Holy Communion & Bells
Fr. Daniel J. Deutsch
Which of these statements would
you agree with?
1) When receiving Holy Communion, you are
really and truly receiving
the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of
our Lord Jesus Christ, under the appearance
of bread and wine.
2) When receiving Holy Communion, you are
receiving bread and wine, which symbolize the
spirit and teachings of Jesus, and in so
doing are expressing your attachment to His
person and His words.
3) When receiving Holy Communion, you are
receiving bread and wine in which Jesus is
really and truly present.
4) When receiving Holy Communion, you are
receiving the Body and Blood of Christ, which
has become that because of your personal belief.
Did you know that only the first option is
true Catholic belief? All the others are
incorrect. In a recent Gallup poll, only 30% of
Catholics agreed with that first option. Everyone
else picked from the
other three. Needless to say, the results of the
survey have startled and alarmed Catholic
educators. They ought to alarm all of us as well.
The Eucharist is the center of our lives.
The Scriptures are clear that what we receive in
the Eucharist is Jesus - not His spirit, not
His memory, not His ghostly presence, but
the real Christ. The early Christians believed
this with a passion.
Throughout the centuries incorrect beliefs about
the Eucharist sprang up occasionally. However,
the Church remained firm in her belief that,
though the bread looked like
bread and tasted like bread, though the wine
looked like wine and tasted like wine, they
were no longer bread and wine. Once these
elements had been consecrated at Mass, their
substance - their very essence - changed
and they became the Body and Blood of Christ:
Jesus Christ truly present under the
appearances of bread and wine.
If 70% of our Catholics are confused on this
issue, our very spirituality and vitality as a faith
is at risk. My experience at Holy Cross
suggests that we are doing great at understanding
the true nature of Christs Presence in the
Eucharist. However, some people I serve may not
really know what they
are receiving. Many people may simply come up in
the Communion line because it
is what everyone else is doing. In some way, we
should always be trying to renew our
belief in the Eucharist. In some way, we should
always be trying to become more aware
once again that WHEN WE GO TO HOLY
COMMUNION, WE RECEIVE OUR GOD.
One of the things that we can do is what the
Church has always done in times of crises of
belief: refocus our attention on the crucial belief
that people are confused about. Nearly a
thousand years ago, people had trouble believing
that the Host was Christ, and so the Church put
in the elevation of the Host and Chalice at Mass
to focus peoples attention and the bells
were rung at the Consecration to remind people of
the fact that Christ was now in their midst in
a special way. From now on, at our Masses
at Holy Cross, the
bells will be rung again at the Consecration to
remind all of us that Christ has become present
in the Eucharist under the appearances of bread
and wine-really and truly present. Many I know
will welcome the return of
the bells. Some will question it. But we all have
to admit that if the bells remind us of this
central fact of our Faith, then something
wonderful will have occurred. We will remember
the awesome nature of
this Sacrament and, when we receive Holy
Communion, we will realize that having
received our God, our lives need to change, our
lives need to be more holy, and that only
Christs Body and Blood will set us free to live
with Him forever.
This information has
been reprinted from Holy Cross' Sunday Bulletins
Holy Cross Catholic Church - Batavia, IL -- Page Last
Updated 03 Apr 2007
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