Corpus Christi: Gnawing on a Hard Saying

It's Corpus Christi Sunday: the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

Weather permitting, we'll have a Corpus Christi procession here in Sauk Centre. That photo is from last year's event. I won't be walking, but I plan to take photos, posting them later today.

Taking what looks like a bit of unleavened bread for a walk makes sense to Catholics who understand our faith — maybe not so much to other folks.

Corpus Christi is Latin for Body of Christ, and what happens to unleavened bread connects to why we've been celebrating ever since that first Easter. (April 20, 2014)

Adoration

(Adoration chapel in Sauk Centre, Minnesota (2013))

I spend an hour each week in that room, doing something that's generally not even close to my top-one-hundred favorite activities: 'doing nothing.'

That's how Eucharistic adoration felt when I started two years back. Staying awake hasn't been a struggle lately, although I'm not sure how midsummer afternoons will be this year. (July 14, 2013)

Folks have many ways of spending their time in the chapel: praying; meditating; reading, either the Bible or one of the many booklets of prayers and meditations kept there. Lately I've started doing prayers from "The Catholic Prayer Book."¹

So, what's the big deal with spending time in that room? It's a nice place: quiet, comfortable, with plenty of reading material. But what's important is the Eucharist in that monstrance: the cross-shaped thing on the table.

My eyes perceive the Eucharist as a disk of unleavened bread: a perception confirmed by other senses each time I receive the Eucharist at Mass. That's all anyone has seen, touched, and tasted for the last two millennia — for the most part.

Some Eucharistic miracles, like the one at Bolsena, aren't well-documented. Others, like what happened at the St. Longinus monestery in Lanciano, are.

Besides documentation, the Lanciano incident left a bit of flesh and five globs of blood.

CSI, Lanciano

(From Junior, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.)
(Monstrance in the Lanciano shrine, 1971 analysis results.)

At the time, some 1,300 years back now, The Frentani city's name was Anxanum at the time. The city had been sacked by Goths, destroyed during the Lombard invasion, rebuilt around a castle built by the new rulers, and I'm getting off-topic.

Anyway, a Basilian hieromonk (It's a real word) doubted that Jesus Christ was really present while saying the Words of Consecration.²

I'm pretty sure that's happened quite a few times before and since — but this time the unleavened bread became flesh, and the wine became blood.

The flesh and blood have long since dried out, but they're still in a church in Lanciano.

The most recent analysis of them I know of was made in 1971. Odoardo Linoli, professor of anatomy and pathological histology/chemistry and clinical microscopy, found that the flesh is human cardiac tissue.

The blood is type AB, the same blood type found on the shroud of Turin. The blood's sero-proteic percentages are consistent with fresh normal blood. Linoli found no trace of preservatives.³

I suppose someone could have been maintaining a scam for all these centuries, making forgeries using technology we don't have yet, but my guess is that a simpler explanation is true.

When Jesus said "eat my flesh," and "this is my body," our Lord meant it. (Matthew 26:26; Mark 14:22)

"This Saying is Hard"

Our Lord didn't mince words about what's needed:

"Jesus said to them, 'Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.

"Whoever eats ¹⁹ my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.

"For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink."
(John 6:53-55)

Matthew 26:26-29 says pretty much the same thing, with emphasis on the forgiveness of sins.

"Eats," in John 6:54, isn't the verb Greeks used for nice human-style eating. It's the verb for how animals eat. "Munch" or "gnaw" are somewhat equivalent words in today's English. (John 6, footnote 19, NAB)

One of the things I like about Jesus is that our Lord doesn't avoid awkward realities.

John 6:60-66 starts with many of our Lord's disciples saying "This saying is hard; who can accept it?" — and ends with many of them leaving.

I'm in Simon Peter's position: I must accept the reality of the Eucharist. There is no other viable option:

"Jesus then said to the Twelve, 'Do you also want to leave?'

"Simon Peter answered him, 'Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

"We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.' "
(John 6:67-69)

As a Catholic, I'm obliged to receive the Eucharist once a year — minimum — and I'm expected to be at Mass each Sunday. Adoration of the Eucharist is a good idea, transubstantiation is what we call the bread and wine becoming flesh and blood, and there's a lot more to say about it. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1373-1381, 2177-2183)

I receive the Eucharist each Sunday, by the way. It's my compromise between the bare-bones minimum and daily Mass. Maybe someday I'll stop being a night owl and make morning Mass part of my routine, and that's another topic.

I understand and accept that our Lord really is present at each Mass, but don't understand how bread and wine become body and blood. As I said last week, I like to understand things: but God's God and I'm not. Some things I can't understand. (May 31, 2015)

Two Millennia and Counting

Accepting that our Lord really is physically present at each Mass is easier for me, now that Peter's Bark has been under under way for two millennia.

As Gamaliel said, "if this endeavor or this activity is of human origin, it will destroy itself."

Since then, the authority my Lord gave Peter has been passed along to hundreds of Popes: including recognized Saints; terrible administrators; and Benedict IX, who was kicked out twice and sold the Papacy once.

An outfit "of human origin" would have torn itself to bits by now: several times. And that's — what else? — yet another topic. (September 14, 2014; July 13, 2014; April 27, 2014)

Finally, a bit of what three recent Popes said about the Eucharist:

"...Really partaking of the body of the Lord in the breaking of the Eucharistic bread, we are taken up into communion with Him and with one another. 'Because the bread is one, we though many, are one body, all of us who partake of the one bread'. In this way all of us are made members of His Body, 'but severally members one of another'...."
("Lumen Gentium," Pope Paul VI (November 21, 1964)

---

"...It is most fitting that my first stop among the Korean people should be in a church such as this, where the minds and hearts of the faithful are constantly raised up in adoration before Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist,

• Christ offering himself to the Father in Sacrifice for our salvation;
• Christ giving himself to us to be eaten as the Bread of Life, so that we, too, may give ourselves for the life of others;
• Christ consoling and strengthening us on our earthly pilgrimage with his abiding presence and friendship.

"In beholding the Word made flesh, now sacramentally present in the Eucharist, the eyes of our bodies are united with the eyes of faith in gazing upon the presence 'par excellence' of Emmanuel, 'God with us', until that day when the sacramental veil will be lifted in the Kingdom of heaven. ..."
("Eucharistic Adoration in the parish church of Nonhyondong," Homily of St. John Paul II (October 7, 1989))

---

"...Actually it is wrong to set celebration and adoration against each other, as if they were competing. Exactly the opposite is true: worship of the Blessed Sacrament is, as it were, the spiritual 'context' in which the community can celebrate the Eucharist well and in truth. Only if it is preceded, accompanied and followed by this inner attitude of faith and adoration can the liturgical action express its full meaning and value...."
("Solemnity of the Sacred Body and Blood of Christ," Pope Benedict XVI (June 7, 2012))

---

Background:

• Matthew 26:26-29
• John 6:53-55
• Code of Cannon Law (English)
  • The Most Holy Eucharist (Cann. 897 - 958)
  • The Reservation and Veneration of the Most Holy Eucharist (Cann. 934 - 944)
• "Solemnity of the Sacred Body and Blood of Christ"
  Pope Benedict XVI (June 7, 2012)
• "Eucharistic Adoration in the parish church of Nonhyondong"
  Homily of St. John Paul II (October 7, 1989)
• "Mysterium Fidei"
  Pope Paul VI (September 3, 1965)
• "Dogmatic Constitution on the Church - Lumen Gentium"
  Pope Paul VI, Documents of the II Vatican Council (November 21, 1964)

Why we celebrate:

• "Death? Been There, Done That"
  (April 5, 2015)
  Particularly
  • Jesus Died - - -
  • - - - and Stopped Being Dead
  • The Last Hour — Two Millennia and Counting
• "God's Kingdom, a Wedding Parable, and the Rest of the Story"
  Guest post (October 12, 2014)
• "Corpus Christi Procession: Sauk Centre, Minnesota, 2014"
  (June 22, 2014)
• "Corpus Christi: 'Whoever Eats My Flesh,' Two Millennia Later"
  (June 22, 2014)
• "Where Past, Present, and Future Come Together"
  Guest post (February 23, 2014)

---

¹ "The Catholic Prayer Book;" Msgr. Michael Buckley (Compiler), Tony Castle (Editor); Servant Books; Revised Updated edition (February 22, 2013)
Paperback ISBN-13: 978-1616366100.

² The Words of Consecration in English are "This is my body, this is my blood." My language wouldn't be close to its present form for more than a thousand years when the Anxanum/Lanciano incident happened, and I've been over that before. (May 24, 2015)

³ ("The Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano:Historical, Theological, Scientific and Photographic Documentation," Fr. Nicola Nasuti, OFM Conv.)

Serenity, Snoring, and Sacred Scriptures

I heard snoring behind me in the Adoration Chapel a few weeks back.

It wasn't me. I haven't fallen asleep there yet, as far as I know, although I've come close. It's a tranquil, serene, soothing place with soft light and a gently murmuring air system. (July 14, 2013)


The Adoration Chapel, Sauk Centre, Minnesota. November 13, 2013.

The Host in that monstrance is the room's focal point, of course: and the reason I go there for an hour each week. I'm hanging out with my Lord, sort of. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1178, 1418, 2691)

I've gotten into the habit of reading one of the Bibles they keep in the Adoration chapel. For one thing, it helps me stay awake. It's also a good way to make sure that I dip into Sacred Scriptures regularly.

Related posts:

• "An Unusually Quick Response to 'Defend Us In Battle' "
  (July 17, 2013 An Unusually Quick Response to "Defend Us In Battle" )
• "An Hour with Jesus: Staying Awake"
  (July 14, 2013)
• "A Billion Ways to be Catholic, and the Spider-Man Principle"
  (December 9, 2012)
  Particularly
  • Many Parts, One Body
  • High-Profile isn't Everything
• "The Important Idea, Charisms, and Working With What I've Got "
  (June 24, 2012)
  Particularly
  • Being Different
  • Research, Writing, and Me
• "Conservative? Liberal? Democrat? Republican? No, I'm Catholic"
  (November 3, 2008)

An Unusually Quick Response to "Defend Us In Battle"

I remembered about my shift at the Adoration chapel today: a half-hour after it started. Adding to my frustration, a time-sensitive chore had to be done before I went there.

I was anything but calm as I swung into the parking lot and signed in. Happily, someone had been able to fill in for me: but my nerves were jangling.

Following my usual routine after getting seated in the Adoration chapel, I said the St. Michael's prayer.

This time, during the phrase "defend us in battle," I felt tension drop out of me.

I'm used to having my moods shift rapidly: but not in that direction.

The rest of my time in the chapel was calm, quiet, and shorter than usual. This week is going to be more hectic than usual: but I'm glad I spent time with the Blessed Sacrament.

Somewhat-related posts:

• "An Hour with Jesus: Staying Awake"
  (July 14, 2013)
• "Prayer! Meditation! Science!"
  (May 3, 2013)
• "Still Learning to Pray"
  (February 17, 2013)

An Hour with Jesus: Staying Awake

The Adoration chapel near St. Paul's in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, is a quiet place.

Light filtering through south-facing windows fills the room with soft light. Even when someone else is there with me, the only sound is a soft murmur from fans in some distant part of the building.

For some folks, it's a wonderfully calm place for prayer, meditation, and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

I'd enjoy taking a nap there, but that's not why I go each week.


Looking into the Adoration chapel near St. Paul's, Sauk Centre, Minnesota. June 26, 2013.

Oops

I signed up for an hour each Wednesday afternoon at the Eucharistic Adoration chapel last month. I've only missed two shifts so far: once because I forgot about the new routine; once because I had to be in North Dakota that day.

Happily, someone was there the day I forgot. It's important for someone to be on hand 24/7 while the chapel is open.

Transubstantiation and All That

That's because my Lord is there: really, physically present in the Eucharist. We call what happens transubstantiation.

It's a hard idea to swallow. Small wonder that folks didn't like it two thousand years back.

Quite a few folks stopped following Jesus when my Lord gave the conditions necessary for eternal life. Like Simon Peter said, though: if we want to live, staying with Jesus is the only option. (John 6:53-60; 66-69 - Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; and Luke 22:19-20, too)

Failure and Trying

I was not a happy camper when I remembered my promise to be at the Adoration chapel: with about seven minutes to go on my shift. I detest making mistakes.

I didn't see a point to 'coming in late' with so little time left on the clock, so I called the lady in charge of scheduling at the chapel and explained the situation.

I suggested that my failure to show up might indicate that I wasn't qualified to be a 'regular' at the chapel. On the other hand, I wanted to keep trying.

The two of us discussed schedules, habits, and ways to help me remember. Spending an hour at the chapel is a routine now, so I don't expect a repeat of that memory lapse. Not soon, anyway.

Feelings

I'm a very emotional man: but try to make decisions based on reason, not feelings. Actually, I think my mercurial mood ricochets help me understand why reason is important.

Some decisions I've made by 'trusting my feelings' haven't had happy results, and that's another topic.

Maybe some folks feel 'uplifted' after an hour at the Adoration chapel. I don't, and didn't expect to.

I'm there because it's a good idea: a way to express my love for Jesus. It's also 'the right thing to do.'

"Because Christ himself is present in the sacrament of the altar, he is to be honored with the worship of adoration. 'To visit the Blessed Sacrament is . . . a proof of gratitude, an expression of love, and a duty of adoration toward Christ our Lord' (Paul VI, MF 66)."
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1418)

They've got books, pamphlets, and prayer cards in the chapel. I've been spending much my time there reading parts of the Old Testament.

My hour with the Blessed Sacrament still feels like 'doing nothing,' sometimes. But although emotions are important: so is doing what I should, whether I feel like it or not. Compared to what some folks have gone through, I've got it easy. More topics.

Posts about faith and feelings:

• "Gray Afternoon of the Soul"
  (April 29, 2012)
• "Catholics Invented Transubstantiation Like Newton Invented Gravity"
  (September 21, 2009)
• "Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta: Born August 26, 1910"
  (August 26, 2009)
  Particularly
  • Mother Teresa's Letters and the Dark Night of the Soul

Other related posts:

• "The Important Idea, Charisms, and Working With What I've Got"
  (June 24, 2012)
  Particularly
  • Prayer, Pep Rallies, and Me
• "Sunday Obligation, Rules, Emotions, and Me"
  (October 9, 2011)
• "Corpus Christi, and Running into Walls"
  (June 26, 2011)
  Particularly
  • The Eucharist: Something to Gnaw On
• "The Road to Emmaus, and Rome, and Sauk Centre, and - - -"
  (May 8, 2011)
• "Really 'Spiritual' Experiences: Those are Okay"
  (April 22, 2010)

The Adoration chapel near St. Paul's, Sauk Centre, Minnesota. June 26, 2013.

The Important Idea, Charisms, and Working With What I've Got

Being Catholic is quite simple. The rules boil down to a very simple idea.

Late in his life, Saint John was famous among Christians. He had actually known Jesus, been with my Lord at Golgotha, and had a sort of inside track where it came to understanding what Jesus had taught.

"Love One Another:" THAT'S IT?!!

Saint Jerome says that when John the Apostle was very old and weak, he'd be carried out to meet people. Then he revealed what he'd learned while at the side of Jesus:

"My dear children, love one another."
("St John, Apostle and Evagelist," EWTN)

That was the whole message.

The profound insights and knowledge learned at the side of the Second Parson of the Trinity were, at their core: "My dear children, love one another."

For two millennia, the Catholic Church has been passing on the same message:

• 'Love God, love your neighbor'
  (Matthew 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-31)
• Everybody is our neighbor
  (Matthew 5:43-44, Mark 12:28-31, Luke 10:25-30; Catechism, 1825)

All the rules, all the explanations, all the kilometers of shelving in the Vatican's office archive, all that boils down to "love one another:" plus the reminder that "one another" includes everybody. Even the guy who cut ahead of me in the checkout line.

As I've said before, all those rules and explanations are what happen when folks try to weasel out of the basic principles. My opinion.

A Brief Interruption: About Fortnight for Freedom

I'll get back with my reasons for acting the way I do, right after promoting something I think is important.

Today is 'Day Four' of Fortnight for Freedom. I plan to have a post focusing on that ready later today. For the moment, though, I'll just add a few links here:

• USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) resource pages:
  • Conscience Protection
    (usccb.org/conscience)
  • Fortnight for Freedom
    (fortnight4freedom.org)
• My link lists to specific items:
  • "Fortnight for Freedom Resources; Religious Freedom Backgrounders"
    (June 14, 2012)

Some folks have more options for paying attention to Fortnight for Freedom than I do. As far as I know, there isn't a prayer vigil, pep rally, or anything else 'official' having to do with F. f. F. here in Sauk Centre, Minnesota. Maybe I missed the announcements: or maybe, as someone said, 'we can only do so much.'

Prayer, Pep Rallies, and Me

I could travel to the nearest town where folks get together to observe Fortnight for Freedom: but I haven't done that. I haven't even committed to sit in the Adoration Chapel down the street on a regular basis.

That's not because I think pep rallies are bad, or prayer is pointless, or that folks who keep vigil in the Adoration Chapel are wasting their time.

I think there's a time and place for pep rallies: and know that some folks seem to get a charge out of them.

As for prayer and vigils: I admire folks who do that sort of thing. I pray, of course: it's 'in the rules.' But my prayers tend to be relatively short; and often linked to particular routines, like eating.

I still experience spending an hour at the Adoration Chapel as 60 minutes of 'doing nothing:' but I'm working on that.

Being Different

I'm not upset that God didn't outfit me with abilities I haven't got. Like 1 Corinthians 12 says:

"³ There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit;

"there are different forms of service but the same Lord;

"there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone.

"To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit. "
(1 Corinthians 12:4-7)

I've found that I'm good at something that doesn't show up in the list that follows. On the other hand, "...the expression of wisdom..." and "...the expression of knowledge..." come close. (1 Corinthians 12:8) By the way, I've got the full teaching authority of "some guy with a blog." I don't speak for the Church. This is speculation on my part.

Research, Writing, and Me

I haven't 'always enjoyed writing.' Like any other skill, I had to learn my language, and how to organize ideas. But as soon as I knew how, writing was fun. So was finding information, and sorting it into something coherent.

Not everybody is good at putting words together. That occasionally helped me make a living by having someone pay me to find information and put ideas into writing. By now, I'm pretty good at doing both.

Oh, sinful pride? I don't think so.

If I assumed that I was responsible for having the abilities I do: yeah, that would be a bad idea. As it is, I recognize that God gave me a kit that includes really good language skills.

Humility is a virtue, but it doesn't mean ignoring what God gave me, or being a doormat:

• "Pride: or, Humility isn't Being Delusional"
  (June 23, 2012)
• "Pride, Walking by Faith, and Fathers"
  (June 17, 2012)

I may not be a top-notch vigil keeper, and don't seem drawn to saying one novena after another. But writing is something I'm good at. I think that gift can be useful for something besides earning a paycheck.

Writing as a Charism???

Saying "I'm drawn by the Spirit to write" sounds - odd, to be charitable about it. Certainly when I imagine saying that about myself. On the other hand, there may be something to the idea. Or, not.

I found this footnote at the end of 1 Corinthians 12, in the New American Bible:

"There are some features common to all charisms, despite their diversity: all are gifts (charismata), grace from outside ourselves; all are forms of service (diakoniai), an expression of their purpose and effect; and all are workings (energemata), in which God is at work. Paul associates each of these aspects with what later theology will call one of the persons of the Trinity, an early example of 'appropriation.' "
(1 Corinthians 12, footnote 3)

I wasn't familiar with that last word, "appropriation:" not in this context. I found what looks like a pretty good definition:

"...In theology, appropriation is used in speaking of the different Persons of the Trinity. It consists in attributing certain names, qualities, or operations to one of the Persons, not, however, to the exclusion of the others, but in preference to the others...."
("Appropriation," The Catholic Encyclopedia (1907))

Okay, so there are a wide variety of charisms, but all charisms are:

1. Gifts (charismata)
   • Grace from outside ourselves
2. Forms of service (diakoniai)
   • An expression of their purpose and effect
3. Workings (energemata)
   • In which God is at work

I think my knack with words is a gift, so it fits the first point.

I can write as service to others. I've written 'purely for my own enjoyment,' but that isn't as rewarding as it might sound. So I think writing can fit the second point too.

Whether or not my writing is something "in which God is at work" is a good question. I hope so: but figure that I'd better leave that decision up to God. If God is getting something done by having me write? Then what I do in the blog, and elsewhere, is a charism.

If not, well: I'll find out at my particular judgment. (Catechism, 1013, 1021) (August 27, 2011) Until I get a better alternative, I'll muddle along on the assumption that writing is one way I can serve my Lord.

Related posts:

• Doing our jobs
  • "The New Evangelization: Clear Voices"
    (April 12, 2012)
    Particularly
    • Clear Voices, Practicing Catholics, and a Big Church
  • "Speaking in Tongues and Getting a Grip"
    (June 1, 2011)
  • "Faith, Works, and Spirituality for Dummkopfs"
    (October 5, 2011)
  • "Reflections on Isaiah, 2nd Corinthians, the Gospel of Mark, and Saint Faustina"
    (March 7, 2009)
  • "Unity, Diversity, and Being Catholic"
    (August 26, 2010)
• Being Catholic
  • "Taking Life a Thousand Years at a Time"
    (June 10, 2012)
  • "Fasting, Penance: and Infinite Depths of Joy"
    (June 3, 2012)
  • "Street Performers and Making Progress"
    (May 6, 2012)
  • "Martial Arts and the Battle for Purity"
    (April 15, 2012)
  • "Marching Through Time"
    (April 1, 2012)

Conservative? Liberal? Democrat? Republican? No, I'm Catholic

My father-in law has been asked, from time to time, if he's conservative - or liberal. His answer: "I'm Catholic."

I'd give the same answer.

Catholic teachings are quite definite, so it's possible to peg them on the American political spectrum. As long as you don't look at the big picture. By taking bits and pieces of Catholic beliefs, and the history of Catholics in America, it's 'quite clear' that Catholics are:

• Conservative
  • Because of our (now counter-cultural) beliefs about
    • Pre-, extra-, and non-marital sex
    • Abortion
• Liberal
  • Because of Catholic teaching on
    • The death penalty
    • Some social justice issues
• Democrat
  • Since most Catholics voted Democrat in 20th century presidential elections
  • Ted Kennedy goes to a Catholic church
• Republican
  • Since Many Catholics
    • Don't always vote for Democrats
    • Preferred Bush to Gore

I think that Catholic loyalty to the Democratic party has been eroding, as more of us catch on that the party of the Kennedys and Nancy Pelosi isn't the party of Al Smith and FDR.

The Election's Tomorrow: So I Prayed

Sitting in a quiet room and 'doing nothing' a day before a critical election may seem like an odd thing to do. Particularly for a citizen who cares deeply about issues that will be decided.

But, around 3:00 p.m. today, I was in the Adoration Chapel behind St. Paul's Church in Sauk Centre.



I think spending time before the Blessed Sacrament is time well-spent. I arrived at about 2:40, and three others arrived before 3:00. That doesn't sound like much, but Sauk Centre is home to about 4,000 people, and most of us work during the day.

The point is that, besides writing, talking to people, and doing the usual pre-election things, I think it's important to pray. For a clear head, if nothing else.

More, about

• "Obama, McCain, Life, Death, Abortion, Voting, and this American Catholic"