Corpus Christi Event--Explain Transubstantiation to variety of visitors

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grannymh

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Our parish is having a huge open house in honor of the Feast of Corpus Christi, The Sacred Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

Our basic theme is The Holy Eucharist is the Heart Beat of Catholicism

We will have a poster display of the miracles connected to the Eucharist from around the world. Plus displays devoted to Catholicism.

Suppose you were a greeter, how would you explain Transubstantiation to the following visitors: a friend, non-theist, child, Protestant, teenager, former Catholic, and anyone else who might show up.

Would your description include answers to the following questions – who? how? what? when? where? where? why?

What are your ideas for a cheat sheet for docents?

What kind of personal experiences would you add?

How would you promote R.C.I.A.?

Do you have suggestions on how to make this a truly successful evangelization project?

Blessings,
granny

John 3: 16 & 17
 
i don’t know that you can truly explain transubstantiation because it is a mystery. the best catholic writer on the subject was saint Thomas Aquinas who is the one who came up with the term. according to him there are two things matter and accident. matter is the core substance of something like water which is made up of certain chemicals that make it distinct from any other substance in nature. an accident is a physical asspect of the matter for example a sweater is made up of thread but the accident of the sweater is the color shape size etc. when a priest consecrates a host the matter is changed from bread and wine but the accidents such as the color taste smell shape stay the same. i think thats as close as you can get without going into university level courses.

also the best way to premote R.C.I.A is to prayer for more converts. nothing any human being(with the exception of Jesus) can do is going to cause a person to convert to Christianity.
 
bostonboy23 said:
i don’t know that you can truly explain transubstantiation because it is a mystery. the best catholic writer on the subject was saint Thomas Aquinas who is the one who came up with the term. according to him there are two things matter and accident. matter is the core substance of something like water which is made up of certain chemicals that make it distinct from any other substance in nature. an accident is a physical asspect of the matter for example a sweater is made up of thread but the accident of the sweater is the color shape size etc. when a priest consecrates a host the matter is changed from bread and wine but the accidents such as the color taste smell shape stay the same. i think thats as close as you can get without going into university level courses.

also the best way to premote R.C.I.A is to prayer for more converts. nothing any human being(with the exception of Jesus) can do is going to cause a person to convert to Christianity.
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Thank you. Your explanation has given me another idea. Granted Transubstantiation is a mystery so we do the best we can finding words to explain it. You used the word core as in core substance. Do you think the trick would be to find suitable words which would relate the meaning?

What are some other words to describe substance? Someone once said it is what makes a person a unique person.

And what about other words to explain color, taste, smell, shape? “Accidents” has always sounded awkward to me.

One more thing about praying for more people to seek out R.C.I.A. Do you know a particular prayer for that purpose. I could use it as a handout.

Blessings,
granny

All human life is worthy of profound respect.
 
:confused::confused::confused:

I’m really confused. :eek:

Maybe I should take a poll.🤷

Does anyone know what Corpus Christi means?:nope:

Could that be why only one out of many readers has replied? :blushing:

Is it really possible that people don’t care? :sad_yes:
 
Rolltide said:
Corpus Christi means “Body of Christ” in Latin.
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…and so how would you explain “Body of Christ” to people coming to a parish Open House?

How would you explain “Body of Christ” to the following visitors: a friend, non-theist, child, Protestant, teenager, former Catholic, and anyone else who might show up.

The theme of the event is The Holy Eucharist is the Heart Beat of Catholicism

Thank you.

Blessings,
granny

All human life is worthy of profound respect
 
I came here to see what suggestions there are, so I can bring them to my parish and I’m also surprised that there haven’t been many replies.

The best you can do is read up more about miracles, what saints have said about the Eucharist, and about it being “the source and summit” of our Faith as the late JPII has said. Overall, be personal, and use your enthusiasm. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide your speech when it does come time for it. And prayer does a lot. I again repeat, what saints have said about the Eucharist, because they “translate” the doctrine into what the Eucharist really is, which is personal. If you show your genuine enthusiasm, it doesn’t matter what religion a person is or where they are from or how old they are, they will look at that fervor and love for Christ and realize that there is something worth looking at.

A couple of things I always dreamed that were at our parish: people signing up for perpetual adoration. If you could do that, then that would be so great. But then, people need to understand what it is first.

So have a Eucharistic Congress. We had that in our diocese, alternating between parishes every few months, but it hasn’t been going on lately. Well, those were youth Congresses, so we had personal testimony, Catecheses by priests, Eucharistic adoration and praise and worship, with Mass of course and prayer. I’m not sure you can plan that much by June 14th, though, but prayer does a lot.

I’ve seen MANY conversions just because they found out about the Eucharist and the love and humility of Christ perfectly explained within it.

Passing out prayer cards are good. Pamphlets can be good too, but sometimes I see that those are just thrown aside quite often just because they are pamphlets. But, they can be good to supplement posters because people actually take the information home with them. Anyway, the more the information is out there, the more likely it is to be known, so don’t put down the pamphlet idea…(BTW, the more colorful and vibrant these are, the better…but as long as they are still reverently so!)

Personally, the one big thing about the Eucharist that first drew me to it is that in all my life as a Catholic (AND going to Catholic school the whole time!) I had NEVER known about the Eucharist literally being Jesus, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity! It just shocked me! Maybe that could be one thing. I’ve heard it being called Catholicism’s “best kept secret” (though the fact that it is a “secret” is really unfortunate).

Those are my suggestions. As for R.C.I.A. specifically…typically, where I’m from, R.C.I.A. is just seen as another formality needed to get married or to finally receive the sacraments after years of being Catholic but never getting it. Don’t worry too much about it specifically, because God will draw souls to wherever they need to go…what’s important in the case of this special feast day is promoting the Corpus Christi to everyone. The R.C.I.A.'ers will follow suit.

P.S. You need to use the word “accidents”, because that is the word universally used. BUT you NEED to explain what that means nevertheless (taste, look, smell, etc)
 
I came up with the following explanation for helping regular folks understand “substance vs accidents.” You cannot have a good grasp of transubstantiation without these words defined properly.

You: Suppose I have the Mona Lisa (pull out a photo of it for effect). This (not really, but lets pretend) really is THE one and only priceless Mona Lisa that I stole from the Louvre last week. In addition to cat burgler skills, I also happen to be the worlds BEST art forger and produced this EXACT replica (pull out an identical). It is utterly identical in every way. The canvass is of the same age, the pigments are the same. Every single brush stroke is the same. No art expert anywhere can tell them apart. In short, there are now TWO Mona Lisas in the world, right?

Everybody: wrong.

You: Why not? It’s absolutely indistinguishable (right down to the atomic level, I’m a REALLY good forger).

Everybody: It’s still a fake.

You: Exactly. Even though all the “accidents” of my replica are perfect, it’s “substance” can never be that of the Mona Lisa. “Substance” is what somethign truly IS at the deepest level. There can only ever BE one Mona Lisa because it is the unique creation of a human being. But what if I do this (proceed to tear out pieces of the “real” Mona Lisa and deface the rest with a Sharpie - moustace and goatee)? Now MY version is the real Mona Lisa and the original is no more, because mine is the only one that matches the descriptions of art history. Right?

Everybody: No, it’s still a fake, you’ve vandalized the real one, but IT is still the real Mona Lisa.

You: Even though it is not recognizable as the Mona Lisa? Even though mine demonstrably matches every description of the Mona Lisa and the defaced one doesn’t?

Everybody: Yes.

You: Good. This can help us understand the Eucharist. God is not constrained by our puny human limitations. HE is able to change the very substance of the host from mere bread into the actual body and blood of Jesus. He doesn’t (usually) change the accidents of the host, so that we still require faith. But after consecration, the host is no longer bread and wine, it IS the body and blood of Jesus. Even though the vandalized Mona Lisa no longer LOOKS like or has the physical properties of what the Mona Lisa is supposed to have, it IS still the Mona Lisa. Even though God has only changed the substance and not the accidents of the host, it still IS the body and blood of Jesus.

PM me if you’d like to use any of the above for your event.
 
manualman said:
I came up with the following explanation for helping regular folks understand “substance vs accidents.” You cannot have a good grasp of transubstantiation without these words defined properly.

You: Suppose I have the Mona Lisa (pull out a photo of it for effect). This (not really, but lets pretend) really is THE one and only priceless Mona Lisa that I stole from the Louvre last week. In addition to cat burgler skills, I also happen to be the worlds BEST art forger and produced this EXACT replica (pull out an identical). It is utterly identical in every way. The canvass is of the same age, the pigments are the same. Every single brush stroke is the same. No art expert anywhere can tell them apart. In short, there are now TWO Mona Lisas in the world, right?

Everybody: wrong.

You: Why not? It’s absolutely indistinguishable (right down to the atomic level, I’m a REALLY good forger).

Everybody: It’s still a fake.

You: Exactly. Even though all the “accidents” of my replica are perfect, it’s “substance” can never be that of the Mona Lisa. “Substance” is what somethign truly IS at the deepest level. There can only ever BE one Mona Lisa because it is the unique creation of a human being. But what if I do this (proceed to tear out pieces of the “real” Mona Lisa and deface the rest with a Sharpie - moustace and goatee)? Now MY version is the real Mona Lisa and the original is no more, because mine is the only one that matches the descriptions of art history. Right?

Everybody: No, it’s still a fake, you’ve vandalized the real one, but IT is still the real Mona Lisa.

You: Even though it is not recognizable as the Mona Lisa? Even though mine demonstrably matches every description of the Mona Lisa and the defaced one doesn’t?

Everybody: Yes.

You: Good. This can help us understand the Eucharist. God is not constrained by our puny human limitations. HE is able to change the very substance of the host from mere bread into the actual body and blood of Jesus. He doesn’t (usually) change the accidents of the host, so that we still require faith. But after consecration, the host is no longer bread and wine, it IS the body and blood of Jesus. Even though the vandalized Mona Lisa no longer LOOKS like or has the physical properties of what the Mona Lisa is supposed to have, it IS still the Mona Lisa. Even though God has only changed the substance and not the accidents of the host, it still IS the body and blood of Jesus.

PM me if you’d like to use any of the above for your event.
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Thanks for your worthwhile suggestion. Unfortuately, we have already gone to press.
Today, was the day we set up everything. May God bless you for sharing. I will remember your example.

Blessings,
granny

Bible means basic instructions before leaving earth.
 
sabriner said:
I came here to see what suggestions there are, so I can bring them to my parish and I’m also surprised that there haven’t been many replies.

The best you can do is read up more about miracles, what saints have said about the Eucharist, and about it being “the source and summit” of our Faith as the late JPII has said. Overall, be personal, and use your enthusiasm. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide your speech when it does come time for it. And prayer does a lot. I again repeat, what saints have said about the Eucharist, because they “translate” the doctrine into what the Eucharist really is, which is personal. If you show your genuine enthusiasm, it doesn’t matter what religion a person is or where they are from or how old they are, they will look at that fervor and love for Christ and realize that there is something worth looking at.)
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BTW, JP2 is quoting Vatican 2 with “source and summit”.

I’m very interested in this topic as well. We’re spending the next 2.5 yrs on the Eucharist in my parish, I’m on the Council. The mission is to raise the value of the Eucharist for every person in the parish.
A couple of things I always dreamed that were at our parish: people signing up for perpetual adoration. If you could do that, then that would be so great. But then, people need to understand what it is first.
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We’re doing that this weekend. Really the people in adoration are the people who “get it”. We see two other groups of people – those who come to mass but don’t get a lot of value from the Eucharist, and those who rarely/never come to mass.
Well, those were youth Congresses, so we had personal testimony, Catecheses by priests, Eucharistic adoration and praise and worship, with Mass of course and prayer.
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This is like what we’re doing. Education and personal testimony. Two objectives of education are 1) understand the Church teaching on the Real Presence and 2) understand the need to receive in a state of grace.

Personal testimony - for us we’ll be using some of the great saints who have articulated the Eucharist - folks like St. John of the Cross, Francis de Sales, Theresa of Avila, Catherine of Siena, etc. Just as important though is personal testimony from parishoners. Regular people, not priests, not “holy” people flown in from elsewhere. Folks who sit beside you in church who “get it.”
Personally, the one big thing about the Eucharist that first drew me to it is that in all my life as a Catholic (AND going to Catholic school the whole time!) I had NEVER known about the Eucharist literally being Jesus, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity! It just shocked me! Maybe that could be one thing. I’ve heard it being called Catholicism’s “best kept secret” (though the fact that it is a “secret” is really unfortunate).
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There’s a million mile difference between the head and the heart. Once I truly accepted the real presence in my heart, everything changed. My mass experience is all about preparing to accept the triune God, in communion with the heavenly host and the church militant on earth. I ask the Holy Spirit to open my heart so God can build me into the man He wants me to be, and I ask God to fill me with all the graces that he wants to give me.

My life has changed dramatically since taking that step.

Two GREAT books to help someone along:

Seven Secrets of the Eucharist - Vinny Flynn

Source and Summit - Br. Joel Giallanza - Fantastic and an easy read. Here’s a short description:
The Second Vatican Council speaks of the Eucharist as “the source and summit of the Christian life” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 11). The significance of this succint description is two-fold. First, it articulates the primary role of the Eucharist for uniting and nourishing the Christian community; and second, the Eucharist is also the source and summit of our individual lives as Christians. Our teachers and guides for these insightful reflections on this great mystery of our faith are six great saints, each of whom has been declared a Doctor of the Church. The six whom we meet in this book, three women and three men, are: Saint Catherine of Siena, Saint Teresa of Avila, Saint John of the Crosss, Saint Francis de Sales, Saint Alphonsus de Liguori, and St. Thérèse of Lisieux. May we learn from their wisdom and their example so that our own daily life and work will reflect the fact that Jesus alone is the source and summit of all that we are and of all that we hope to become.
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Strategery said:
BTW, JP2 is quoting Vatican 2 with “source and summit”.

I’m very interested in this topic as well. We’re spending the next 2.5 yrs on the Eucharist in my parish, I’m on the Council. The mission is to raise the value of the Eucharist for every person in the parish.
:
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If you are as close to St. Louis as I think you are, you have an excellent source for “Eucharistic Miracles of the World” Exhibit. and I believe speakers. Also, may I be a little mouse listening to your planning?

I only skimmed your post because I’m headed to our Corpus Christi open house. And haven’t time to get the web site, etc.

We need to evangelize the “choir”

I’ll share resources for Adoration and what we are now doing to get across to people what Transubstantiation really is. And hopefully you and other will shae with me. Note: we have 24/7 adoration and spent months evangelizing before we even had a sign-up. However, some of the"wait" was due to the selling of our site for adoration, dealing with a cooperative bishop, and new owners.

Adorers survived the bats flying in summer and almost no heat in the winter until we moved to a chapel built as an attachment to our Church. Talk about stories-- the night we opened in our original place, chunks of plaster ceiling came down just missing Adorers. I wonder who didn’t want us there. :rolleyes:

PM me and I will e-mail you our handout on Transubstantiation, The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and why miracles. However, I would like to share stuff on the forum just to support others who want Adoration.

Blessings,
granny

Bible means: basic instructions before leaving earth.
 
Yes, I’m here in the St. Louis area. St. Joseph’s parish in Cottleville. The Miracles display is in our plans.

Definitely interested in putting our heads together. One thing clear to me is that while large events are great, there is no substitute for Christ’s example of “one on twelve”. A big event loses its luster quickly, you need the small faith community to keep the fires burning.
 
Strategery said:
Yes, I’m here in the St. Louis area. St. Joseph’s parish in Cottleville. The Miracles display is in our plans.

Definitely interested in putting our heads together. One thing clear to me is that while large events are great, there is no substitute for Christ’s example of “one on twelve”. A big event loses its luster quickly, you need the small faith community to keep the fires burning.
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Agree to the small faith community. We will have some interesting discussions. We were able to touch individual souls this weekend. I said in the beginning if only two souls that needed to be reached came and received God’s grace, it would be worth all the work that went into it. I will look for that website as soon as possible.

Blessings,
granny
 
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