Decline in belief in the Eucharist

Well, I am back from the priest retreat and except for the long lectures that reminded me of seminary I feel very refreshed and renewed.

On the feast of Corpus Christi, my homily focused on the decline in the belief in the Real Presence in the Eucharist. I spoke of three reasons that I feel have led to this decline in the belief of Christ in the Eucharist. After the homily, I received an email from a parishioner who basically said that my reasons were completely bogus and then this person proceeded to list the real reasons in the decline in the Eucharist. Unfortunately, I had a computer crash last weekend and lost all my email so I cannot quote these reasons word-for-word but I can paraphrase them to you. I'd like to present my suppositions that I gave in my homily and then post the reasons given by this person who emailed me. I want to point out that I am being very vague regarding this email because 1) I lost the email, 2) I don't want to offend the person and 3) I did not reply to this person not because I lost the email but because I am quite sure that my response would have been ignored as this person obviously has made up his/her mind on this as you will see when I present his/her reasons.

I will state in this blog entry the reasons I gave in my homily. In my next blog I will state the reasons given in the email I received. I'd like your thoughts and opinions on both sets of reasons.

In my homily, I gave a statistic from a CARA survey (see previous posts on CARA) that 57% of Catholics believe in the Real Presence of the Eucharist. While one might say, "that is over 50% and nearly 6 out of 10," it is important to remember that the belief in the Real Presence is the core of our faith. It IS our faith. So, that means that 4 out of 10 Catholics do NOT believe in the core belief of our faith. That is sad and disturbing. In my homily, I gave these three reasons as to why I see this decline:

1. Lack of prayer: the drop in both personal prayer and praying together as a family certainly have an effect on our faith. Fewer and fewer people spend time in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. People don't spend time before Mass in prayer preparing themselves for receiving Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. A lack of prayer leads to a lack of faith.
2. Lack of teaching on the Eucharist: this falls primarily on the parents but also lands on the heads of us priests as well. Parents don't talk to their children about the Mass, about what they are doing each Sunday or about why they are doing it. It's not just a lack of words either. Children look at how parents act. If the parents approach the Eucharist at communion in the same way they walk through line at a concession stand the kids see this. If they don't bow or snatch the Eucharist from the hand of the minister then the kids see this too. If the parents walk out as soon as they've received communion then this impacts the kids too. We too (priests) have been dropping the ball here including myself. I keep a copy of the notes of all my homilies and I have given exactly 83 Sunday homilies since my ordination as a deacon. Out of those 83 homilies only 3 have been on the Eucharist. That is pretty poor on my part considering the Eucharist is the core of our faith. We (priests) have to be more outspoken about the Eucharist and in teaching it to our parishioners.
3. Lack of the spiritual in society: We live in a society today that is purely worldly. Society only believes in what it can touch, taste, see or smell. If it isn't something concrete and obvious then there is doubt or outright unbelief. An ideal example is abortion. So many doubt or do not believe that a new life is created at conception because they don't 'see' this life. A tiny group of cells is not a concrete example of a life to these people therefore it must not be a human being. The Real Presence in the Eucharist is not something you can see, taste, touch or smell. What we see, taste, touch and smell in the Eucharist is the accident (not a car wreck) or appearance. Websters defines an accidental as " a property, factor, or attribute that is not essential." This is a great definition because what the Eucharist looks like is NOT the essential factor. The substance is what is essential. In the consecrated Eucharist, the substance - what the material of the object truly is - becomes Jesus Christ himself. This is not something that can be seen or touched. It is beyond the natural...it is supernatural...it is spiritual. This is greatly lacking in the world today.

Wow, that took a little longer than I thought it would. Next time I will present the reasons given in the response email I received. I want to close by pointing out that I don't believe that the above reasons are the ONLY reasons for the decline in the belief of the Real Presence. I do believe that they are te primary factors and that any others reasons are somehow impacted by these three reasons. I welcome your comments and opinions. Until next time...God bless.

posted by: crossman at 07:00 | link | comments (5) |
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Comments:

#1  09 June 2008 - 13:32

 

I think #2 is the root cause of the disbelief. I took a catechism class thorugh Paul VI Institute here in STL, which as you know, is targeted to adult catechesis as well as for adults who are teaching CCD and in Catholic schools. The class was about the sacraments and as part of the class, we had an online discussion component. I was shocked & dismayed to read that several of my classmates (who were presently teaching CCD) were surprised to learn of the belief in the Real Presence!! I suspect something was lost in catechesis during the 70's & 80's and we're seeing the effects of that presently. If people never hear of the Truth, the other two reasons you present matter little.


As a side note, since the priestly ordinations for STL this year were the day before Corpus Christi, all the new priests had their first Masses on Corpus Christi. I heard one of the best homilies at one of these first Masses, during which the homilist stated that the utmost duty of every priest is to offer the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass and to make Jesus present to the Church militant in a way that no one else could.
--S

Anonymous

#2  10 June 2008 - 01:29

 

I would also add that a factor to the decline in belief in the Real Presence might be the institution of Communion in the Hand standing.

Kneeling on the tongue provides a much better sense of the Sacred over the profane

Anonymous

#3  11 June 2008 - 07:54

 

--S

I couldn't agree with you more. If there is not the proper teaching on the Eucharist then there is no true foundation upon which to build. This is primarily the responsibility of the parents but catechists have a role. Just as important is ongoing education by the priest for adults, especially in homilies. If priest are not doing this they are not fulfilling their role as teacher to the flock.

crossman

#4  11 June 2008 - 08:06

 

Regarding the comment about receiving in the hand, I have heard this argument and I can see why it might seem as if this is a reason. However, It implies that there was more reverence before the Council because of receiving on the tongue while kneeling. However, actions don't necessarily equate into attitude. I can smile all day and actually be in a really bad and angry mood. The same for posture. A person kneeling and receiving on the tongue is not necessarily more reverent. There are some numbers to support this (see my recent post on June 11th on pre and post Vatican beliefs in the Real Presence). I'm not saying that their might not be some connection but outward posture does not equal internal reverence.

crossman

#5  23 June 2008 - 20:38

 

Notice the Pope is now giving communion at Mass only via kneelers and the tounge. The Good Shepard is showing his flock his preferred way of distributing the Eucharist.

Anonymous

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