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Meditation Forty-two, Fourth Week of December 2003 The Holy Spirit Makes the Mystery of Christ Present Begin with prayer to the Holy Spirit Readings: John 6: 41-51; 1 Cor. 11: 23-29; Ephesians 1: 11-14; 2 Cor 1: 19-22; Catechism 1104-1112 When we consider the Holy Eucharist and all the other Sacraments, we are inclined to begin with the human side of things, because that is where we are. We think of the reception of these things and the ceremonies that surround them. Forthis meditation, let's try to look at these mysteries from the other side, beginning with God, who in His great love for us, is calling and inviting us to share in His eternal life by the Sacraments. To suggest that we start by thinking of God's side of things may seem unrealistic, but it is, in fact, a great reality. We did not first love God He first loved us and has called us to Himself by His Divine Word, His own Son, in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and He sealed us with His Holy Spirit. Out of all eternity comes the Word of God, who in His Incarnation is called Jesus, the Christ. He is truly God and truly man and He calls us to salvation in every way possible. Humanly speaking, His mission on earth ended in absolute disaster and defeat, but He left behind His mysteries, the living rememberance of His love and the sacramental signs of bread and wine. Based both on the Church's teaching in John 6 and in St. Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians 11, the very early Church taught that the banquet of thanksgiving (Eucharist means thanksgiving) was in truth Christ's Body and Blood. No one really understands the way that this transformation or change of substance takes place, because it is a mystery of God, but we do know that the Holy Spirit is the cause of this transformation of bread and wine into His Body and Blood. What is most important is that God's Word, His Son, begins to live in us by Holy Communion and that this causes us to be transformed gradually and slowly into Christ, or perhaps more clearly to be identified with Him. To become one with Christ is our calling; as St. Paul puts it, to put on Christ Jesus. This does not happen to us only as individuals, it happens to us as members of the whole people of God, of the Church. We join Christ and His other members and form one body, a mystical or mysterious unity. Christ says He is the vine and we are the branches, that we live in Him and the sap of life that unites us is the Holy Spirit. For this reason some have called the Church itself a sacrament. When we speak of "the Church," we usually mean the visible reality, the parish, diocese, or the whole structure. The most important part of the Church is the invisible part, the bond of divine grace, which unites the followers of Christ. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. He brings us communion, the sign of unity. St. Augustine calls it the chain of charity, vinculum caritatis. It is important to try to grasp this unseen reality, which is really contrary to our experience. We see the Church as a collection of individuals, some of whom we don't like and some of whom we disagree with. While it is not good to pretend that we all get along as one big happy family (we do not), it is necessary to work constantly for the sacramental unity that the Holy Eucharist causes and symbolizes. All this is accomplished not by our efforts, but by the Holy Spirit. In the epistle to the Hebrews (9: 14) it says that Christ is led by the Eternal Spirit to offer His Blood to take away our sins. Do we really believe this? Quotation for Meditation The Spirit: Source of Sacramental Life The Holy Spirit is the source of truth and life-giving principle of the identity of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. The Holy Spirit is also the source and principle of the sacramental life through which the Church draws the strength of Christ, participates in his holiness, is nourished by his grace and grows and advances on her journey toward eternity. The Holy Spirit, who is at the origin of the Incarnation of the Word, is the living source of all the sacraments instituted by Christ and at work in the Church. It is precisely through the sacraments that he gives people "new life," associating the Church to himself as his co-worker in this saving action . . . As for the Eucharist, in the New Testament its link with the Holy Spirit is marked more or less directly in the text of John's Gospel which recounts Jesus' announcement in the synagogue at Capernaum about the institution of the sacrament of his Body and Blood: "It is the Spirit which gives life, while the flesh is of no avail; the words I have spoken to you are spirit and life" (Jn 6:63). Both the word and the sacrament have life and operative effectiveness from the Holy Spirit. Christian Tradition is aware of this bond between the Eucharist and the
Holy Spirit which was expressed, and still is today, during the Mass when,
in the epiklesis the Church requests the sanctification of the gifts offered
upon the altar: "by the power of your Spirit" (Eucharistic Prayer
III); "let your Spirit come upon them" (Eucharistic Prayer II);
"bless and approve our offering" (Eucharistic Prayer I). The
Church emphasizes the mysterious power of the Holy Spirit for the completion
of the Eucharistic consecration, for the sacramental transformation of
bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, and for the communication
of grace to those who participate in it and to the entire Christian community. Quiet Time and Then Discussion Questions for Meditation 1. We can hear a lot of superficial talk about how the Eucharist brings us together, like people engaging in a meal together. Are we prepared to kindly open up to the same people the depth of the mystery of Holy Communion? 2. Do we think of and pray to the Holy Spirit when He unites us with Christ and each other? 3. Are we willing to acknowledge and embrace the mystery of our unity with Christ even though it is a mystery? Prayer Holy Spirit, open our hearts and minds that we may
fall in adoration at the reality of our union with Christ. You are there
unseen to bring Christ to us in the mystery of His Body and Blood, and
then to unite us with all souls in His Grace, that we may be united with
Him. Help us in the dullness of our minds, to be truly united with Him
and all His members, and to act as though we believe it. Amen.
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