Attending a Holy Hour on Thursday in honor of the Feast of
Corpus Christi, I heard a fantastic sermon, (although it was too long and there
was little time for silence, which is the point of Adoration), in which the
priest referred to a writer I did not know. In The Mysteries of Christianity, by Matthias Scheeben, a book from
1961, published in St. Louis
Here is one short quotation from this book, as offered by
the priest.
“When set forth according to the norm of the Catholic faith,
the Eucharist, like the Incarnation, is manifestly an astounding, supernatural
work of God. It is a work hidden from the intellect, and is quite beyond our
understanding…Its mysterious character is so readily acknowledged that the
Eucharist is often referred to simply as the mystery par excellence… that the
substance of Christ’s Body and Blood remains actually, truly, and essentially
present as long as the appearances endure, yet in such a manner that it is
present whole and indivisible under each species, as well as under any part
thereof.”
The priest noted that in our day and age of “materialism”,
in which most people simply do not believe in mysteries or the spiritual world,
the doctrine of the Eucharist seem difficult for many people. This includes our
Protestant brothers and sisters.
Scheeben notes that the “..substantial presence of the Body
and Blood of Christ under alien species is plainly a fact at which we cannot
arrive by reason alone, because we are naturally able to know substances only
by their accidents and their outward appearance. According to the ordinary laws
of thought, reason is quite justified in inferring a substance from the
accidents that are naturally associated with it. Reason will not be led to affirm
the presence of Christ’s Body for following its natural course; on the
contrary, reason will pronounce without hesitation that it is not present.
Faith is required, not only to assist reason by leading it further, but to
bring its natural course to a halt. The fact of the mystery is utterly cut of
from unaided reason, because it is a supernatural fact, one that is wrought not
upon the surface of things, but in their innermost core.”
Faith is a gift given to all who are baptized. One of the
theological virtues, faith opens the eyes and mind of the soul to accept and
then to love the mystery of the Eucharist.
To be before Christ in the Blessed Sacrament gives each one
of us time to be taken up in the Mystery of Christ’s Presence.
