Talk of Atty. Marwil N. Llasos, OP to the Apostleship of Prayer
September 6, 2013
In opening the Year of Faith, Pope Benedict VXI expressed his wish “to arouse in every believer the aspiration to profess the faith in fullness, and with renewed conviction, with confidence and hope. It will also be a good opportunity to intensify the celebration of the liturgy, especially in the Eucharist which is the summit towards which the activity of the Church is directed, and also the source from which all its power flows.”
According to the Pope, all activity of the Church is directed towards the Eucharist. The Church draws its power from it. That power is the power to transform!
Biblical basis of the Eucharist
Before I discuss the transforming power of the Eucharist, as a Catholic apologist, I wish to discuss briefly the Biblical basis of the Eucharist to affirm us in its truth. We start with John 6, the “Bread of Life” discourse. Here, the Lord clearly states that we have to “eat his flesh” and “drink his blood” (Jn. 6:53-54). Jesus meant what he said. It is for this reason that many, including his very own followers, left Him on account of a doctrinal controversy (Jn. 6:66). The Lord did not call them back to explain what he said. The explanation came very much later, in the Upper Room at the Last Supper. It was there when He told His apostles, “this is my Body” and “this is my Blood” (Lk. 22:19-20). He then commissioned the apostles to “do this in memory of me,” thereby ordaining them as priests with the power to transform bread and wine into His very own Body and Blood, just as what He has just done.
In Biblical understanding, “memorial” means more that merely recalling a past event. It means entering into the event itself – participating in it at present. Thus, in the Holy Eucharist, we are privileged to be in the salvific event itself – the atoning death of Christ on the Cross on Good Friday. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass “makes present” (“re-present’) for us the paschal event.
Another Biblical basis of the Eucharist is 1 Corinthians 11:23-30 where St. Paul recalls the “tradition” (“handing over”) of the institution of the Holy Eucharist which he himself received. St. Paul reminds us that “whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord” (1 Cor. 11:27). We cannot profane a mere symbol; hence, it is clear that the bread and wine is really the Body and Blood of the Lord. St. Paul adds that “for any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself” (1 Cor. 11:29). Catholics “discern” the bread and wine to be the Body and Blood of Christ.
Transforming power of Christ
Christ has the power to transform. We see this in His actions in the paschal mystery. Jesus transformed Hid Body into a gift. He transformed violence into an act of love. The greatest crime of all, deicide, was transformed into sacrifice that redeemed us. The God-man, in solidarity with the human race, paid for the malice of sin that offended the infinite dignity of God. Jesus transformed death into life by the power of His resurrection. It is in dying that Jesus destroyed our death and in rising that He restored our life. Death no longer has the final say.
The Lord transformed (and He continues to do so today through His priests) the bread and wine into His body and Blood. We call this mystery transubstantiation. The substance of bread and wine is transformed into the substance of Christ’s Body and Blood. Another kind of “transubstantiation” happens during the Mass. He transforms the communicants into Himself – we become also become the “Body of Christ.” We become Christ. This is called “Christification.”
Finally, through the ordained ministry of the priesthood as well as though the mission and commitment of His followers who have become like Him, the Lord transforms the world into a House of Peace, the very dwelling place of the Lord.
Transforming power of the Eucharist
Since Christ has the power to transform, and the Eucharist is Christ, thus the Eucharist has the power to transform.
We understand this first and foremost in the concept of the Eucharist as communion (1 Cor. 10:16; cf. 1 John 1:3). Communion (“koinonia”) means fellowship. The Eucharist transforms our understanding our relationship – that our human life finds meaning only in relation to others. We call that relationship “fellowship.” In the Eucharist, we have fellowship with God – a personal relationship with the Father as his dearest son or daughter (cf. 1 Jn. 3:1). We have fellowship with Christ by partaking of His Body and Blood. Nothing can be more personal than this relationship where we receive the Lord in the entirety of His being – Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity – in the Holy Eucharist.
We then have fellowship with one another. This fellowship transcends space and time; hence, our communion with all the Saints – in heaven, on earth and in purgatory. This fellowship creates in us the awareness that the next person seated on the pew is our brother or sister in Christ. This awareness extends to those who are not in the Church, the outside world, that they too are our brothers and sisters and that we have responsibility towards them because we are our brother’s keeper.
The Eucharist has the power to transform the world by entrusting us with a mission. Before we are dismissed at Mass, we are given a mission: Ite Missa est – Go, you are sent. We are sent to the world to transform it with the power of Christ. One of the challenges of our time issecularization – a society and a culture without the need for God. Sacrosanctum Conciliumof the Second Vatican Council deplores the fact that many “has relegated the Christian faith to the margins of life as if it were irrelevant to everyday affairs” (SC 77). We see this in government, the media and the society itself. We are living in a post-Christian world where practical atheism reigns supreme. There is a disconnect between faith and life.
This realization drove me to politics. My sole desire was to put God back in the center of things. I wanted to imbue the government and the society with the core values of the Gospel. I did not win, but nearly a million Filipinos believed my vision and joined me in my crusade.
Our mission then is to transform the world with the power of Christ in the Eucharist. We have to begin wherever we find ourselves – in our family, in the workplace, and even in the voting booth. As Christians, we must be an integrated person. There must be no dichotomy between our faith and life.
We must draw from our experience of the Eucharist the values, beliefs and graces that can shape the culture in which we live. Nourished and strengthened by the Body and Blood of Christ, we must share the Lord with others.
We must radiate the light of Christ by the power of Christian witnessing.
How are we to do this? Our participation in the Eucharist is essential for this to happen. Since we cannot give what we don’t have, we must have active participation in the Mass. Quite simply, we cannot spread the power and grace of the Eucharist if we are not participating actively and consciously in the Eucharistic Sacrifice on the Lord’s day.
Since we actively participate in the Mass, only then can we shape life and society as individuals and as a community in our encounter with Christ in the Eucharist. Transformation begins with individual who is incorporated in a transformed community. Transformation always starts with individuals. Then in our family we can create a Eucharist-centered culture – where every member always looks forward to Sunday Mass.
Our transformation must spill over to the society. We must recreate a Christian nation, a Catholic society. This transformation rests on some specifics. As Catholics we must work towards the promotion of the dignity of the human person, respect for the inviolability of life, religious freedom where we are free to call upon the name of the Lord, the protection of the family where the duty to the society begins, performing works of charity, especially for the poorest of the poor, because it is the soul and sustenance of solidarity.
The Eucharist prepares us for mission. Mission is love in action. And so, we enter into the world as messengers of hope and a people who proclaim the mystery we have just celebrated.