Teach Us! [About the True Presence -- Summit of the Mass, Holy Communion]

Catholic Exchange.com ^ | 07-16-05 | Joe Pacuska

[Salvation]

by Joe Pacuska

Other Articles by Joe Pacuska

Teach Us!

07/16/05

This past Sunday my wife arrived at Mass to find a fairly full house and we were lucky to get a seat in the third or fourth pew from the back. Although I’d prefer to be closer to the altar, I don’t find sitting in the back objectionable. I figure I’m as close to Jesus there as anywhere else.

Except, of course, when the Consecration takes place and when it comes to Communion. With Jesus real and present in our midst, I’d like to be as close as I can get. And from that perspective my seat was, unfortunately, a perfect vantage point from which to watch the exodus of the “Communion-skippers.”

It’s a queer phenomenon in all too many of our parishes. No sooner do the ushers march up the aisles to begin facilitating the orderly approach of communicants to the altar when bodies start popping to their feet and heading for the exits. The numbers were actually startling at this particular Mass.

And it made me wonder why.

Now, let’s be honest. There are certainly few among us who haven’t joined their ranks at one time or another. Put aside, for a moment, the question of whether or not one has legitimately fulfilled one's Sunday obligation depending upon what time they arrive at or leave Mass. After all, we’re busy people, right? We’ve got places to go, things to do and people to see. And occasionally we find ourselves caught in a time crunch we didn’t anticipate. I’m sure there are some genuine reasons why someone might have to leave Mass early in a pinch. But have you noticed that it’s usually the same people all the time? Can their personal schedule be such that they can only attend Mass at one particular time which would necessitate leaving before Communion every Sunday?

Somehow I doubt it. With all due respect to those who may occasionally have a perfectly legitimate reason (and those would be few and far between), my guess is that the great majority of Communion-skippers do so out of apathy. To put it in business terms, they just don’t see the value in receiving the Blessed Sacrament, and so they aren’t buying. And if they aren’t buying, I would suggest that it’s because not enough of our priests are selling.

It’s a Catholic tragedy. Here we are in “The Year of The Eucharist,” so proclaimed by the late Pope John Paul II, and how many sermons have you heard preached on the Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament? Not too many months ago I attended Mass at a local parish where the homilist, an ordained deacon, turned the feast of Corpus Christi into a question of, “What will you do each day with your five loaves and two fish?” It was a nice sermon, but it had nothing to do with Jesus real and present in the Blessed Sacrament. Imagine that: Corpus Christi, the very feast day of the Most Holy Sacrament, and not once did this homilist mention the Blessed Sacrament or touch on the subject of the Real Presence of Jesus in Holy Communion. (More recently, the same ordained deacon focused his homily on multi-culturalism and proclaimed that “Jesus is in every religion.” I’m sure that would come as a surprise to some of our non-Christian brethren. But that’s a topic for another time.)

Then there was the case of a priest and pastor who writes a weekly column in one of our local newspapers. During the past presidential election he bemoaned the decision of some bishops who would deny Holy Communion to pro-abortion Catholic politicians. And so he wrote an article suggesting that the prerequisites for reception of the sacrament be liberalized to allow anyone to receive Holy Communion regardless of his disposition, thereby avoiding the “politicizing” of the sacrament.

We in the laity should rightly ask, “Why is that?” Is supporting abortion only a mortal sin for non-politicians? Does their position and popularity provide them with a special dispensation? What kind of sinful behavior does a Catholic have to publicly support not to be allowed Holy Communion? Bestiality, maybe?

When our Church leaders, our priests and bishops, won’t publicly defend the Holy Eucharist in response to those Catholics who publicly and unrepentantly defy basic tenets of the Faith, it leads some Catholics to question whether the Blessed Sacrament really is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ at all.

Is it any wonder then, that recent polls show that nearly two-thirds of Catholics no longer believe in the Real Presence? Is it any wonder so many Catholics are asking themselves what’s the point of going to Mass? Is it any wonder that so many people leave Mass without receiving Holy Communion?

If the Eucharist truly is “the source, center and summit” of the Church’s life, why aren’t our priests telling us so? In place of teaching basic Catholic dogma, we’re being sprinkled with the non-denominational fairy dust of “feel good” sermons.

In John 6:53 we read, “Jesus said to them, ‘Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life within you.’” And so when we come to Mass we should be asking ourselves, “Why am I here?” Am I here simply to put my time in? Am I here to keep up appearances? Or am I attending Mass, as Father Larry Richards once put it, as a kind of “spiritual fire insurance — pay now so that I don’t burn later”? If so, we’re missing the point entirely. As Catholics we’re blessed in knowing that at each and every Mass, Jesus, the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, True God and True Man, comes down from Heaven and becomes real and present in our very midst. And we have the most distinct honor of fulfilling His command to eat His flesh and drink His blood. Really.

Our homilists need to affirm this basic truth of our Faith! We in the Catholic laity don’t need more “feel-good” sermons. Many among us are confused about what is and is not genuine Catholic teaching. What we really need are courageous priests and bishops who will bravely stand in the pulpit and tell us the truth. Saint Justin Martyr wrote, “We call this food Eucharist, and no one else is permitted to partake of it, except one who believes our teaching...."

So, during the last months of this “The Year of The Eucharist” we say to our bishops, priests and ordained deacons, with no equivocating, tell us: Is the Blessed Sacrament the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ? Is it really the “source, center and summit” of the Church’s life? What am I missing when I leave Mass before receiving Holy Communion?

Teach us!

© Copyright 2005 Catholic Exchange


Joe Pacuska is a Catholic apologist, writer, and businessman whose career has spanned senior management positions in the Internet and telecommunications industry. Joe currently resides in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania with his wife and three children.

[Salvation]

I've been saving some articles to post for quite awhile.

How about at your church? Do you have the Communion skippers? Or those that leave during or right after Communion?

Teach us the importance of staying for the entire Mass!

[Salvation]

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[Texagirl4W]

My parish priest used this analogy once. He said that if you were invited to dinner, would you get up to leave as soon as the host started serving, or would stay for dinner? Communion skippers were scarce for a while.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Right now, due to my chemical-induced asthma and the bad ventilation in our old church (but only a few weeks from being in a brand new, much larger building, yay!), I have been sitting in what really is the foyer, but open to the sanctuary, so it's more like a sanctuary annex.

From this vantage point, I get to see the comings and goings very well.

We don't have communion skippers, and only a very few leave after partaking, which really says something, I think, about the emphasis our pastor puts on the real presence. Maybe having twice a week adoration, and a church that's open all day m-f, and a tabernacle where you can find it has enhanced our appreciation of just who is there at the altar.

(Maybe the crazy lady who still comes even though she has to sit in the back and wear two surgical masks just so she can be near her Lord on Sunday has a little effect, too?)

Right now it's a major threat for me to breathe that perfumed air from the small sanctuary, and it took me a couple of months of coughing and having to leave before communion because of being unable to breathe before I discovered that trick. I could have used the asthma as an excuse to stay home and watch it on ETWN or something, legitamately, because of the great health risk of continually exposing myself to the chemical pollution, but I want to be near the Lord. And he openned that way for me to do it.

And bit by bit, my body is calming down the hypersensitivity (which I think was triggered by getting respiratory viruses earlier this year), and as it does, I hope I can go back to daily mass.

But to be near the Lord is worth struggling for.

[Coleus]

We have people who come to mass 15-20 minutes late. Others just come in for Communion and leave, some leave after communion.

What many priests do not talk about is that many receive Holy Communion while not in a state of grace, sacrilege. The confessionals are empty while the communion lines are long.

There was a time when priests cared about saving souls.

[Larry Lucido]

Interesting article. For me, sitting here banging away at my keyboard, I know God's Real Presence is right here with me, and anywhere else I go, so my proximity to the altar at any church I go to is a non-issue for me.

That said, I can only surmise that anyone who "skips" communion simply doesn't understand or appreciate its significance. Maybe they think God's Real Presence is impatiently waiting for them at their reserved seats at the baseball stadium.

[Coleus]

The Eucharistic Mystery Calls For Our Response

[EODGUY]

I have always been perplexed by those who cannot dedicate one of the 168 hours of the week to worship as a community in their parish church.

I applaud young parents who do their very best to ensure their children are shown a good example and attend Mass without fail.

The noise of cars leaving the parking lot while parishioners are still receiving the Body and Blood of Christ bothers me much more than the sound of one of God's youngest creations crying during Mass.


God bless,

EODGUY

[sneakers]

One of our priests reminded that Judas left early too.

[sneakers]

I went to an Tridentine mass (Indult) recently - first time in abour 40 years. One of the things I noticed is the long line to the confessional. It was so beautiful.

And nobody left mass early.

[Convert from ECUSA]

We have a few that leave right after they receive Communion, or right after Communion before the dismissal. Our priests have several times pointed that out, indicating that it is not kosher to do so. The vast majority of people at my parish do not leave until after the dismissal.

[frogjerk]

My parish priest once said that "Judas left early as well".

[frogjerk]

Beat me by about 5 hours. I didn't see your post. :)

[FourtySeven]

I've never experienced the phenomenon the author describes (people leaving before Communion ??? very odd) but there are a few that leave right after, at the Mass I regularly attend. There doesn't seem to be any consistency though, that is, it's not the same people every week. And it's not very many (5 at most).

[Salvation]

t a great analogy! Thanks!

[sneakers]

LOL! I hit the wrong button and sent a private reply.

Oh well!

[Salvation]

**Maybe having twice a week adoration, and a church that's open all day m-f, and a tabernacle where you can find it has enhanced our appreciation of just who is there at the altar.**

Definitely all can lead to a greater awareness of the Divine Presence of the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.

We will be starting Perpetual Adoration 24/7 on Mau 8th at the 6:00 AM hour. I am very excited about this (as is our priest!)

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Our pastor's goal is perpetual adoration...He's planning on adding a third day of adoration this fall, I believe, but he's been concentrating on getting the new church built. And is it going to have a beautiful tabernacle!

[Salvation]

I pray that healing may come to you -- I've dealt with asthma also, it's no fun! God bless!

[Andyman]

For those who leave early, I recommend "The Mass Explained" by Father Larry Richards. An AWESOME CD available at http://www.catholicity.com/maryfoundation/