Dear Fr. Leo
When we distribute communion we say, “The Body of Christ. “We don’t say “The Body of Jesus.” So, when we are in Adoration do we say we are in the presence of Christ or Jesus? – V
Dear V:
Great question. The short answer is that we are essentially talking about the same guy. However, language is important. The very precise language that the Church uses is “Corpus Christi” (the Body of Christ). This makes sense when we are talking about the Eucharist because it avoids confusion about the enormity of the reality of what and who we are receiving. When we receive Holy Communion, we are receiving the complete reality Jesus Christ, crucified, died, risen and ascended. Simply saying “The Body of Jesus” lends itself to identifying just the reality of the historical Jesus. The reality of Christ, and the reality of the Eucharist is much larger. It is a transhistorical reality, not limited by time and space, or even the laws of physics for that matter. When we receive the Eucharist, we are actively participating in the entirety of who Christ is and who the Church is.
Saying “The Body of Christ” also avoids an age-old heresy that holds that what one is receiving is the physical body of Jesus (Ewww!). The sacramental reality of Christ truly and substantially present in the Eucharist operates in a different way. The term “transubstantiation” helps us to understand what is going on.
Let me get a little philosophical with you. Using Greek philosophical categories, all persons and things are made up of two things. First, there is what they are in and of themselves. We call this their “identity” or “essence” or “substance.” Second is their physical attributes. What a person or thing looks like. It’s height, depth, length, mass, shape, texture, etc. We call this a thing’s “attributes” or “existence” or “accidents” Think of yourself for example. You have always been you and no one else. This is your identity, essence, substance. But your physical attributes are quite different now than when you were a child. Your body has matured along with all of your physical attributes. This are your attributes, existence, accidents. Your substance is the same, but your accidents have changed over time. Your identity is the same. It is your attributes that are different.
In the best way we have come up with so far to describe what goes on in the Eucharist, this process is reversed. In the Eucharist, it is the substance which changes, not the accidents. It still looks like bread, tastes like bread, smells like bread, but through the power of the Holy Spirit through the prayer of the Church, in its essence or substance, it is transformed into the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ. It is this process of “transubstantiation” wherein the substance is changed, but the accidents remain the same.
Finally, saying “The Body of Christ’ helps emphasize the further reality of the Eucharist in that who we are is joined at the same level of being with Christ and every other person in full communion with the Church. This includes not only the saints, triumphant in heaven, but also those being purified in purgatory and all the rest of us still on our pilgrim journey in the Church here on earth.
So, in sum, the Eucharist is a huge reality, encompassing not only our participation in the passion, death, resurrection, ascension of Christ, and the sending of the Holy Spirit, but also our communion at the very level of being with Christ and all the Church. Saying “The Body of Christ” emphasizes and encompasses all of these sacred mysteries in which we participate. It’s a big deal.
That the reality of the dynamic presence of Christ in the Mass. However, his true and substantial presence does not go away when Mass is over. We reserve the Blessed Sacrament for three reasons: first, to take it to the dying; second, to take it to the sick; and third, for adoration by the faithful.
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament really is a little slice of heaven. Think about it. What is heaven but to be in the true presence of Christ forever. What is adoration, but to be in the true presence of Christ for a time. But if we understand the expansive nature of the reality of the Eucharist, then we are also in the presence of the Mystical Body of Christ as well. That means that when we kneel in adoration, we acknowledge our union with all the angels and saints as well. It is heady stuff. No wonder we spend so much time on our knees.