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Eucharist and Real Presence Question from on 01-02-2002:
I would like some clarifications on the doctrinal teachings about the Holy Eucharist in light of some tapes I’m listening to.
1- For Christ to remain in the Eucharist under the signs of bread or wine (validly consecrated), does this require that the properties or accidents of the original bread and wine remain? The speaker notes that the “dust” from the Eucharist (possibly on the priest’s hands or maybe on the floor after a communicant receives in the hand) is probably not Jesus since these particles are imperceptible as bread, however a small crumb WOULD be Jesus since this appears as bread. I’m having a tough time understanding how the Real Presence could be so blatantly subjective when the fact is, Christ is truly and substantially present in all subdivided parts of the consecrated bread, given that the smallest individual “molecule” of breadish properties remain.
2- What must occur for Jesus to cease existing under the sacramental sign of bread or wine? And when would this occur, i.e. consecrated hosts that become moldy, when the Eucharist is digested, etc? When do the properties cease to be those of the original matter since this is often a slow chemical process, which I understand to mean the point at which it no longer remains Christ?
3- Please clarify for me what it means for Jesus to be WHOLLY present under the signs of bread and wine, yet this is not the WHOLE Christ. I understand that the WHOLE Christ is our Lord Who lives glorified in Heaven. However, I lack understanding of the fullness of His bodily presence (nerves, blood, brain, bones, etc.) which truly exist as the subject of the Blessed Sacrament.
thank you and God bless
Answer by Colin B. Donovan, STL on 01-03-2002:
These are all good question, to which I hope I will give satisfying and accurate answers.
First, we must consider the nature of the Eucharist as a sign. Indeed, what is a sign? A sign points to something else. When the consecration of the bread is completed, the entire substance of the bread is changed into the Body of Christ, leaving only the accidents (the empirical properties - what we can perceive). That means that bread is no longer there, Christ is there (whole and entire, by the way, the only way He can be anywhere). The accidents or properties remain by a continuous miracle, not inhering in any sustance. That is awesome! They are only there in order to point out “Here is Christ!” So, when we see what would commonly be called bread or bread crumbs, the visible signs tells us “Here is Christ”. When we can no longer say this is bread or this is bread crumbs, then, that is no longer true. Subjective, as you use it has bad connotations, but it is a human judgment that we still see “bread”. The signs do not exist for the mice or the small creatures or material molecules, but for men, so a reasonable man’s judgement is in fact important. If we can’t say we see bread, then God is telling us “Christ is no longer present”. The issue is macroscopic, not microscopic. I suppose we could quibble over at what point we can dismiss the specks on the hands after Communion. Its reasonable to conclude that if we have handled the Host what we see on our hands is from the Host and therefore “bread” crumbs, albeit small ones. Admittedly there is a danger of scrupulosity, unreasonable fear of irreverence, but a check of the palms after Communion, and consciousness that God is not out to trick us into sacrilege by itsy-bitsy consecrated particles, should be sufficient antidote. Reasonable diligence is the standard, as in most things.
In keeping with the above, the Presence ceases when by common estimation it can no longer be called “bread” or “wine” - through digestion or corruption. However, an obligation still remains. The Church obliges us to dilute the Species sufficiently that this is clearly so. Thus, corrupted Hosts should be dissolved in water (or even burned), and Consecrated Wine diluted beyond recognition as “wine,” then fittingly disposed of in the sacrarium (the special sink that empties directly in the ground) or the ashes buried. The presumption would favor the species being the Eucharist until this is done.
