Living the Gospel This Week.
As are celebrating the Corpus Christi, I deem it necessary to take a few weeks to address some concerns regarding the Eucharist. I will try to answer one question every week.
Q: Does the bread cease to be bread and the wine cease to be wine after consecration?
A: Yes. In order for the whole Christ to be present—body, blood, soul, and divinity—the bread and wine cannot remain, but must give way so that his glorified Body and Blood may be present. Thus in the Eucharist the bread ceases to be bread in substance, and becomes the Body of Christ, while the wine ceases to be wine in substance, and becomes the Blood of Christ. As St. Thomas Aquinas observed, Christ is not quoted as saying, " This bread is my body," but " This is my body" (Summa Theologiae, III q. 78, a. 5).
When we receive the consecrated host, we truly receive the body and the blood of Christ. So, Believe, Trust, Surrender and worship. (Please visit Jesus in the adoration chapel at least once during the week)
Happy Corpus Christi Sunday!
Fr. Georges Roger Bidzogo sac