Thomas Acquinas and The Eucharist
Jan
27
Written by:
1/27/2012 11:09 PM
Greetings Family,
March 7th is my 61st birthday. It is also the feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor.
He was also known as the "Dumb Ox" when he was in the seminary because his teachers assumed that he did not understand the material. In reality, he was too humble to speak and answer questions. When he finally did speak, his professors discovered his genius.
Thomas wrote the most brilliant treatise in the Catholic Church, the Summa Theologica, which attempted to prove the existence of God using reason and faith. This work influenced Catholic thought for hundreds of years up until our day.
Thomas also gave what was considered the best explanation of Jesus' Real Presence in the Eucharist (Holy Communion). The technical word for this, according to Thomas, is transubstantiation. When the priest celebrates Mass, he is at that time, "Alter Christus", an image of Christ. When he says the words that Jesus said at the Last Supper; "This is My Body, this is My Blood", the bread and wine actually become the Body and Blood of Christ.. The church from the time of Christ has always believed this.
We worship Jesus' Real Presence in the Eucharist reserved in the tabernacle. We don't reserve the Eucharist primarily for worship. The Eucharist is reserved so that it is available to the priest when he has a sick call. We know that Jesus is everywhere. None the less, we should be conscious of the Real Presence of the Lord when we come into our churches. We should acknowledge His Presence with a prayer, a bow, or a genuflection (right knee please).
What is important is Jesus' tremendous love for all of us. The Eucharist is His greatest Gift to us. Like the Manna God gave His people in the desert, it is food for our souls. Let us not take this beautiful Gift for granted.
God Bless All !!