The pavement can be brutal outside an abortion clinic. It can be controversial, even dangerous, but most of the time it’s quietly tense with little to encourage those who stand and speak for pre-born babies and their right to live. Most pro-life demonstrators don’t mind. They are there to witness to truth, to be a physical presence representing innocent babies, not to seek recognition or encouragement. But everyone needs encouragement sometime. We Christians may walk by faith and not by sight but it sure is nice to experience a victory once in a while, a tangible sign, a flesh-and-blood reality.
One ardent group that faithfully prays and paces the sidewalk in front of a Hauppauge, Long Island abortion mill knows what it’s like to long for encouragement. They’ve been cursed at, harassed, threatened, persecuted and otherwise made to suffer for their friendship with Christ. They take up their vigils expecting nothing. And they usually get it.
So when a car pulled up quickly to the curb alongside their small gathering on a recent Saturday morning, they instinctively drew together and braced themselves. An older woman got out of the car and fast approached them.
“I just want you to know that my daughter has tried to come here five times for an abortion and every time she turned around and drove away because of you people,” said the emotional woman. “And now I want to show you something.”
The woman opened the car door to reveal a baby girl, a healthy, beautiful, flesh-and-blood baby with bright eyes and full cheeks who stared at the group wondering what all the fuss was about. From her car seat, she radiated life.
“I can’t thank you enough,” said the weeping grandmother. “If you hadn’t been here demonstrating, we wouldn’t have our granddaughter. I just had to come by and let you know how grateful we are. Don’t ever stop.”
Oh, the power of a flesh-and-blood reality! How it gives us strength to endure all things which would otherwise be unbearable. One spark of tangible joy can re-ignite our hearts and melt away all the sacrifices that have come before, giving new life to our resolve to serve Christ and His Church.
God knows that we need tangible, flesh-and-blood signs to assist our faith. He gives us the sacraments, outward signs of inward graces, specifically to enlighten, encourage and bless us on our earthly pilgrimage. Through the Church He gives us a rich tradition of devotions and practices that seek to bridge the gap between the natural and the supernatural. He sends us saints, flesh-and-blood examples of holiness overcoming human imperfections. But it still isn’t enough.
So God sends His Son. Not as a symbol or a sign, but as a flesh-and-blood reality in the Eucharist, the summit of the sacraments and of our faith.
The Eucharist is described in many ways — a sacrifice, a communion, a feast — and all of these are true appellations. But the Eucharist is firstly the Body and Blood of Christ, and it is He Who makes the sacrifice, the communion and the feast possible. His tangible presence facilitates mankind’s greatest mystery.
“The world could exist more easily without the sun than without the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass,” said Saint Pio, emphasizing that our existence is continually secured by Christ’s sacrificial gift and intercession. More important than the warmth of the sun, under which all things grow, are the princely rays of the Son which radiate from the Eucharistic Christ.
Such a gift deserves our increased understanding and appreciation of His Real Presence. In the gospels, Jesus tells us why the tangible presence of His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity is so necessary to us:
† The Eucharist allows us an unmerited share in Christ’s perfect sacrifice to the Father. When we assist worthily at Mass we cooperate with the grace offered by God for our redemption, participating in the love and supernatural life that exists among the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Christ said, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them” (John 6:56).
† The Body and Blood of Christ are necessary food to our souls and to our lives. “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53). Jesus comes in the sacrament so that we may have life and have it in abundance (John 10:10), beyond our expectations.
† The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the fulfillment of His promise to be with us “until the end of time,” (Matthew 28:20) in a corporal as well as a spiritual manner. The Eucharist is an effective means of Him being present to us, and us to Him, throughout our earthly lives.
† The Eucharist is a foretaste of the resurrection and eternal life that await us. The Eucharistic Christ provides a visible means of communicating His life to us so that we can be fully alive both in this world and in the next. As Jesus said, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day” (John 6:54).
The Body and Blood of Christ intend to transform us completely. Whether we allow the transformation or not depends upon our approach to this sublime mystery. Again the gospels instruct us. A worldly frame of mind can not understand nor appreciate the sacrament: “They disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ ” (John 6:53). Jesus reaffirmed “My flesh is true food and my blood is true drink” (John 6:55). As a result, many of His disciples left and no longer followed Him. Today, many individuals are still walking away from Christ because they fail or refuse to recognize His flesh-and-blood presence. The sacramental language of Christ makes no sense to a materialistic frame of mind.
The Eucharist is true food and drink, yet unlike every other food and drink, points out Fr. Munachi E. Ezeogu, CSSP. The great difference lies, he notes, in these words of Christ which St Augustine heard in prayer: “You will not change Me into yourself as you would food of your flesh; but you will be changed into Me.” We transform ordinary food into our own bodies but the food of the Eucharist transforms us into the Body of Christ. It changes us corporally and elevates our souls to more fully enjoy God’s saving power and transforming love.
When Pope Urban IV established the Solemn Feast of Corpus Christi in 1264, he asked Thomas Aquinas to compose the office, or official prayers of the Church. Thanks to the Angelic Doctor we have the stirring hymn Pange Lingua to inspire us to see the reality of the Eucharist:
Pange lingua gloriosi
Corporis mysterium,
Sanguinisque pretiosi,
Quem in mundi pretium
Fructus ventris generosi
Rex effudit Gentium.
Sing, my tongue,
The mystery of the glorious body,
And of the precious Blood,
Shed to save the world,
By the King of the nations,
The fruit of a noble womb.
Verbum caro, panem verum
Verbo carnem efficit:
Fitque sanguis Christi merum,
Et si sensus deficit,
Ad firmandum cor sincerum
Sola fides sufficit.
The Word in Flesh makes true Bread
His Flesh with a word;
Wine becomes the Blood of Christ,
And if sense is deficient,
To confirm sincere hearts,
Faith alone suffices.
