What You’re Missing at Mass

1. What You’re Missing at Mass But it’s been there all along!

2. What is it?

3. IHS • It’s a “Christogram” • Symbol for the name of Jesus •  Greek (iota, eta, sigma) and are the first three letters in the name Jesus, ιησυς or capitalized, ΙΗΣΟΥΣ. Turn the sigma into an “S.” • Probably NOT: IesousHominumSalvator = Jesus, savior of humankind.

4. What is it?

5. XP or PX • It’s a “Christogram” • Symbol for Christ • Greek letters chi (x) and rho (p) • The first letters of the Greek word "XPICTOC" (pronounced Christos)

6. Why Doesn’t the 2nd Reading Fit? • Year A, B, C • Year A = Matthew • Year B = Mark & John • Year C = Luke • First reading compliments the Gospel. • Second reading follows its own order, not dependent on the Gospel.

7. Consubstantial • Logos • Arius, 318 • Council of Nicea, 325 • Homoousius(In Latin, consubstantialis) • Constantinople I, 381

8. Filioque • “Proceeds from the Father and the Son” • Orthodox: “Proceeds from the Father through the Son” • Toledo III 589 • Adopted as official doctrine, circa 1000 & added to the Creed • July 16, 1054: Leo IX’s representative, Humbert, excommunicates Byzantine Patriarch Cerularius, & Emperor Michael Constantine & all their followers

9. Trinitarian Eucharistic Prayers • Addressed to God as Father. • Epiclesis: Asking the Father to send the Spirit to make the gifts holy. • Confection of the Eucharist. • Second epiclesis in the anamnesis: Asking the Spirit to gather into one all of us who receive the Eucharist.

10. Four Eucharistic Prayers • One: The Roman Canon, began to be used exclusively in the 6th or 7th century. • Two: Comes from an ancient Greek Eucharistic Prayer formula of Hippolytus, who died in 235. Source: Archdiocese of New York

11. Four Eucharistic Prayers • Three: Largely derived from the Roman Canon with some elements rearranged and enriched by formulas drawn from other liturgical traditions. Includes a prayer formula for commemorating the saint of the day or the patron saint. • Four: Drawn in large part from the Eastern liturgy of the Church in Antioch. Tells the story of salvation history. Source: Archdiocese of New York

12. 10 Eucharistic Prayers? • U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops obtained approval for the use other Eucharistic Prayers • 2 for Reconciliation • 4 for various circumstances: Unity; Guidance along the way of salvation; Jesus the way to the Father; Jesus’s deeds “Open our eyes to the needs of our brothers.”

13. The Real Presence • The dogma arises from Scripture. Jesus said “This is my Body, this is my Blood.” • In the Gospel of John, Jesus talks about eating his “flesh” and drinking his “blood” He does not modify these statements despite objections by the Jewish authorities who are grossed out.

14. The Real Presence • At the Council of Trent in 1551 (The Council ran from 1545-1563) the Real Presence gets special emphasis, which is quoted verbatim in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Trent uses three words to describe how Christ is contained in the Eucharist: “Truly. Really. Substantially.”

15. The Real Presence • Truly – It does not point to an outside reality. • Really – It is ontological, and order of being. It is also objective: It doesn’t depend on the thoughts of the minister or the communicant. It is God’s action, not a response to faith. Faith acknowledges the Presence that is already there. A lack of faith doesn’t render the Presence unreal.

16. The Real Presence • Substantially (Substance) – It is real. • “That which a thing was intended to be.” • Substance is basic reality, what stands under the appearance. What a thing is in itself. (This is why the Eucharist can be adored: The basic reality is Jesus Christ.)

17. The Real Presence • Substance cannot be divided. The substance of the Eucharist becomes the whole of Christ. In Latin, sui generes, not involving “accident,” they way it appears. • The Eucharist still has the physical properties of bread and wine. • It is futile to try to prove or disprove this by physical experiments.

18. The Real Presence • The Real Presence can be misunderstood, either too carnally or too insubstantially. • It isn’t cannibalism! Don’t be materialistic! • It’s not a natural presence that can get lonely in the Tabernacle. You can eat ice cream after Communion and Jesus won’t get cold. • The Eucharist isn’t Jesus in disguise.

19. The Real Presence • St. Thomas Aquinas: In Himself, naturally, Jesus of Nazareth is in heaven. • But in a sacramental mode, Jesus is present in the Eucharist. • St. Thomas says we don’t see the shape and colors of the Body of Christ in the Host and Chalice. You can’t say, “His head is here, His feet are there.”

20. The Real Presence • It’s just like my soul isn’t just in my head or just in my foot. It’s part of my entire being. • This is why you can break a host and still get all of Jesus. It’s like if you break a mirror, each fragment will reflect the entire object. • Can we move, eat, drink and have processions with the Eucharist, since it’s His body? Yes. It is a Real but sacramental presence – so Jesus is not harmed.

21. The Real Presence • It is knowable only to the intellect that accepts the Word of God in faith. • God chooses to reveal himself to us, to enter into relationship and to elicit our cooperation. It is God’s action. Faith is our response. But it is God who takes the first step. • The Real Presence is a memorial of Christ’s historic presence on earth and a pledge of His future return.

22. Who’s There? • Christ is present five ways at mass: • 1) In the congregation. (When two or three are gathered in My name, I am in their midst.) • 2) In the Word proclaimed. • 3) In the person of the priest. • 4) In the sacraments. (If there is a marriage or a baptism or an anointing of the sick.) • 5) In the host and chalice

23. Who’s There? • Critics use St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas in arguing which presence is most important. • Pius XII wrote in 1942 about four presences but said the Eucharist is most important. • Paul VI in a 1965 encyclical added a fifth presence (the Word proclaimed) but says the primary presence is the Eucharist. He also calls the Real Presence in the Eucharist the presence “par excellence,” over and above the others.

24. Who’s There? • Vatican II’s document on the Liturgy uses the Latin word maximaeto describe the presence in the Eucharist. • John Paul II also says the Eucharistic presence takes precedence. • The indwelling of the Spirit in the community does not trans-substantiate the people. • Jesus of Nazareth, who lived, died, rose and ascended is totally present in the Eucharist, not in the other things. • The ecclesial presence is not more important than the Real Presence.

25. Who’s There? • “Personalist” arguments see the importance of human relationships. • The essence of being personal means relating to other people. • But under the appearance is the substance of the person. • Real Presence is necessary in the Eucharist first before community takes place.

26. Who’s There? • Personalists look at the significance of the meal and say the meal is more important than the Eucharist, itself. This is where you get the terms transfinalization and transsignification. • Dulles calls the words “ugly” but goes on to say the terms are “harmless but deficient” because they don’t get to what happens to the elements, themselves.

27. The Real Presence • John Paul II says there is a “new reality” in the sacrament. It isn’t just a sign, but a person that subsists in its (His) own right. • The Presence still exists even if all the people vanish. The Presence is objective, not dependent on the perception of it. (It is still God’s action.)

28. Eucharistic Adoration • The Magisterium really likes Eucharistic Adoration, although it also likes the modern reforms to the Mass. • To deny adoration denies the Real Presence. • John Paul II really likes devotion outside of Mass. • Adoration gets us to focus on the full meaning of the Real Presence.

29. Eucharistic Adoration • By being born, Jesus gave us Himself as a companion. • He is an abiding presence as our companion on the way, allowing us to converse, pour out our problems and get help. • Adoration is not making a blank of your mind. Allow the Lord to direct your thoughts.

30. Bread AND WINE • The sacrament operated on two levels. • Bread signifies nutrition. • Wine signifies joy of the soul. “Jesus is the joy of the soul the same way wine gives joy to the heart.” • The full symbolism isn’t imparted by receiving only one species. The sacrament should be given under both species.

31. Bread AND WINE • In heaven there is no separation between the Body and Blood. • The sacrament joins all of us together, unifying us now as well as unifying us with the whole Church of all time.