An amazing transformation

This is the season when parishes and families everywhere are celebrating First Communion. It’s beautiful to watch the children process solemnly toward the altar in their special clothes to receive this precious sacrament. No matter the nervousness the children might exhibit, we recognize their sincerity and excitement as they participate in this mystery for the first time

Every child preparing for First Communion learns Jesus’ words to the apostles at the Last Supper: “Take this and eat, this is my body.” “Take and drink, this is my blood.” These words to his apostles are the source of our most prized doctrine – the transformation of the bread and wine into Jesus’ own body and blood, his Real Presence among us.

The technical name for this change is transubstantiation.

This doctrine, and our defense of it, has stood the test of time. The Church has celebrated this divine transformation despite misunderstanding and objections from those who do not believe or share our faith.

Jesus’ words of institution at the Last Supper are at the heart of this perennial doctrine. After all, if it is not the true presence of Jesus with us, then what do we receive? If this transformation does not result in Jesus’ presence, then what does Jesus offer us? The answer has remained the same throughout the ages. Jesus offers his apostles his true body and blood. The startling realism of this doctrine clearly is expressed in the Bread of Life discourse in John 6:51-58.

Jesus promised his abiding presence to his apostles and told them to continue, “in memory of me.” Throughout these many centuries in the life of the Church and in the entire history of Catholics in Oklahoma, we have celebrated his words and have embraced his gift. Bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ. This is the gift of the Eucharist.

But there is another transformation, a second promise layered amid the first. In fact, the first transformation happens so that the second transformation can be achieved. 

The second transformation is what keeps us coming up the aisle generation after generation. It is this: we receive the Body of Christ so that we may become the Body of Christ. By receiving all that Jesus offers us, we become the real presence of Jesus in the world. 

For many, this is unremarkable. In our recognition of Blessed Stanley Rother, for example, we honor his witness because his life was offered in imitation of Jesus’ own sacrifice. His martyrdom is a witness to the presence of Christ among the people in Santiago Atitlán and among us.

Or, when we notice a grandmother who bears the burden of a troubled family, we know she understands her sacrifices to be linked to the offering of Christ’s life for others. 

But, we often forget to make the connection with what we celebrate at the altar. The transformation Jesus offers us unites the whole of our lives to the suffering and self-offering of Christ on the cross. 

Not only are we to become like Christ in our charity and our patience, but in our sufferings and work, in our desire to pray and in the burden of our disappointments. They all are transformed into the saving gift of Jesus for us. 

During the liturgy, bread and wine are brought up the aisle to the altar. They are carried through the congregation and placed on the altar to be transformed. This procession is significant. It is a sign that the bread of the everyday and the wine of our living are what is offered there. When we say “Amen” to the body and blood of Christ at communion, we are receiving back what we have offered, transformed into the Real Presence of Jesus Christ. 

When the bread and wine are placed on the altar, every part of our life is offered to be transformed. The burdens we carry into Mass are made into the presence of Jesus in our lives. The joy and gratitude we experience are where Jesus takes up residence in us. 

Remembering the fearful diagnosis at the doctor’s office or recalling the harsh words at home, they also become the places where Jesus is present.
This is where the second transformation takes place. Bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ so that upon receiving Christ, our whole lives become the body and blood of Christ, the Real Presence among us.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church offers a wonderful image in paragraph #1368: “In the catacombs, the Church often is represented as a woman in prayer, arms outstretched in the praying position. Like Christ who stretched out his arms on the cross, through Him, with Him and in Him, she offers herself and intercedes for all men.”

The Church becomes like Christ as she receives the body and blood of Christ. She is transformed into Jesus’ Real Presence. 

Going to Mass and receiving communion is more than fulfilling a duty. We do it so that we can become like Christ. Every part of our life is to become the place where Christ becomes present to the world. 

Our ordinary mundane lives and all the cares they contain are made into a gift for the entire world. Once we say “Amen,” there’s nothing more powerful than this transformation.

If Christ is present in our lives, nothing stands in our way of bringing him to the whole world.