christ dies once again, sacramentally, for our sins, and
without indicating the conditions of honest living and
contrition that are necessary for participation in Christ's
Resurrection.
And what can be said about those
who are indifferent and approach Holy Communion
unworthily-those, for example, who come to Mass only on the
occasion of weddings or funerals? Once I was present at a
wedding where I heard the celebrant, a priest very popular
among the youth, invite everyone to receive Communion,
saying, "Those who feel the farthest from the Lord are those
who most need to come." St. Augustine used different
language: "May those who know that I know their sins draw
away from Communion, that they may not be thrown out of the
sanctuary" (Sermon 293, 5).
It is a serious matter to admit to
Holy Communion those who do not see in Communion more than a
routine act or a way of becoming united with others, and do
not even know that Christ is present in the Host. In his
preaching of the Gospel, St. Paul, after transmitting the
words themselves that we use in the Consecration, declares
unworthy and subject to divine judgment anyone who receives
Holy Communion "non dijudicans corpus Domini," that is to
say, without understanding the divine gift of the Lord
present in the Host (1 Cor. 11:29).
This part of the teaching of the
Apostle on the Eucharist has not found a place in the
succession of Mass readings for Ordinary Time (weeks
twenty-three and twenty-four). However, we cannot pass over
in silence such severe admonitions on the unworthy reception
of the Sacrament. "That is why many of you are weak and ill,
and many have died," the Apostle says (I Cor. 11:29).
Might not the progressive weakening
and death of certain communities be a result of the outrages
and dubious practices which have been allowed in this field?
The Eucharist, Source of
Evangelization
The Eucharist, evangelization in
its own right, must also be and indeed is the source of
Evangelization. It makes us capable of and compels us to
accomplish great things so that the salvific plan may be
fulfilled in the lives of men and of society.
Mysterium Fidei affirms that "as
long as the Eucharist is kept in our churches and oratories,
Christ is truly the Emmanuel, that is, 'God with us.' Day
and night He is in our midst, He dwells with us full of
grace and truth. He restores morality, nourishes virtues,
consoles the afflicted, strengthens the weak. He proposes
His own example to those who come to Him that all may learn
to be like Himself, meek and humble of heart and to seek not
their own interests but the things of God" (M.F., no. 67).
The prayers of the Mass-the
postcommunion prayers in particular-inspire us to hope to
receive a multitude of graces from our participation in the
Eucharistic Celebration, so that we may serve Christ and
make Him better known and loved. In one of the postcommunion
prayers of Lent, we pray thus:
"Favored with the gift from heaven,
we ask You, God Almighty, that the Eucharist become in us a
living reality and bring us to salvation." In others we ask
for charity, for generosity toward others, and for the
courage to profess our faith.
We find the same confidence in the
documents of the Council and the beautiful letters of the
Pope to the priests on the occasion of Holy Thursday. "For
it is through the liturgy," says the constitution
Sacrosanctum Concilium," especially the divine Eucharistic
Sacrifice, that 'the work of our redemption is exercised.'
The liturgy is thus the outstanding means by which the
faithful can express in their lives, and manifest to others,
the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true
Church" (S.C., no. 2).
The Decree on the Life of Priests
also states: "No Christian community... can be built up
unless it has basis and center in the celebration of the
most Holy Eucharist. Here, therefore, all education in the
spirit of community must originate. If this celebration is
to be sincere and thorough, it must lead to various works of
charity and mutual help, as well as to missionary activity
and to the different forms of Christian witness" (P.O., no.
6).
The Constitution on the Church
(L.C., no. 33) and the Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity
always present the apostolic mission of their respective
subjects as flowing from their participation in the Holy
Eucharist.
I dedicate myself mostly now to the
study of the causes of beatification and canonization. To
present a positive recommendation to the Holy Father, we of
course look at the exterior works of these servants of God;
but much more on what inspired them, and we always find a
faith and a love which are deeply rooted in Eucharistic
devotion.
The Eucharist, then, is the root
and source of all evangelization. Let us look now at how we
can extend the Holy Mass in evangelization.
We can do this firstly by listening
to the invitation of Sister Faustina Kowalska, who was
beatified in 1993. She calls us to offer continually to the
Father of Mercy "the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of His
Most Beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and His sorrowful
passion, for our sins and those of the whole world."
Secondly, we can do this by letting
Christ manifest Himself thorough our actions, always uniting
our work to that of Christ, the first and greatest
Evangelizer (M.F., no. 7). It is He who evangelizes in and
through us. "The world asks from those who evangelize that
they speak of a God which they themselves know and have
familiarity with, as if they were seeing the Invisible"
(ibid., 76).
We can extend the Mass to
evangelization by putting Christ at the center of our
pastoral activity. Expressing his expectations for the
meeting of the CELAM in Santo Domingo, the Holy Father said
to the Plenary Assembly of the C.A.L., "Christology must be
the foundation of the assembly so that its first
fruit will be that the name of
Christ, Savior and Redeemer, remain on the lips and heart of
all Latin Americans" (July 13, 1991). The mouth speaks from
the fullness of the heart, and only Christ, present today on
the altar and in the tabernacle, can fill the heart.
To evangelize starting from the
Eucharist is to make oneself the visible instrument of
Christ's charity. During the Eucharistic Congress of Bogota,
Paul VI said to the peasants: "We have come to honor Jesus
in the mystery of the Eucharist; you yourself are a
sacrament, that is, the sacred image of the Lord among us,
like the reflection which represents and does not hide His
human and divine face ... you are Christ for us, and we bow
before you and want to recognize Christ in you, living and
suffering" (Insegnamenti, 1969, p. 372).
These convictions are the same as
those which the sisters of Mother Teresa live by. Writing
recently to the promoters of a new work of Eucharistic
adoration, Mother Teresa said:
When we look at the Cross we
understand how much Jesus loves us today. Jesus still keeps
close to us in the Bread of Life. If we recognize Him there,
we would be able to recognize Him in the distressing
disguise of those we work with and be able to restore them
to their lost dignity as children of God-our Brothers and
Sisters. What gives us the faith to be able to do this is
receiving Jesus in the Bread of Life and spending time with
Him in the Holy Eucharist, in silent prayer and in praying
the Rosary. Daily Adoration of Jesus in the Blessed
Sacrament is the beautiful gift of God to all our 450
houses- a sign of His tender love for us. Since we decided
to have the Holy Hour daily in 1963, something beautiful
happened in our Society - our love for Jesus has become more
intimate; our love for one another more understanding; and
our love for the poor more compassionate; and we have also
doubled the number of vocations!" (Eternal Life, Bardstown,
KY, June, 1991).
A priest in Canada has had a
similar experience. When he was named the pastor of a
parish, he found very few people at the Sunday Celebrations:
he invited them to establish Perpetual Adoration, himself
setting the example, and in a year his church was full. Some
other priests joined him, and the Archbishop entrusted them
with three more parishes. Many generous young men approached
these priests and fifteen of them are now in the seminary
preparing for the priesthood (more than the total of
seminarians in many large dioceses).
Conclusion: The Eucharistic
Congresses
The first Eucharistic Congresses,
with all their initial fervor, did much to dispel the last
traces of Jansenism and to gain acceptance for the pastoral
directives of St. Pius X on frequent Communion, on the
reception of Communion by children, and on liturgical
reform. The more recent Congresses have inspired some
important initiatives of charitable works, giving to all
proof of the influence of the Eucharist.
Let us also hope that the upcoming
Eucharistic Congress may arouse new initiatives to render
God the honor which is due to Him, and to satisfy the hunger
and thirst which so many experience for the Bread of Life
and the Cup of Salvation. May it sustain and confirm the
renewed fervor with which many of the faithful, religious,
and priests, want to give back to Eucharistic devotion its
central role.
Paul VI expressed his great
expectations for the Congress of Melbourne, saying: "... by
making alive again devotion to the Real Presence of Christ,
you can revive the generosity, the effort, and the heroism
of discovering Christ in the suffering of those in need, of
the immigrants, of the sick and the dying. You can serve Him
with love in these persons, being sustained by the strength
which can only come from familiarity with Him and from
meditation" (Insegnamenti, 1972, p. 206).
The Lord said, "Without me you can
do nothing." He also said: "Proclaim the Gospel ... I will
be with you always and everywhere, until the end of the
world." The place where Christ is
present for us today is, as it is for Mother Teresa, the
altar of Sacrifice.
Cardinal Gagnon is former
Prefect of the Pontifical Council for the Family.
