Sacramental Real Presence

Mystery! It lies at the heart of our topic. But what is mystery? We speak of the mystery of life, the mysteries of the universe, things that have no discernable answer. Yet we also use the term in a pedes- trian fashion. Don’t we all love a mystery? There is nothing better on a rainy afternoon than to settle down with a good mystery novel. And don’t we all expect to find the answer at the end of the last chapter? The point of the mystery is to solve it, right? That is not the kind of mystery we are speaking Rodica about here. We are talking about a mystery that doesn’t lend itself to solutions. It is a mystery that Stoicoiu invites us in, opens us up, and begs us enter often and deeply. But no matter how frequently we are Rodica M. M. exposed or how many times we partake, we will never do more than glimpse and grasp at the truth, Stoicoiu is an as in a mirror darkly. It is like the mystery of love: the more we know, the more there is to know. associate professor in the theology Indeed, the mystery we are speaking of is not the cheap dime-store novel variety, but the mystery department at of God as met in the sacramental encounter of the Eucharist. We speak of this mystery using the Mount Saint language of symbol. We encounter it most fully in the presence of a celebrating community. This is Mary’s University, in Emmitsburg, the mystery that lies at the heart of sacramental Real Presence. To begin to understand this mystery Maryland. She is we need to understand how it is communicated, hence we will examine the role of sacrament, of a graduate of the symbol, and we will look at how it is celebrated in our worship. University of Notre Dame (MA in Christ as sacrament Sacramental transformation theology) and The Catholic University The word “sacrament” comes from the Latin Today we encounter the ongoing presence of of America (Ph.D. sacramentum. That was the term chosen by the Christ in the world through his body, the Church. in systematic early Church to translate the Greek word myste- The church is the continuous sacramentum/ theology). She has rion, “mystery.” Sacramentum is a good word for mysterion of christ in the world. through the worked in pastoral ministry for over the job, though its literal meaning as a contract Church, we who are baptized are transformed; twenty years or agreement doesn’t quite encompass the open- we are to live as Christ himself lived: as a for- and is currently endedness of the word “mystery.” For the early giving, compassionate, and inclusive people of director of liturgy at St. Agnes Church there were many mysteries/sacraments, God. Hence sacraments are fundamentally com- Catholic Church more than seven, and the primary mysterion was munal in nature. The seven sacraments are spe- in Shepherdstown, Christ himself (see sidebar: Seven in Number, p. cific, special manifestations of this reality where West Virginia. She 9). “Augustine described sacraments as ‘visible we focus on one element or another of the Pas- is married and lives in the Maryland forms of invisible grace,’ and included a wide va- chal Mystery in our lives (see sidebar: What is countryside with riety of actions and objects in his list: the kiss of a Sacrament?, p. 9). Sacraments transform hu- her husband and peace, the font of baptism, blessed salt, the creed, man experience in light of the mystery of Christ. a small pack of the Our Father, the ashes of penance” (Rees 14). basset hounds. They are those events that draw us more deeply For them and for us, christ is sacrament. to into the mystery of god. For example, think speak of Christ as sacrament means that through of the Eucharist. It is not a sacrament because Christ, especially in the Eucharist, we encoun- it involves people eating and drinking together. ter the mystery of God in deeper and more pro- Rather, it is a sacrament because it transforms found ways, and our experience of being human what it means to gather as a people and eat and is transformed in light of the mystery of his life, drink the paschal meal. This eucharistic experi- death, and resurrection (the Paschal Mystery). ence is permeated with new meaning—the or-

8 Ordinary Time 1 2010 Today’s LITURGY [The Eucharist] is a mystery that invites us in, opens us up, and begs us enter often and deeply.

dinary is transformed into an extra- tion that formed those who celebrated Engaging reality ordinary new reality. Who we are it into the body of Christ, the Church. through symbol as human beings is altered. We are In this letter, Paul is concerned that Sacramental Real Presence con- called to live out the reality of our they do these actions well in order veys its meaning through symbol. We sacramental experience in our daily for the sacrament to truly transform are making a basic distinction here lives, changing our relationships and them and change their lives. between a symbol and a sign. Think the world around us. We are to live Paul’s concern should also be our of a stop sign. It has only one mean- own. Do we understand the Eucha- out in our own lives what it means to ing—stop—no matter what excuses rist as a saving action in which we be the mystery of the sacrament of you give to the police officer who partake? do we understand that in Church. has just pulled you over. But a sym- our repeated partaking of this sac- Eucharist as encounter rificial action we are being formed bol has numerous meanings. think and event into the image of Christ? It matters of the symbol of water in baptism. Let us consider then what we mean how we remember and celebrate this To the person being immersed in that when we speak of sacramental Real action. it matters that we are fully water it speaks of washing away sin, Presence. The presence of Christ in engaged, that we pray and sing and and as they sink beneath the surface the Eucharist is a sacramental one. move and act with our whole being, it is a dying to self. As they rise from It is transformative—a charged en- as one community in thanksgiving the depths they are rising to new life. counter with a reality that is meant to before our God. Symbols are complex, multivalent change who we are and how we live. In it, we encounter the sacrament of Christ through the sacrament of his What is a Sacrament? Church. But in order for this to hap- “The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ pen, the encounter must be repeated and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. over and over again. only by cele- The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and brating this reality repeatedly will its make present the graces proper to each sacrament. They bear fruit in meaning be instilled into our lives. those who receive them with the required disposition” (Catechism of Only through repeated encounters the Catholic Church 1131). can we live it out through our words and actions. Seven in Number The church has understood this “The whole liturgical life of the Church revolves around the Eucha- from its earliest days. Certainly this ristic sacrifice and the sacraments. There are seven sacraments in the was Paul’s understanding. In his first Church: Baptism, Confirmation or Chrismation, Eucharist, Penance, letter to the Corinthians he gives us Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony.... As she has done our earliest account of the Eucharist. for the canon of Sacred Scripture and for the doctrine of the faith, the In describing and explaining the Eu- Church, by the power of the Spirit who guides her ‘into all truth,’ has charist to this wayward community, gradually recognized this treasure received from Christ and, as the he tells them that they are to make faithful steward of God’s mysteries, has determined its ‘dispensation’ Christ’s actions their own, and that in (John 16:13; cf. Matthew 13:52, 1 Corinthians 4:1). Thus the Church celebrating the Eucharist repeatedly has discerned over the centuries that among liturgical celebrations they would appropriate its meaning there are seven that are, in the strict sense of the term, sacraments into their own lives. the Eucharist instituted by the Lord” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1113, 1117). was not an object but an event, an ac-

Today’s LITURGY Ordinary Time 1 2010 9 [The Eucharist] is transformative— a charged encounter with a reality that is meant to change who we are and how we live. realities. their meanings can never Historical perspectives deeply into the mystery. gone was be exhausted, and if those meanings This split between reality and the understanding of the communal, are to be disclosed, they require the symbol can be traced to a change in relational reality of the Eucharist. human person to engage them, to our understanding of symbol that oc- Gone was the early Church’s under- participate in them. It is not enough curred in the ninth century. For more standing of Eucharist as action and to stare at the waters of baptism, we reasons than this short article can event. during this time period peo- have to enter the font, be immersed explain, symbols began to be under- ple required reassurance that christ in its depths, experience the reality. stood as signs, their complex levels was truly present. This was partially So it is with all symbols. They must of significance reduced (usually) to due to the societal insecurities of the be experienced if they are to be un- one. It was a shift away from under- medieval period and partially due derstood fully. standing symbols as evocative of re- to a shift in Christology that placed It is because of these character- ality and a move toward seeing them Christ squarely up in heaven (and istics that symbols became the lan- as signs that clearly elucidate that hence raised the question of how he guage of sacraments. The basic sym- reality. It was a move from “revela- could also be in the Eucharist). to bol of Christian life, our touchstone tion to explanation” (Mitchell, Cult assure people that christ was truly in sacramental encounter, is the Pas- and Controversy 53). Such a move present meant concentrating on the chal Mystery itself. It is the symbol reduces the levels of meaning con- historical reality of christ’s body from which all other symbols are to veyed by symbols; hence the mean- and blood in the bread and wine. The be interpreted. Through the celebra- ing of sacraments is also reduced. focus was on the Eucharist as an ob- tion of the sacraments we come to a For example, baptism becomes sim- ject, the historical flesh and blood of deeper understanding of this mystery ply a washing away of sin, its other Christ made present (Mitchell, Cult by focusing on one facet or another meanings lost. Eucharist becomes and Controversy 80). of its reality. Symbols mediate our focused upon sacrifice alone, with- One theologian who moved away encounters. They require our partici- out the accompanying theology of pation and they speak to us on many from such explanations was Saint levels. They are not the opposite of the Lord’s Supper. One can go on in Thomas Aquinas. He presented the reality—they allow us to enter more like manner through all seven sacra- concept of transubstantiation as a deeply into reality. And this is a criti- ments. counter to the crudely physical ex- cal point because many people today One effect of this limitation of planations of Real Presence current still think of symbols as something symbolic meaning is to restrict how at that time. His focus was on the that is opposed to reality. Hence the the Eucharist is understood as the objects of bread and wine and his ex- old phrase, “It’s not real, it’s just a real presence of christ. the sacra- planation made use of the philosoph- symbol.” nothing could be further mental understanding that encom- ical categories of Aristotle. In brief, from the truth. Through our encoun- passed the concept of mysterion Aristotle understood substance to be ter with the symbol, we are changed, was replaced by a focus on histori- the underlying universal reality held re-formed into the image of christ, cal Real Presence. By the eleventh in common by like objects. For ex- and called to live this image out in century, to speak of the sacramental ample, all people are human because our lives. But for some, this deeper understanding of Real Presence was they share the underlying substance meaning of symbol is dismissed be- to deny Real Presence. the focus of “humanness,” etc. in transub- cause, for them, sacraments are not was solely on a crudely historical stantiation, the underlying reality or actions in which all are involved conception of the Eucharist. gone substance of “breadness” and “wine- through symbolic encounter but rath- was the understanding of Eucharist ness” are changed into the underly- er objects to be observed, passively. as symbolic reality that led one more ing reality or substance of christ’s

10 Ordinary Time 1 2010 Today’s LITURGY Sacramental Real Presence takes into consideration the entire celebration, the word proclaimed, the community gathered—action, object, and event. body and blood, while the accidents rather than opposes it. By focusing mons 227). We need to ask ourselves (the physical appearance) remains not just on the objects of eucharistic what we are. How we celebrate the unchanged. it is a good explanation celebration but also the relationships Eucharist, how we understand sac- as far as it goes, and it is one that cer- and actions of the celebrating com- ramental Real Presence, points to tainly countered the overly physical munity, our understanding of Real the answer. How do you celebrate? descriptions that predominated in his Presence once more encompasses How do you live out sacramental day. But does this explanation go far the sacramental dimension, the mys- Real Presence in your life? What are enough? it is an explanation that fo- tery that lies at the heart of all sacra- you? cuses on Eucharist as object, and that mental encounter. © 2010 ocP. all rights reserved Sacramental Real Presence takes is not enough for today. Works Cited into consideration the entire celebra- Mitchell, nathan. Cult and Controversy: The REAL PRESENCE—ACTION, tion, the word proclaimed, the com- Worship of the Eucharist Outside Mass OBJECT, AND EVENT munity gathered—action, object, (collegeville: the liturgical Press/Pueb- With the Second Vatican council and event. “the body of christ is lo Publishing company, 1982). we have retrieved a communal under- not only on the table but at the table” ---. Meeting Mystery (new york: orbis Books, 2006). standing of sacramental celebration, (Mitchell, Meeting Mystery 176). St. Rees, Elizabeth. Christian Symbols, Ancient we have returned to an understand- augustine once said “be what you Roots. (london: Jessica Kingsley Pub- ing of symbol that embraces reality receive, receive what you are” (Ser- lishers, 1992).

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