Eucharistic
Action
We
have heard some really great talks today on how piety and study are linked to
the Eucharist. In my talk this morning I spoke of how we are all called to
action, that the natural outcome of falling in love is to act on that love. I
talked about how the apostles were brought to Jesus through the actions of
their friends. We all share that common call to also bring others to Jesus.
Love without action is not truly love, in fact, it can be a sign of
selfishness. Action is the consequence of being Christian; is an outpouring of
the grace we have received. We ACT in response to what we have received. And
the way that Catholics best live out action is through the Eucharistic liturgy.
We talk about the sacrament of the Eucharist as being “the
liturgy”. There are other types of liturgy we practice, such as the Liturgy of
the Hours, but usually when we speak of liturgy we mean the Mass. Does anyone
know the meaning of the word liturgy? It means the work of the people. It is
how we participate in the work of evangelization. And the heart of our work is
drawing people towards Christ.
I think we all understand this. We know that faith
without works is empty, and that our works are a natural outcome of our faith. Even
if we weren’t Christians, we would most likely have a tendency to do good
things for others. People are basically good and there is something within each
of us that causes us to help other people. Even atheists do good works.
But
every good action can have three levels of meaning, and it all depends on our
intent. It’s sort of like good, better, and best. We can do something good for
someone just because it’s the right thing to do. It’s a natural human response
to want to help someone, and we often do it instinctively, like helping someone
up who’s fallen. That’s the first level. The second level is if we do something
for someone because it’s the Christian thing to do. The greatest commandment
includes loving our neighbor as ourselves. That’s sort of like doing it for
them and for us. The highest level of intent, the level that can actually lead
towards salvation, is if we do so because we want to help bring our neighbor
closer to Christ. They know we are doing it for them because we are compelled
by the love of God within us, and we want to share that same divine love with
them through our actions. We call that Apostolic Action. Bringing someone to
Jesus is apostolic action.
Jesus talked a lot about what it means to be a
disciple. He said, “If you are my disciples, you will keep my commandments.” A
disciple is someone who follows a master, but more so, strives to become like
the master. In many disciplines the disciple can become greater than the
master, but not for Christians. Jesus said that we can never be greater than
him, and we live our discipleship in a spirit of humility. He also demands
complete focus on him, and he calls us to action.
A good definition of discipleship is the People of God
in Action. We have some great role models in the apostles, and we claim that
ours is an apostolic church. The Good News of the gospel comes down to us from
the apostles’ testimony. We have no writings of Jesus himself to draw upon. We
are brought to Jesus though the testimony of the apostles and the church
fathers. From the beginning of the Church discipleship has been exercised
primarily through the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. No Catholic community
can be built unless the celebration of the Holy Eucharist is its core and root.
The
Eucharist is not just something we do, it is who we are. The word Eucharist
means thanksgiving, and we are people of gratitude. Therefore, we are a
Eucharistic people. Feeling and showing gratitude presupposes something,
though, doesn’t it? It assumes there is something to be grateful for. There
must be a gift to give thanks for, whether it is a thing or an action or a
person. And the gift always includes a relationship of some sort. There is a
giver and a recipient. We receive a gift; we don’t take it. The gift is pure
when it is given freely for the enjoyment and benefit of the receiver, with no
expectation of receiving anything in return. And the gift is holy when the one
who receives it does so in humility.
The liturgy, our work as disciples, extends beyond the
Mass itself to the Blessed Sacrament. Visits to the Blessed Sacrament are of
great spiritual and teaching value. Visits to the Blessed Sacrament bring
hearts closer together and encourage true friendship with Christ. These
visits, praying, sharing, and taking others’ problems as our own solidify the
community. Therefore, in these visits, we become aware not only of our
closeness to Christ but also of the community spirit we enjoy.
Do you spend time in the real presence of Jesus in the
Blessed Sacrament? It’s not complicated or difficult. Sometimes I just sit there,
and I look at him and he looks at me.
Another
important element to our Eucharistic celebration is unity. The Mass is the
central and most powerful and visible manifestation of our unity as a church.
We worship in community, because as St. Augustine said, “one person is no
person”. We are not saved alone but in community. We actually refer to our
reception of the body and blood of Christ as “receiving communion”. When we
receive the body and blood of Christ we truly become what we eat. We become the
Body of Christ ourselves. We become one body, one spirit in Christ, as we hear
in the Eucharistic prayer.
The
sharing of what is fundamental for being a Christian is supported in common
Eucharistic living. That is why the Eucharistic community is fostered as
a central theme Christianity. The Mass is how we fall in love with Jesus. It is
where we experience and live piety, it is where we do our most effective study,
it is where we live out our action and then take it out into the world. The
Mass is not your own personal devotion. It is public, and it must be shared
We must place special
emphasis on the Eucharistic celebration as a true announcement of Jesus’s death
and resurrection. It is logical that the Eucharist should have priority
for us since the Eucharist is “A sacrament of love, a symbol of unity, a bond
of charity, an Easter banquet, and the source of the life of the Church.”
The founder of Cursillo,
Eduardo Bonnin, wrote, “It brings to life and growth the source and summit of
Christian life.” The Eucharist is the center of our personal lives, our
joyful encounter with the community; “let us proceed through Grace to joy so
that through joy they may attain Grace.” Our experience of Eucharist
should instill in us the awareness that our lives and actions must be centered
in Christ’s loving sacrifice for us.
Jesus
is actively present in the Mass in four ways, and in each way there is
apostolic action happening:
In the person of the priest. You
cannot have a Mass without a priest. The priest during the sacraments is in the
persona Christi, in the person of Christ. He is more than just a representation
or representative of Jesus, during the action of the Mass he is Christ himself.
The Mass is outside of space and time. We do not recreate or just remember the
last supper in the Mass, it is the last supper. The Mass we celebrate each day
ourselves is the same Mass that is celebrated the world over yesterday, today,
and tomorrow.
In the Eucharist itself. Jesus is
truly and really present body, soul, mind and divinity under the appearances of
bread and wine. You may have heard the results of a Pew study a while back that
showed that 70% of professing Catholics did not believe that the Eucharist was
actually the body and blood of Jesus but a symbol. Jesus was pretty explicit in
John chapter 6 that it is not a symbol. Something truly happens miraculously
during the action of the Mass to transform those simple elements into Jesus
himself.
In the Word. The word of God proclaimed during the Mass is our call to
action. In the stories of sacred scripture we see God active throughout all of
human history. We see his people responding to God’s call in various ways, some
times faithfully and other times not so much. The very act of the word being
proclaimed by a lector and priest or deacon is important. We don’t just sit
down and read the scriptures on our own. The Word is proclaimed and the people
listen. The gift is given and received, not taken. And then the Word is broken
open in the homily to instruct, admonish, and inspire the community of
disciples.
In the assembly. My former pastor,
Father Bob Bussen, once said in a homily that it is ok if people come late, but
never leave early. The Mass begins when the people assemble. Where two or three
are gathered in my name there I am with them. Every Mass requires at least two
people. I remember when I was a young altar boy I had to stay after morning
Mass to serve the Mass of our retired pastor, in order to be his congregation.
All our sacraments are outward signs instituted by Christ to give grace. They
are always public. The action of gathering is important. It is symbolic of our
journey of faith. Just as are the actions of processing in and out, standing,
sitting and kneeling.
The
Mass itself is an apostolic action. Jesus took, blessed, broke, and
distributed. The apostles also took, blessed, broke and distributed, and that
action has been passed on through sacred Tradition down the centuries to today.
And as I said, this Mass is every Mass, so we are literally acting as the
apostles did, who were carrying out Jesus’ commandment to “do this in memory of
me”.
The
Eucharistic Prayer is an action. The priest doesn’t just mutter some prayers to
himself. We are active participants in joining our prayers with his. There are
physical actions as well. He places his hands over the gifts in blessing and
when calling the Holy Spirit down upon them. He makes many gestures that are
explicitly spelled out in the rubrics of the Mass.
The
action of the Mass mirrors Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross. The Mass is
a bloodless sacrifice of the perfect/best gift, freely and lovingly given for
our redemption. We Christians know the value of suffering. We know that when we
actively and consciously link our own suffering to that of Jesus it has great
power. It actually can bring about our salvation. In the Mass we acknowledge
that power and efficacy. “For as often as we eat this bread and drink the cup, we
proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes again.”
St.
John Vianney wrote, “What does Jesus Christ do in the Eucharist? It is God who,
as our Savior, offers himself each day for us to his Father’s justice. If you
are in difficulties and sorrows, he will comfort and relieve you. If you are
sick, he will either cure you or give you strength to suffer so as to merit
Heaven. If the devil, the world, and the flesh are making war upon you, he will
give you the weapons with which to fight, to resist, and to win victory. If you
are poor, he will enrich you with all sorts of riches for time and eternity.
Let us open the door of his sacred and adorable Heart and be wrapped about for
an instant by the flames of his love, and we shall see what a God who loves us
can do. O my God, who shall be able to comprehend?”
The document of Vatican
II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, called all
Catholics to full and active participation in the liturgy. “Mother Church
earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to that fully conscious,
and active participation in liturgical celebrations which is demanded by the
very nature of the liturgy. Such participation by the Christian people as
"a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a redeemed people, is
their right and duty by reason of their baptism.
In the restoration and
promotion of the sacred liturgy, this full and active participation by all the
people is the aim to be considered before all else; for it is the primary and
indispensable source from which the faithful are to derive the true Christian
spirit; and therefore pastors of souls must zealously strive to achieve it, by
means of the necessary instruction, in all their pastoral work.”
But
what does that mean from a practical standpoint? It includes everything from
preparing yourself for the Mass ahead of time, paying attention, listening to
the prayers of the priest and joining in the prayers of the people, listening
to the scripture readings and pondering the homily, acknowledging your sins and
asking for forgiveness, preparing your heart and soul to worthily receive holy
communion, and yes…singing. You know that saying, “you only get out of
something what you put into it.” A more crass and colloquial version would be,
“garbage in, garbage out.”
A
few years ago, one of my RCIA sponsors said something very wise. She said that
the Mass is not a sit-down supper but a potluck. You don’t come to Mass
expecting to be served, but to bring your contribution. What do you bring to a
potluck? I bet it’s the thing you make really well that people have told you
they enjoy. I bet you put a bit of yourself into it and are proud to serve it
to others. I have a friend, Susan, who makes a delicious artichoke and jalapeño
dip that’s to die for. Every time she asks me what she can bring I tell her to
bring her dip. Actually, I insist. And if she doesn’t bring it, I am very
disappointed. It’s like that with your participation in the Mass. You should
bring your best self, the thing that people enjoy the most about you, the thing
they look forward to the most about you. And if you don’t bring it, we will be
disappointed. We will miss it and you. The celebration won’t be the same
without you.
While
the Mass is a sacrifice it is also a memorial meal and meals are active things.
Meals are so central to all cultures and societies. Meals are not just to fill
our bellies; they also fill our souls. Our most important events and
celebrations involve meals. Our relationships are sown and strengthened during
meals. So many activities are involved, from the scheduling to the preparation
to fellowship, the serving to the cleaning up to the farewells. The structure
of the Mass is just like a banquet, in fact, we say that the Mass is a preview
of the heavenly banquet. There is the image of heaven just being the Mass for
all eternity. There is even a phrase in Eucharistic Prayer I, “In humble prayer
we ask you, almighty God: command that these gifts be borne by the hands of
your holy Angel to your altar on high in the sight of your divine majesty, so
that all of us, who through this participation at the altar receive the most
holy Body and Blood of your Son, may be filled with every grace and heavenly
blessing”
What
a wonderful image of the Mass. What hope it gives us for eternal life.
Jesus’ final commandment
to his disciples before his death was to “Do this in memory of me”. His final commandment
to them was to “Go and make disciples of all the nations, teaching them
everything I have commanded you.” The two commandments are linked. They are
both apostolic actions. Jesus left us the gift of the Eucharist to help us in
our prophetic mission to call the world to repent and acknowledge the kingdom
of God that is at hand. You have heard the saying, “The Mass never ends.” We
are called to take the grace we have received during the Mass out into the
world. Ite, Missa Est. Go Forth, it is the dismissal, is telling us more than
just “it’s finished”. We are dismissed to be sent on our mission to the world. The
old world is passing away and the new world is being created…with our help and
participation.
When you were baptized
you were anointed priest, prophet, and king with Sacred Chrism. We are all
charged to be prophets due to our baptism. If you read the prophets you find
that so many of them had a really hard time accepting and remaining faithful to
their call. I think every prophet is a reluctant one. It is really hard to have
the courage to call others to repentance. Oftentimes it’s easier for us to
change than to call others to change. There is always the possibility of
rejection, of ridicule, or even violence. The old world does not want to pass
away easily or willingly. But once we ourselves have repented we must call
others to repentance and belief. We must be willing participants in ushering in
a new heaven and a new earth.
You’re not always going
to get it right. You and I fail constantly on our mission to bring people to
Jesus. But that’s ok. Jesus knows we will fail. He saw it in his closest
friends, the apostles who ran away when he most needed him. One betrayed him
and their leader denied him. We can claim to be no better than them. Thankfully
God grades on a curve and gives extra credit for effort. As Mother Teresa once
said, “we are not called to be successful, but to be faithful.” Apostolic
action is persistent and consistent.
“Let us not become weary
in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give
up.” We are on a mission from God. The Eucharist is food for our journey. It is
where we encounter the risen Christ most fully and most personally. Our
greatest apostolic action is to take full advantage of the wonderful gift Jesus
has given us in the Eucharist.
You know, it’s called the
Good News for a reason. For 2000 years the message of the gospel has
transformed countless lives. I hope it has transformed yours. Someone called
you to that life. Someone gave you the hope of the promise by passing on their
faith to you. Someone called you to Jesus, and then Jesus called you to himself
and to your mission.
Now, go forth and make
disciples.
Discussion question:
Action/Eucharist - How can I live out the Eucharist in my daily life (in
my family, my neighborhood and my work/other environments)?
