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"Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread" (1Cor 10:17). A sad truth in our Christian faith today is that we don’t share one bread - at least, not in the way Catholics understand the Scripture.
I reflect on this every mass during the consecration and elevation. During the consecration of the wine into the Blood of Christ, the priest echos the words of Jesus during the last supper, as recorded by Mark in chapter 14, verses 23 & 24: “Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it.
He said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.’”
I reflect on the word “many,” and I get sad. Not that Jesus had to die to give us this gift...though that is sad enough. And not that I’ve been blessed to be included in the many...that’s a reason to rejoice. No, I reflect on and am sad for those fellow Christians who exclude themselves in this sense from the “many.”
The Eucharist...the Body and Blood of our Lord...is truly present, and while our non-Catholic brothers and sisters in Christ may accept Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection as atonement for sins, they remove themselves from the utter joy of receiving our Lord’s Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity physically.
I believe the Church feels this pain too, as in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite the priest subtly reminds us of this during the Elevation.
Immediately after the consecration, but before the elevation, the priest breaks off a small piece of the host and commingles it (mixes it together) in the cup. He also says something sublingual (under his breath), before holding the Body and Blood high in the Elevation.
What does he say as he mixes the Body and Blood together? “May the mingling of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, bring eternal life to us who receive it.”
With this prayer, I’m reminded of those who don’t believe in the Real Presence and thus don’t get to receive this wonderful gift. I’m not saying they are denied eternal salvation...that comes from God alone who allows us into heaven, and I know in my heart that God has, does, and will welcome both Catholics and non-Catholics into Heaven. But, our fellow Christians deny themselves the opportunity to become one with Jesus here on Earth.
By failing to take part in the Body and Blood as offered in the Catholic mass, they fail to receive - in this one real aspect - God’s greatest gift. While Paul wrote to the Corinthians that the many are one body as the bread is one, that bread has been broken - and that is truly a sad moment.
The author is an attorney who lives in the Midwest with his wife and children. A cradle-Catholic, he left the Church as a young adult, but came back to the fold and now fully lives his faith.
The author chose this pseudonym as a way to describe his writing, which he hopes will guide him in all his articles, which will in turn lead others to God.
