THE EUCHARIST AND THE NEW EVANGELIZATION
What Does the Catholic Church Teach about the Eucharist ?
Dr . Robert Fastiggi
A2019 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center discovered that only 31 % of U . S . Catholics believe that at Mass the bread and wine are changed into the substance of Christ ’ s body , blood , soul , and divinity , a change that “ the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation ” ( Catechism of the Catholic Church , 1376 , citing the Council of Trent , Denz . -H, 1642 ). According to the Pew Research survey , 63 % of Catholics who attend Mass weekly believe in transubstantiation , and 58 % of them know the church ’ s teaching about transubstantiation . Even this percentage , though , is disturbing . It means that 37 % of Catholics who attend Mass weekly do not believe in transubstantiation .
The Pew Research survey shows that most of the Catholics who believe that the Eucharist is only a symbol don ’ t know the church ’ s teaching on transubstantiation . For those who attend Mass only monthly or yearly , only 23 % know the church ’ s teaching on transubstantiation , and this goes down to 10 % for those who seldom or never attend Mass . All of this shows how important it is to have a clear understanding of what the church teaches about the real and substantial presence of Christ in the holy Eucharist .
We first need to understand that the truth about the holy Eucharist comes from Christ . It is not something the church made up . Support for the real , substantial presence of Christ in the Eucharist is firmly supported by Scripture , as well as by tradition and the magisterium of the Church .
There are multiple prefigurements of the Eucharist in the Old Testament . God fed the Israelites with manna in the desert ( Ex 16:4 – 35 ). Jesus refers to the manna in the desert in his Bread of Life discourse ( Jn 6:49 ), but Our Lord reminds us that he is “ the living bread that came down from heaven ” and the bread that he gives is his “ flesh for the life of the world ” ( Jn 6:51 ). The Old Testament also anticipates the Real Presence of Christ in the tabernacle . In 1 Kings 8:10 – 13 , we are told how the shekhinah — the glorious presence of God — came to dwell in the holy of holies in the Temple .
The Old Testament also prefigures the Eucharistic sacrifice , especially in the immolation of the paschal lamb ( Ex 12:3 – 10 ). In Eucharistic Prayer I — the Roman Canon — the priest asks God to accept the offerings of the Mass “ as once you were pleased to accept the gifts of your servant Abel the just , the sacrifice of Abraham , our father in faith , and the offering of your high priest Melchizedek , a holy sacrifice , a spotless victim .” In other words , all the offerings of the Old Covenant were pointing to Christ who is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world ( cf . Jn 1:29 ). Christ is “ this pure victim , this holy victim .” The Eucharist is “ the holy Bread of eternal life and the Chalice of everlasting salvation .” The Mass as a sacrifice was prophesied in Malachi 1:11 , which proclaims that “ from the rising of the sun , even to its setting , my name is great among the nations ; and everywhere they bring sacrifice to my name , and a pure offering .”
This pure offering is the sacrifice of Christ . During the Mass , Christ is not re-sacrificed or put to death again . As the Council of Trent teaches , Christ ’ s sacrifice on Calvary is made present — re-presented — at every Mass : “ the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner ( cf . Heb 9:14 , 27 ) on the altar of the Cross is contained and offered in an unbloody manner . For the victim is one and the same ; the same now offers himself through the ministry of priests who then offered himself on the Cross ; only the manner of offering is different ” ( Denz . -H , 1743 ). Every Mass
2 Sacred Heart Major Seminary | Mosaic | Fall 2021