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From the Pastor’s Desk
The Most Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist is the Real Presence of Christ – Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. This is one of the central beliefs of our Catholic Faith. Have you ever wondered why it is not part of the Creeds we pray at Mass?
The primary reason is that when both the Apostles Creed and the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed were written these were in response to certain beliefs which had been determined to be heresies. The Apostles Creed emphasizes Jesus’ humanity in order to counter the heresy of Gnosticism. The Nicene Creed was developed to state firmly what the Church believed in the face of Arianism. Overall, both Creeds are meant to state the Christian belief in the Blessed Trinity.
No one thought to mention the Church’s firm belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist because no one questioned it. The Eucharistic controversies of the 9th and 11th centuries focused the Church to firmly define what it believed about the Eucharist. From there local dioceses began to celebrate feasts and have Eucharistic processions (the forerunners to today’s Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ).
Jesus said, This is my Body and This is My Blood. He who is the Truth cannot and will not deceive us. In the Eucharist we are nourished with the Body and Blood of the One who has saved us. Let us always be thankful for such a gift!
Love,
Fr. Tom