Head Stuck in the Tabernacle

My friend recently told me this story about the great Doctor of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas. One night, he was writing something about the Eucharist, and he went into the chapel. He opened the tabernacle doors and looked inside. The next day his fellow Dominican friars found him with his head stuck in the tabernacle. 

This could very well be a legend, by the way. But I've often heard that Thomas at least rested his head on the tabernacle while pondering his Summa Theologiae. Regardless of how dramatic the story was, Thomas witnessed to us that his writings were always subordinate to a greater truth: God Incarnate.

First Communion, First Encounter

My First Communion was full of blessings. My father and godfather played the music and the priest who celebrated my parents' wedding concelebrated. My mother and I chose my dress from the Philippines the year before. Most of the Mass is a fuzzy memory at this point (naturally, after almost 20 years). But I remember clearly the Communion meditation. My brothers, who sang in the Archdiocesan Boy Choir at the time, sang "Panis Angelicus." I remember a clarity and true belief in the Eucharist. I also had so much emotion that by the end I was in tears (pictured below).

 

I don't say this to claim I was some type of holy child, but that my faith was blessed since I was surrounded and supported by family. I don't think I would have had such a profound experience if not for their education, participation, and most of all, prayers. I still remember my parents taking me and my brothers with them to Mass from a very young age, even when all I could do was squirm and color my Bible story coloring books. I remember how solemn in prayer they were during the consecration, even when I tried to tug on them for attention. It was my parents' faith in the Real Presence that allowed me to encounter Christ from childhood.

Doubt and Consolation

In high school, I was still pretty obsessed with the Eucharist. At times I unfortunately felt pretty out of place for being Catholic (even though I went to a Catholic high school). I would occasionally sneak out of lunch just to sit in our chapel and pray. It brought my great peace to know that the Eucharist was present in my school.

But it wasn't all rosy between me and God at the time. I kept reading the Bread of Life Discourse from John 6 and feeling concerned. As I explained a bit in my previous post, my issue wasn't my own belief, but Jesus' allowance of letting the disciples walk away. Now I better understand and accept that God gives us free will. But really grappling with John 6 allowed me to have a deeper understanding and love of the Real Presence.

Departure and Way of the Cross

In March 2020, my fellow missionaries and I had to leave Belize in order to avoid the shutdown of the airport. At the time, I already knew that Masses were suspended in the U.S. So the morning of our departure, I knew it would be the last Mass I attended for a long time. My dear friend asked me if I wanted to sing "O Sacred Head Surrounded" as the last thing we sang together in Belize. It was one of the most bittersweet Masses for me, singing one of my favorite pieces under rather grim circumstances.

The few months we spent without the Eucharist until summer were a time of darkness and emptiness. I remember it as pretty difficult. I came to appreciate spiritual communion more, but it was still only a shadow of the Real Thing. It gave me a greater appreciation for Catholicism. There's such a physicality and tangibility to our faith, particularly in the sacraments. The Mass still isn't the Mass over Zoom. You can't administer absolution over Skype. And while this is inconvenient in the pandemic, the sacraments demonstrate to us the reality of our faith.

"Unless You Eat My Flesh"

Real Presence Communion

Real Presence is the belief that the Eucharist (Communion) is truly Jesus. In other words, during the Mass, the host of bread and wine truly become Jesus' Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity. He is physically present under the appearances of bread and wine. As an extension, the Mass is a recreation of the Last Supper in which Jesus said "This is My Body" and "This is My Blood." Many other Christians will say that Jesus is simply spiritually present in the Eucharist. Additionally, the communion service is simply a remembrance or memorial of the Last Supper. (*Though Eucharistic theology can vary a lot among the Protestant branches--I see you, Lutherans and Episcopalians.*)

Well, why do Catholics go so far to claim to eat the Body and Blood of Jesus? Isn't it idolatrous to worship bread and wine? Or even worse... cannibalistic (and maybe gross) to eat Jesus?

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Antonin Richter

To answer the first question: "The Bible tells me so." 

Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink." (John 6:53-55 NIV)

I wish I could just let the Word of God speak for itself, but if that were the case everyone would be Catholic. ;) The Gospel of John was written about 90-100 AD, which is 20-30 years after Matthew and Luke. John's gospel varies the most in account from Matthew, Mark, and Luke, aka the "synoptic gospels." One passage that appears in John and not the synoptics is the Bread of Life Discourse in John 6. Throughout the chapter, Jesus preaches about a bread that can sustain them - not just for earthly purposes but for heavenly purposes. I really encourage you to read John 6 in its entirety to get the proper context. But for this article I will highlight a couple points. (By the way, all quotes are from NIV since many Christians use that translation.)

Yeah, He Really Said "Eat"

Probably the biggest objection to the Real Presence interpretation of John 6 is that the word "eat" is metaphorical. And here I will try to do some exegesis... while relying mostly on the work of scholars before me. Throughout the discourse, the two words Jesus uses for "eat" in the Greek are phago and trago. Phago means simply "eat" and could be used metaphorically. However, as the disciples begin to question Jesus, he switches to trago in verse 54: "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day." (John 6:54) Trago is sometimes translated to as "gnawing" "munching" or "crunching" -- in most contexts it would be used for animals. It's the kind of word that would make the Jews -- a religion with dozens of rules about cleanliness -- very squeamish, maybe even offended. (John 6, Greek)

Another sign that he was speaking literally was after he drops the t-bomb, some of the disciples leave (John 6:60-65). Their departure doesn't prove he was speaking literally, but if he was speaking metaphorically, we would expect him to clarify that instead of doubling down on the issue. 

In high school, I often sympathized with the people who left--"This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" (John 6:60) I would wonder why Jesus expected them to accept such a teaching at face value. Of course, Eucharistic theology wasn't defined at the time, so Jesus' response wasn't a lecture on Thomistic metaphysics. However, earlier in the chapter, Jesus revealed his divinity by feeding over 5,000 people, so all the focus is on who He is and what He is saying. Not on how it will be carried out. The Twelve stayed because "You have the words of eternal life." (John 6:68) Personally, I've interpreted this passage as a need to know and love God and His Word before obsessing over finer points of theology and apologetics.

So to elaborate on what I was saying before. We claim the Real Presence because we believe that's what the Jesus really meant in John 6. And it's not idol worship of bread and wine -- we really believe it is Jesus present. 

Cannibalism??

To address my other objection... Wouldn't it be cannibalistic to eat another person? 

Cannibals are humans eating humans. But what makes it immoral is the injury and death we cause to the other person by eating them. On the other hand, Jesus is both fully human and fully God. Just as he is God who is able to become flesh, he is also able to take on another form which we can consume. And rather than us causing injury to him (which is impossible), his substance is able to give us eternal life. He says it best Himself in John 6:35: "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."

More Biblical Accounts

The main accounts we should really examine are the Last Supper accounts of the synoptic gospels (Mt. 26:17–30, Mk. 14:12–26, Lk. 22:7–39). I've saved them for now since I assumed Christians have familiarity with these passages.

“Take and eat; this is my body...This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Mt 26:26, 28)
“Take it; this is my body... This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.” (Mk 14:22, 24)
“This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me. This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you." (Lk 22:19, 20)

These passages work beautifully with the entirety of John 6 -- Jesus feeding the five thousand and asserting "my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink." In the celebration of Communion, Jesus gives of Himself -- the Bread of Life -- to the whole world. I struggle with commenting further other than to say that Catholics take these Last Supper passages at face value. These exact words are used during the Mass to indicate that we are not just re-enacting, but recreating the Last Supper.

Regarding the Corinthian's early celebration of Communion, Paul also appears to assert the literal sense of these statements:

Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? (1 Cor 10:16)

On a personal note, the Eucharist means everything to me, and I have trouble putting it all in words. I talked in another post how difficult it was to go without the Eucharist and Adoration during COVID, and since then I've wanted to expand on that more. I hope you can investigate the Bible passages for yourself and that we can talk soon.

More early church accounts and exegesis in the links below. Pax!

Bread of Life Discourse – The Roman Catholic Mass Explained

WHY "EAT MY FLESH" IS LITERAL in John 6!! | Real Presence of the Eucharist (LizziesAnswers Video)

LENT (Part 3): Out of the Desert

My lovely Protestant friend requested that I write this post about Lent, and it became a 3-part series (*content*). In particular, she wanted to know "what I'm doing for Lent and how I'm dealing with it"... But now Lent is coming to a close (not surprisingly because I procrastinated when I thought I couldn't write this perfectly), so... I'm just going to talk about how Lent went.

Lent, as I wrote about in my first post, is about leading up to Easter. Last year's Lent was full of many more unknowns, as I left Belize and went a few months without attending Mass. On the contrary, this Lent has been much more hopeful. We will attend in-person Mass, and many people are receiving the vaccine. I've been blessed that no one in my family has been seriously ill with coronavirus. Outside of Mass, more in-person community has gradually been able to form, including music ministry. I've been able to reflect on how God has blessed me during this year, which I spent mostly thinking about what I've missed. 

This Lent, I took part in certain fasts as part of a community called Fiat 90. (I'll write a more specific post about it.) But in general, I've come to understand a bit better how physical deprivations can bring us closer to God. Even during the period of quarantine when we were deprived from spiritual food, the Eucharist, I believe some good came out of it. My friend Ellen wrote a good post on this about those who suffer from deprivation of the Eucharist even for non-COVID reasons.

I pray that the Church increases hunger for the Eucharist. Most Catholics do not believe that the Eucharist is truly Jesus, which seems connected with declining attendance at Mass. This Easter may be the first time people have attended Mass since the pandemic. I want to invite them to ponder the meaning of Eucharist. Know that God is welcoming you to his table every Sunday! When the dispensation for Mass was put in place, I thought, "I wish the Church emphasized more the true meaning of the Eucharist." So I am telling you now - the Eucharist is Jesus! Read John 6 and all of the Last Supper accounts. Jesus gave up his body in the Passion and triumphed in the Resurrection, but he also gave himself to us as food in the Eucharist and we can share in his triumph every day. I hope the Church can see that joyous idea, and I wish for everyone to have a good Easter.

1. Brief Introduction
2. Fasting and other Lenten practices
3. Personal Lenten Reflection 2021

LENT (Part 2): Fasting is not Dieting

“What are you giving up for Lent?” Probably a question I’ve heard dozens of times since my youth. Even if you're not Catholic, you've probably at least heard of Ash Wednesday (where Catholics receive ash crosses as a sign of repentance) and the personal fasts/penances people take on for Lent. But what you may not know is that:

1. Ash Wednesday is not a holy day of obligation. In other words, it is not a required Mass.

2. Personal Lenten fasts/penances are not required.

Ash Wednesday Mass and taking on personal penances are important to Lent. But prayer and almsgiving are just as vital, if not more, to the season. In this post, I will outline how Lenten requirements and designs can lead us into deeper conversion. In other words, LET'S MAKE LENT HOLY AGAIN. (Ok you can hit me now.)

TRIPLE THREAT

The 3 traditional pillars of Lent are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. The requirements of the Church for fasting are

1. Mandatory fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday only.

• Specifics: One full meal and two “penitential” meals (basically just snacks)

2. Abstinence from meat (fish doesn't count) on every Friday.

That’s all! You aren’t required to “give something up” for Lent. But while many Catholics still practice these Lenten penances, the Lenten emphasis on prayer and almsgiving has somewhat diminished among the average Catholic. (By the way, while we're clearing up misconceptions, this article nicely refutes the conspiracy that meatless Fridays were a deal between the pope and the fishing industry.)

But why do we fast?

PRAYER & FASTING

Fasting is a prayer of action. What does that mean? As Christians, we believe that if we suffer, we can unite those actions to Christ’s sufferings. Thus we both console him in his Passion and aid him in forgiving sins. So anytime we willingly sacrifice something, our actions can contribute to a prayer intention.

Fasting without prayer is dieting. The spiritual purpose of Lent isn't “self-improvement” (although that can be an effect). Rather, it is self-denial, and denying things of the world to turn more towards God. A secondary reason to fast is to dedicate the additional time we’d spend on those things in prayer. For example, if you do give up social media, then spending the hour you would spend on Instagram in prayer.

Other common prayer practices during Lent:

• The Stations of the Cross (or Way of the Cross): meditative commemoration of fourteen points of Jesus' journey to Calvary.
• Confession (aka Reconciliation or Penance): a sacrament (which is required only once a year but highly encouraged during Lent) in which a person confesses their sins to the priest (who is acting in the place of God) and receives forgiveness for their sins.

ALMSGIVING

Almsgiving is the practice of giving our treasure to those in need. If you are a young person reading this and saying “I'm broke” then perhaps you give up your time to volunteer during this Lent. The Bible continually alludes to the idea that true conversion manifests in caring for the least members - namely, orphans and widows (Isaiah 1:17, Jer 49:11, Deut 24:21... those are just a few). Additionally, it particularly emphasizes giving money - even the smallest contributions with great love. (Mark 12:41-44) Both Jesus and the Jews necessitate detachment from wealth and require any excess material goods to go to the poor. (Luke 18:24-27, Deut 27:19)

The traditional practices of Lent are designed in conjunction to bring us into deeper conversion. We fast of material things, return to godly things in prayer, and thus our faith manifests in almsgiving.

In the last part of the series, I want to talk a bit about how my Lent is going... Stay tuned! And as always, God bless you in your endeavors.

Lenten Series:

1. Brief Introduction
2. Fasting and other Lenten practices
3. Personal Lenten Reflection 2021

LENT (Part 1): A Slight Misnomer

The English word “Lent” leaves much to be desired. Apparently it comes from the Middle English word lenten meaning “spring season.” In Latin, however, the word for Lent is Quadragesima meaning “fortieth,” which seems much more suitable for this season. In Christianity, 40 days and 40 nights evoke the time Jesus spent in the desert before his public ministry. In fact, throughout the Bible, the number 40 has extreme importance, particularly in relation to fasting and repentance:

• The Great Flood lasted 40 days and nights (Gn 7:4-12).

• Moses spent 40 days and nights fasting in preparation for the Ten Commandments (Ex 24:18) and receiving them (Ex 34:28).

• Israelites wandered the desert for 40 years (Num 14:30).

• Elijah walked 40 days and nights to reach Mount Horeb (1 Kings 19:8).

• The Ninevites had 40 days to decide whether to convert or be destroyed (Jonah 3:4). 

During each of these periods, the Biblical figures prepared themselves for a great event, particularly divine revelation.

How does this connect to the Lenten 40 days? Well, Ash Wednesday (the start of Lent) occurs 40 days before Easter. Since the early days of the Church, baptisms commonly occurred on Easter. Thus Lent was originally a time for the baptism candidates to prepare themselves for Christian life, similar to the aforementioned Biblical figures. Lenten practices later extended to the whole body of the church.

Some Lenten practices appear from the outside to be just “weird Catholic things.” Since this post was inspired by a Protestant friend, the question arose: “Why do Catholics celebrate Lent and not the rest of Christians?” (Spoiler alert: some Christians do.)

Protestant denominations do not observe Lent if they do not follow the liturgical seasons. (The reason why... is probably better for a future post.) However, Lutherans, Methodists, and Anglicans are all branches of Protestantism which follow the liturgical calendar. 

The liturgical seasons (image credit)

Lent is just one of the liturgical seasons, and during each season the Church calls to focus on different spiritual practices. The year starts with Advent as a time of preparation. Then Christmas is a season of joy. Ordinary time (both periods) are seasons for growing. Lent is a time of repentance, and Easter is also a season of joy and celebrating life.

But why do Catholics eat fish but not meat on Fridays? Why do we "give up" something for the 40 days? Why purple? Stay tuned for more~!

First of a 3(?)-part series on the Lenten season:

1. Brief Introduction

2. Fasting and other practices of Lent

3. Personal Lent Reflection 2021

The Anti-Gospel

“Don't be discouraged by the trouble, it's not stopping anything God has for you. God is storing up all the joy, all the good breaks, the favor, the resources that have been put on hold because of the temporary trouble.” 

This quote from Joel Osteen’s sermon “Trouble is Temporary” may sound like a positive sentiment on the surface, but it results from an extremely problematic Christian heresy: the prosperity gospel. Proponents of the prosperity gospel preach that worship in God will result in earthly success, whether it be in health, wealth, or happiness.

People generally want to succeed in life. People generally want to be healthy and happy. However, these are merely natural goods. As Christians, we believe that God is the perfect good. While it is certainly natural to pursue natural happiness in this life, the pursuit of God should always be the end goal. To pursue God in order to achieve earthly happiness is a moral evil. In prosperity theology, the desire of the perfect good (God) is merely a means to an imperfect end (earthly happiness).

Again, it may seem strong to name Osteen’s sentiments as evil, and he himself has rejected categorization into the prosperity gospel. But the problem with prosperity gospel is not just with the money. It’s encouraging our desires for natural things rather than godly things, since that is our motivation. Why ought we to pursue God? Well, the only thing that can bring true happiness is God himself. Whether God delivers us from temporary suffering in this life or not, we should pursue him. The prosperity gospel implies that a motivation for earthly goods is permissible. And while a mixed motivation should not prevent us from performing virtuous actions, we should strive towards perfecting our motivations towards something good.

Does this mean Christians hate fun and that all earthly pleasures are evil? Yep.

... *cue pictures of me on vacation*




Jokes aside, pursuing happiness in this world (i.e. a happiness apart from God) is still consistent with the Christian message. But that happiness should not be the end goal. If it is, then we are merely hedonists. Rather, the most virtuous experience of earthly pleasure is that which aligns us to God. For example, one might rest in order to better apply themselves to their ministry. Diocesan priests often have the option to take a sabbatical year after ten years “for the purpose of renewal and enrichment.” There is definitely a place for earthly pleasure in the Christian life. As long as our pursuit of pleasure is in service of God and not pursuit of God in service of pleasure.

Will we achieve more earthly happiness if we follow the Christian message? No. That much is clear. Just look at St. Paul. Or every single apostle who died a martyr. Or any martyr for that matter. Not only did they experience prolonged suffering, but suffering up until the end of their life. The Catholic Church reveres many martyrs as saints, but even outside of those, plenty of Biblical figures experienced earthly suffering for their whole life.

The trouble with the prosperity gospel is this unexplained role of suffering in a holy man’s life. Osteen uses Job to justify that “if you are suffering then eventually God will remove it.” In fact, one Jewish theology at the time of Job was “if you are suffering, then you did something wrong in life.” The men that dialogue with Job voice this idea. However, the premise of the story completely counteracts this theology. In the first chapter Satan asks God if Job would continue worshiping him if he was suffering. Job counteracts this by continually upholding his righteousness. It becomes clear by the end of the book that no suffering will change Job’s faith. His earthly happiness at the end is a literary indicator to the audience that Job was righteous all along. In a real circumstance, I don’t believe God would necessarily need to reward Job in this life.

Ultimately, our happiness is not in this life. It is in God. We have to acknowledge as Christians that our suffering is inevitable and potentially lasting our entire lives. “Man born of a woman, living for a short time, is filled with many miseries” (Job 14:1). But Christians aren't defeatist; rather, I find true Christianity more hopeful than the prosperity gospel message. In 1 Corinthians 2:9 Paul tells us, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love Him.” Our suffering is worth much more than a "good break." It is worth our eternal salvation, which will be greater than anything we have seen on this earth.