May 28 & 29, 2005 - Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

 

Eucharist as Banquet

 

The Eucharist began at the Last Supper. Jesus picked up bread and said, “Take and eat.” He picked up a cup of wine and said, “Take and drink.” Speaking of the Eucharist earlier, Jesus had said “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.” (John 6:54a) So it should be obvious that in addition to everything else it is, the Eucharist is a meal.

     But many Catholics today are uncomfortable with this aspect of the Eucharist and I have a theory why they do. When you consider the state of the average meal in modern life, it seems to trivialize the Eucharist to refer to this great sacrament as a meal. The fact is, meals are not what they used to be.

For example:

 

     Many people rate a meal on how quickly it can be consumed. And this is not only in “fast-food” restaurants. One of the primary categories for evaluating even a classy restaurant is “service,” which has come to mean “how quickly did the food make it to the table?” Even home-cooked meals are rushed (microwave dinners, instant potatoes, instant coffee, etc,). It should not come as a surprise that many Catholics judge the quality of a Mass by how long it takes. (The shorter, the better and never longer than an hour.)

     In addition to the speed factor at meals, table manners or etiquette are sorely lacking. People no longer feel a need to “dress for dinner,” whether eating out or in. Many times, we eat our meals while watching television. Or we eat alone in silence. Eating disorders are a major health issue these days. Many eat too little; many more eat too much. And almost every meal, whether in a restaurant or at home, involves the waste of embarrassing amounts of food.

     As a result, the modern American meal is not normally a thing of beauty. Who can blame Catholics for balking at the thought of our greatest sacrament being called a meal?!

 

     But the fact is that our Lord did choose bread and wine as the vehicles for His divine Presence to us, and our Lord did command us to eat and drink this sacrament. So we need to meditate on this dimension of the Eucharist along with all the others.

 

     To make this easier on the ears, I am going to refer to this next meditation as “Eucharist as Banquet.” Next week I will explore the consequences of this terminology, as well as why Jesus used food as the matter for the Blessed Sacrament.

                                                         - Msgr. David A. Lockard