Priests seek to build understanding on Mystery of Eucharist
December 6, 2019 at 9:46 p.m.
“We may never fully understand the Eucharist. It is the mystery of our faith. But it is one that always keeps us coming back,” stressed Father Christopher Dayton, parochial vicar in St. Rose Parish, Belmar.
Speaking to some 100 participants, Father Dayton was one of five priests of the Diocese who presented “Rediscover the Eucharist” this fall in St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.
Divided into four rotating groups, guests had the opportunity to listen to a breadth of topics, including Eucharist in Scripture, in architecture, in Liturgy and in relation to early Church fathers, as well as participate in a question-and-answer session, “Myth Busters,” which was designed to discuss misconceptions people may have about the Eucharist.
Presenters brought to life the development of the Eucharist through which Christians regularly encounter Christ. Among those speaking were Father Garry Koch, the parish’s pastor; Father John Michael Patilla, parish parochial vicar and chaplain in St. John Vianney High School, Holmdel; Father Michael Hall, pastor in Our Lady of Good Counsel, West Trenton, and director of the diocesan Office of Worship, and Father Jason Parzynski, diocesan vocations director and chaplain in Notre Dame High School, Lawrenceville.
Precious Gifts
Participants had the chance to see a model of the Temple of Jerusalem that was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. and consider its historical significance and how it was related to the Eucharist. They also learned that the story of Abraham and Melchizedek, in the Book of Genesis, is where the offering of bread and wine appears for the first time.
“What is significant to note is that the action of the bread and wine being sacrificed using the words of Abraham and Melchizedek was considered so important in Jewish custom and liturgical practice that it was maintained as a regular action in the liturgy of Judaism all the way until the destruction of the temple,” Father Parzynski explained during his presentation.
“It was no coincidence that Jesus used those words as he was fulfilling and perfecting the sacrifice of bread and wine used as a gift of thanksgiving from being saved from death. Now the Eucharist is the sacrifice which preserved us from eternal death. And so the Eucharist is the fulfillment of that initial action,” he said.
Ongoing Relationship
In an in-depth walk through Scripture, Father Koch discussed Eucharist in Scripture. “Everything Jesus says or does,” he said, “does not exist in a vacuum; the New Testament has to always be understood in the relationship to the Old Testament. He is the fulfillment of the law of the prophets.
“Jesus doesn’t introduce anything completely different. He certainly changes perspective and offers a new method for salvation. He completes the old, but we’re always anticipating.”
Father Koch spoke about the blood of the covenant from the Book of Exodus, saying, “This reminds us of the words Jesus uses at the Last Supper, ‘the blood of the covenant.’”
Covenant is a Hebrew word, said Father Koch. “We understand the term theologically to mean an agreement or relationship between ourselves and God. … Jesus uses covenant and the Last Supper so we see that covenantal connection.”
Father Dayton also stressed the importance of understanding the connection between the Old Testament and the New Testament in understanding Jesus in the Eucharist.
As a chaplain in St. Rose High School, he said he often hears his students use the term YOLO – You Only Live Once. That, he said, “is so contrary to what we as Catholics believe. We believe that life is eternal – that this stage is transitory, that our goal is to reach eternal life and that we’re on this journey to get there.”
God, he continued, did not leave his people alone on this journey. Instead, through salvation history, it’s shown that “we’re always aided … in the Old Testament through the prophets, through the Word of God, through his presence amongst us and then – in the New Testament – through Jesus Christ.”
“God speaks to us in the ways that we will understand,” he said, explaining that the Sacraments are a way to the Divine Light, to have, for just a moment, “that feeling of what eternal life will be like. In Baptism, we are restored to our true nature; Confession, we have the ability that every time we fall short … we can enter back into that right relationship with God. With Communion and the Eucharist, we become what we receive, which is God in our hearts. Not just a symbol.”
Rooted in Tradition
Offering insights into the liturgy and Eucharist, Father Patilla explained, “Because early Christians could not read Scriptures they needed oral tradition to learn the Word of God. This is the oral statement that has been passed on by the Apostles themselves from generation to generation. This is why we say our Catholic faith is Tradition with a capital T. Our Catholic faith tells us Scripture is not the only authoritative source, it is not sola scriptura.”
The liturgy, he added, is “the Church’s prayer, and in every Sacrament there is liturgy. The liturgy is the very celebration of the Eucharist.”
Father Patilla also stressed the teaching of the Church on Eucharist: “The source and summit of our Christian faith is the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the Real Presence where the Word of God becomes flesh. It is where the host and wine are turned into the Body and Blood of Christ in a liturgical way and in a prayerful way.”
This tenet of Catholic faith was at the heart of a recent Pew Research Center study that revealed how only 31 percent of Catholics believe in the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist, that the bread and wine consecrated at Mass become and are the Body and Blood of Christ. The study indicated that 69 percent of Catholics surveyed believe the consecrated bread and wine are only symbols of the Jesus’ Body and Blood.
Awesome Mystery
Father Hall addressed these issues in the question-and-answer period, touching on topics he believed people often struggle with in regards to the Sacrament of the Eucharist, discussed why the bread and wine is used, and referred to the elements used by Christ at the Last Supper.
“Through the Old Testament, through the Gospel, the imagery that is used, the understanding that Christ gives us himself in his dying and in giving us himself at the Last Supper it is pretty clear. But it is also has been known that it is a hard teaching to accept,” said Father Hall, acknowledging that early Christians were torn over the issue.
“Through transubstantiation, the essence of the bread and wine has changed, and Christ is really and fully present in the Eucharist. This was instituted at the Last Supper, and it was sealed on the Cross,” Father Hall stressed.
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“We may never fully understand the Eucharist. It is the mystery of our faith. But it is one that always keeps us coming back,” stressed Father Christopher Dayton, parochial vicar in St. Rose Parish, Belmar.
Speaking to some 100 participants, Father Dayton was one of five priests of the Diocese who presented “Rediscover the Eucharist” this fall in St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.
Divided into four rotating groups, guests had the opportunity to listen to a breadth of topics, including Eucharist in Scripture, in architecture, in Liturgy and in relation to early Church fathers, as well as participate in a question-and-answer session, “Myth Busters,” which was designed to discuss misconceptions people may have about the Eucharist.
Presenters brought to life the development of the Eucharist through which Christians regularly encounter Christ. Among those speaking were Father Garry Koch, the parish’s pastor; Father John Michael Patilla, parish parochial vicar and chaplain in St. John Vianney High School, Holmdel; Father Michael Hall, pastor in Our Lady of Good Counsel, West Trenton, and director of the diocesan Office of Worship, and Father Jason Parzynski, diocesan vocations director and chaplain in Notre Dame High School, Lawrenceville.
Precious Gifts
Participants had the chance to see a model of the Temple of Jerusalem that was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. and consider its historical significance and how it was related to the Eucharist. They also learned that the story of Abraham and Melchizedek, in the Book of Genesis, is where the offering of bread and wine appears for the first time.
“What is significant to note is that the action of the bread and wine being sacrificed using the words of Abraham and Melchizedek was considered so important in Jewish custom and liturgical practice that it was maintained as a regular action in the liturgy of Judaism all the way until the destruction of the temple,” Father Parzynski explained during his presentation.
“It was no coincidence that Jesus used those words as he was fulfilling and perfecting the sacrifice of bread and wine used as a gift of thanksgiving from being saved from death. Now the Eucharist is the sacrifice which preserved us from eternal death. And so the Eucharist is the fulfillment of that initial action,” he said.
Ongoing Relationship
In an in-depth walk through Scripture, Father Koch discussed Eucharist in Scripture. “Everything Jesus says or does,” he said, “does not exist in a vacuum; the New Testament has to always be understood in the relationship to the Old Testament. He is the fulfillment of the law of the prophets.
“Jesus doesn’t introduce anything completely different. He certainly changes perspective and offers a new method for salvation. He completes the old, but we’re always anticipating.”
Father Koch spoke about the blood of the covenant from the Book of Exodus, saying, “This reminds us of the words Jesus uses at the Last Supper, ‘the blood of the covenant.’”
Covenant is a Hebrew word, said Father Koch. “We understand the term theologically to mean an agreement or relationship between ourselves and God. … Jesus uses covenant and the Last Supper so we see that covenantal connection.”
Father Dayton also stressed the importance of understanding the connection between the Old Testament and the New Testament in understanding Jesus in the Eucharist.
As a chaplain in St. Rose High School, he said he often hears his students use the term YOLO – You Only Live Once. That, he said, “is so contrary to what we as Catholics believe. We believe that life is eternal – that this stage is transitory, that our goal is to reach eternal life and that we’re on this journey to get there.”
God, he continued, did not leave his people alone on this journey. Instead, through salvation history, it’s shown that “we’re always aided … in the Old Testament through the prophets, through the Word of God, through his presence amongst us and then – in the New Testament – through Jesus Christ.”
“God speaks to us in the ways that we will understand,” he said, explaining that the Sacraments are a way to the Divine Light, to have, for just a moment, “that feeling of what eternal life will be like. In Baptism, we are restored to our true nature; Confession, we have the ability that every time we fall short … we can enter back into that right relationship with God. With Communion and the Eucharist, we become what we receive, which is God in our hearts. Not just a symbol.”
Rooted in Tradition
Offering insights into the liturgy and Eucharist, Father Patilla explained, “Because early Christians could not read Scriptures they needed oral tradition to learn the Word of God. This is the oral statement that has been passed on by the Apostles themselves from generation to generation. This is why we say our Catholic faith is Tradition with a capital T. Our Catholic faith tells us Scripture is not the only authoritative source, it is not sola scriptura.”
The liturgy, he added, is “the Church’s prayer, and in every Sacrament there is liturgy. The liturgy is the very celebration of the Eucharist.”
Father Patilla also stressed the teaching of the Church on Eucharist: “The source and summit of our Christian faith is the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the Real Presence where the Word of God becomes flesh. It is where the host and wine are turned into the Body and Blood of Christ in a liturgical way and in a prayerful way.”
This tenet of Catholic faith was at the heart of a recent Pew Research Center study that revealed how only 31 percent of Catholics believe in the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist, that the bread and wine consecrated at Mass become and are the Body and Blood of Christ. The study indicated that 69 percent of Catholics surveyed believe the consecrated bread and wine are only symbols of the Jesus’ Body and Blood.
Awesome Mystery
Father Hall addressed these issues in the question-and-answer period, touching on topics he believed people often struggle with in regards to the Sacrament of the Eucharist, discussed why the bread and wine is used, and referred to the elements used by Christ at the Last Supper.
“Through the Old Testament, through the Gospel, the imagery that is used, the understanding that Christ gives us himself in his dying and in giving us himself at the Last Supper it is pretty clear. But it is also has been known that it is a hard teaching to accept,” said Father Hall, acknowledging that early Christians were torn over the issue.
“Through transubstantiation, the essence of the bread and wine has changed, and Christ is really and fully present in the Eucharist. This was instituted at the Last Supper, and it was sealed on the Cross,” Father Hall stressed.