The Real Presence: Do I Believe?

I vividly remember the first time I tasted Communion bread. No, it wasn’t during my First Holy Communion but at a camp organised for all the children who were preparing to receive the sacrament. It was during one of the sessions at the camp that we all received a piece of the unconsecrated host – I think it was meant as a practice session for the big day itself. What I also clearly remember, is my immediate reaction after tasting it. It was sheer disappointment. I was so disappointed that this piece of bread that everyone was making a big deal about tasted the way it did, bland, absolutely flavourless and extremely unappealing to a 9-year-old’s palate. This is it? I wondered. And then quickly a thought came to mind, “Maybe it will taste different after it is ‘blessed’.”

It’s obvious that my 9-year-old self had some kind of awareness that something happens that changes the bread when the words of ‘blessing’ are spoken by the priest. Unfortunately, I’m quite sure I can safely say that I had no idea that the change involved transformation into the flesh of Jesus and that I was really receiving Jesus. Sure, we tell the children over and over again that they will be receiving Jesus when we prepare them for First Holy Communion. But might these be mere empty words thrown around? Do we put in sufficient effort to discuss about the mystery of transubstantiation? That when the priest, with his palms open above the bread and wine, invokes the power of the Holy Spirit and utters the words of consecration, the bread and wine really and truly transform into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Do we stress enough that the consecrated host is not a symbol of the body of Christ? It is the body of Christ.

“Under the consecrated species of bread and wine Christ himself, living and glorious, is present in a true, real, and substantial manner: his Body and his Blood, with his soul and his divinity.” (CCC 1413) This is the belief of the Church, a central tenet in our faith that is rooted in Scripture, particularly in the Gospel according to John, chapter 6. This is a hard teaching and not something I will pretend that I understand. But I believe, and I owe it to grace and the many hours spent in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament that has enabled me to make this act of faith. I now know better that after the ‘blessing’, it is not the taste of the bread that changes but something far greater than I can ever comprehend. Our Catholic faith is above all else a relationship with Jesus. Without a personal encounter with the Lord, no amount of talks, seminars or studies will convince one’s heart of the truth of the Eucharist, but we must begin by planting seeds in young souls about the truth of what we believe without watering it down.

It has been some time now that we have all been deprived from receiving Jesus. Perhaps this is opportune time for us to contemplate on this Bread of Angels and seek forgiveness for our unbelief and for the many times we have taken this gift for granted. May we find ourselves, when the time comes, returning to Mass with a renewed sense of reverence and awe towards the Eucharist. May we truly appreciate the incredible privilege of receiving God himself, as described by St Padre Pio “If people knew the value of the Mass, there would be policemen at the door, to regulate the access to the church every time that a Mass is celebrated.” KA