Since its founding circa 33AD the Catholic Church has taught
that consecrated bread and wine become the actual body and blood, soul and
divinity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is the real presence of
Christ to his bride, the Church. The Church teaches that the Eucharist is the
source and summit of our Catholic faith.
It is disturbing then that every poll taken points out that fewer
and fewer Catholics still believe in the real presence. This is especially
evident in the growing number of empty seats in the pews during Sunday Mass. If
people truly believed that Jesus was actually in Church and that he had brought
with him eternal life in paradise for those who believe in him we would have
lines out the door. This is the belief the growing Church in Africa has where
it is not uncommon to find people walking eight miles in all sorts of weather
and danger just to receive him.
There have been a number of “public” revelations that I
believe has fulfilled our understanding of the real presence.
In 1996 a consecrated host was found discarded in the back
of a Church in Buenos Aries, Argentina. The priest put it in a dish of water to
dissolve and put that in the tabernacle. After a few days the host started
changing form instead of dissolving. The Arch Bishop of Buenos Aries ordered an
investigation. The bishop at the time was Arch Bishop Jorge Bergolio. Most
people recognize him today as Pope Francis.
An independent investigator was called in and he took
samples to more than one laboratory for analysis. None of the labs were told
what the samples were of at the beginning of the investigation. All labs, the
lab in Buenos Aries, the one in California, and the lab in New York, all
reported the same thing. The sample they received was heart tissue. The
scientist who did the study on the sample in New York was a well known
pathologist who could tell a lot about how a person died based upon the
condition of the heart. He reported that the person whose sample he was given
had been greatly tortured and that the man had still been alive when the sample
was taken.
What amazed the scientist was that the sample he examined
was still alive. When they compared notes from the other labs they found the
same conclusions and notes that the sample was alive. These investigations
began over two years after the host was placed in the tabernacle after finding
it discarded.
God will not force us to believe something if we do not want
to. Every miracle comes with the ability to disbelieve. Those who disbelieve
this call it a hoax and nothing more than a sham put on by a priest who was
trying to become famous or gain money for his parish. But this miracle is not
alone. There are many like it. We have the miracle of Lanciano, Italy that
happened in the 8th century which can still be viewed today. Then
there is the Eucharistic miracle of Sokolka, Poland. In that miracle the host
started to turn to flesh and was shown to be inseparably joined to the bread of
the host. There are many, many more of these miracles on record.
The interesting thing about all of these miracles is that
when analyzed they all are found to be the same thing – heart tissue from the
left ventricle. The left ventricle is the life giving ventricle. It is
responsible for pumping oxygenated blood to the entire body.
If these miracles are indeed true then we get much more than
just the real presence when we receive the Eucharist. Church teaching is
correct, we do receive the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus but we
receive him in the fullest manner possible. I am not just holding Jesus when I hold the
Eucharist. I am holding his very heart in my hands. We have such a loving God
that he will allow us to hold his very heart in our hands.
If the thought of that does not rock you to your
core then it may be better for you to join one of the many thousands of
non-Catholic Christian churches where communion is nothing more than a symbol
or remembrance of the Last Supper. It is far better to eat mere bread while
remembering Jesus than to take into your body the very heart of Jesus thinking he
is nothing more than bread.